[nickydwuk]

Being a little naiive about these things so sorry in advance :o Do log burners need cleaning out and how do you clean the chimney's? Do I have to send my small son up with a brush :D or can it be done a little bit easier?

[jubjub]

Get a metal shovel and empty out all but about two inches deep of ash (into a metal bucket), they need an ash bed to work well. Make sure you leave ash in said bucket to cool off properly for a few days before you put it in rubbish or onto garden.

Chimney sweeps are commonplace here, so just hire one of those, unless you want to make a small child earn its living! Our sweep cost $40 and it did not take him long.

[nickydwuk]

Thanks for that jubjub. OH was a little concerned - he had visions of the chimney sweep from Mary Poppins dancing on the roof :laugh Coming from UK we have central heating so aren't used to hard work. You make it sound quite straightforward. Hopefully this will put OH's mind at rest. :D

[benandclare]

With the wood burners I've had in UK used to let the fire roar well for about 10 mins once a week to clear all the tar and soot out :yes Never had a sweep once in 15 years in 3 different houses :cheers
Ben

[jackie m]

The advice given to us was to have chimney cleaned once a year by our insurance company otherwise your insurance could be void if you have a chimney fire (wooden houses burn well:D ) apparently. The chimney sweep also gives you a certificate to show work carried out & all is well. So well worth the $50 it cost for peace of mind.

[nippa&pippa]

Advice: Don't forget to tight the chimney sweep brush and sticks properly....or otherwise, look what happened.....
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb175/nippa101/chimneysweep002.jpg

:laugh My OH did managed to lose a brush in flue!!! We did got it out in the end with pile of black soots! :laugh

[Nathan]

Creosote builds up in chimneys and can catch on fire. It burns very hot.
(I knew a guy that burned down two houses that way!! I hope he has electric heat now!) There have been three fireplace fires in the condo complex where I live in the past few years.... dirty, faulty chimneys!

Here's a link that explains it well.
http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/infchimneyfire/infchimneyfire.html

I though burning softwood contributed to creosote buildup, but I can't find any reference to substantiate that. Maybe it's wrong. Here, we only burn hardwood.

[nippa&pippa]

Tip: If move into house, check with previous owner when last time the chimney had sweep as we didn't as thought they would have done it and learn our lesson in hard way.
We has an experience of our house full of smoke, leaked out log burner's flue causing by blocked in the flue last saturday morning and find out that chimney hasn't been clean for while. We just moved in 6 weeks ago!!....I tell you, it is not nice to get house stink of smoke for few days! So my OH had to clean out the chimney as can't get any chimney sweeper at short notice, especially at weekend! hence a picture above of my OH on the roof!:exit

[lockstock]

Don't forget to deprive small child of food prior to shoving up chimney. It helps stunt growth and prevent stickage.

[nickydwuk]

Don't forget to deprive small child of food prior to shoving up chimney. It helps stunt growth and prevent stickage.

If I cover him in grease as well he should slide up pretty easily :laugh

[Myrkk]

check the type of fitment on the end of the rods. If it is a screw fitting then as you push the brush up the chimney you always rotate to the right (dependant upon the fitting) and the same as you bring the rods back down.....rotate to the right.

You can also attach a piece of string to the brush so that should the worst happen you can retrieve the brush easily.

Can you tell we have a stove here in the UK and that I sweep it :laugh