Sweeping chimney - up or down ?

[londoneye]

Hi

OH has armed himself with a nice set of chimney sweeping implements (plastic hedgehogs and flexible rods) and wishes to try them out tomorrow.   We have two chimneys both with new (year old) stainless steel liners.   

Does he sweep top to bottom, or bottom to top please ?

And yes, I know it would be better to get a chimney sweep (probably) but he is convinced he can quite safely do it himself (if only he knew where to start from !).

[Clair]

We have two and the insert is down but the woodburner is up... Don't ask me why though...[8-)]

[powerdesal]

Bottom to top means all (or most) of the cr** goes outside, then some more cr** comes into your room when you pull the brushes back.

Top to bottom means all the cr** comes into the room, and you have to go on the roof (beware elfansafety)

[londoneye]

Thank you.

I knew Clair would answer cos I know Mr Clair does this job !

 

[tj]

Hi

It's not rocket science, well done for having a go!

My only query, wold be that generally, a condition of your house insurance is that you have the chimney swept each year. And in case of a claim they would demand the invoice.

anyone any thoughts on that?

[Clair]

tj, see these threads:

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1/1026650/ShowPost.aspx#1026650

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/850285/ShowPost.aspx

[Gardian]

[quote user="tj"]

My only query, wold be that generally, a condition of your house insurance is that you have the chimney swept each year. And in case of a claim they would demand the invoice.

[/quote]

I get the ramoneur in - why muck about, with all this going up or going down?

However, I have often wondered about the certificate issue.  Even if the Insurance Co were to demand it (and I've checked my policy and there's no mention of a requirement), in the event of a catastrophic fire, my cert would be ashes.  Back to the ramoneur I suppose. 

[bigears]

Hi

For my sins, I sweep my own chimneys.  The one I built (external using red chimney blocks, no liner) hardly needs sweeping, not much stuff comes down.  The original kitchen chimney is so different, loads of stuff comes down, my wife insists on a dust sheet across the fireplace mouth. 

[Jo]

You can buy a log shaped block from Brico marche, light the fire, wait for it to get going, then put the block on. It brings down all the muck from the chimney, and is recognised by Insurance companies, there's a little panel on the side that you fill in and send off, and you get a certificate back. Can't remember what it is called but when I am next over I will have a look.

[WJT]

[quote user="Jo"]You can buy a log shaped block from Brico marche, light the fire, wait for it to get going, then put the block on. It brings down all the muck from the chimney, and is recognised by Insurance companies, there's a little panel on the side that you fill in and send off, and you get a certificate back. Can't remember what it is called but when I am next over I will have a look.
[/quote]

You may want to check with your insurance company about this. I did just that and they said they would not accept these logs, they said we would need a certificate from a chimney sweep. Having said that, if you do it yourself you know that it is clean and it won't be a problem because we are only talking about a chimney fire that could be excluded from your insurance. Any catastrophic or otherwise fire would be covered by the insurance company.

But still don't fancy doing it myself. [:)]

[tracteurtom]

Whilst on the subject of chimney cleaning, I read somewhere that you shouldn't  use these cleaning logs (or whatever they are called) when you have a stainless steel liner ?  Something to do with the chemicals reacting unfavourably with the s/s metal.  

Can anyone shed some light on this ?