How To Clean Your Chimney

Cleaning our chimney was once something that I thought was too complicated or required a special set of tools. Now, each year I can take care of this in under an hour. Demonstrated here is how to clean a chimney with a wood stove insert. The process would be similar for a stand alone wood stove or traditional fireplace.
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[@gobear83]

I was in the wood stove business selling solid fuel burning appliances …we offered a sweep service and one of the most important things that came to the surface during the course on safety and technics on cleaning was to alway were a mask when cleaning the chimney or outdoor furnace… all of that dust is really toxic .

[@EngineersHomestead]

When you replace the chimney cap, I'd recommend extending it out over the bricks to create a drip edge. Our chimney and cap was pretty bad and we ended having it rebuilt from roof up due to lots of popped brick faces due to water infiltration.

[@andyschlamp7766]

I like the verse at the end.

[@charlesvaughn5055]

thanks for the video and information about cleaning the chimney. have a great day.

[@alec4672]

My brother in laws father was a chimney sweep for 35 years until he retired. One great tip he taught me is to bring a clamp up with you so you can clamp it on the shaft of the brush so it doesn't fall town the chimney. That way you don't have to pull the whole unit out to add another section.

[@thegreatwhite75]

You don't need a clamp OR to pull it all the way out every time. You just go up & down several times each direction with your first rod, disconnect your drill while holding the top of that rod with one hand then attach next rod, attach drill, up & down several times each direction, detach drill, hold top of rod with one hand, attach next rod, etc.

[@johng2779]

Sounds good as long as you don't accidentally drop it 😂😂😂

[@thegreatwhite75]

@@johng2779 Easy peasy. But I'm a professional chimney sweep with over 39yrs experience, working with my father who started the business over 45yrs ago. And even if I did drop it....I can get it back out super easy. It's all about experience, (and knowledge) in this game.

[@thegreatwhite75]

@@johng2779 It's all about experience. Been in the game for 39+yrs, with my father who started the business over 45yrs ago. Even if I did drop it....I can get it out in about 30 seconds.

[@thegreatwhite75]

@@johng2779 Experience makes aaaall the difference in the world! Been in the game for over 39yrs with my father who's been doing it for over 45yrs. Even if I dropped it I could have it back out in less than 30 seconds. 😉🎩🪜🧹

[@CrochetNewsNetwork]

Excellent video. I did not know it was that easy as I’m getting a wood stove by end of December. Also I LOVE the Scripture verse at then end of video. Blessings.

[@benholler1389]

Great video and absolutely nothing wrong with your advice. I just want to say that as a pro I use a similar setup but prefer to clean from inside through the stove. A drop cloth Infront and a vacuum hose in the stove controls the dust. But again nicely done

[@jasonsharpbucks]

I was wondering if I can done from inside, I'm down for that, not really for doing it 25ft up

[@mvblitzyo]

most excellent thanks for a great how too video . I can and will do this next time ..

[@sittingdoe]

Thank you! ❤

[@nancybaker1145]

Thank you!

[@davidcrowson4745]

Amazing Fall colors behind you sir 👍

[@DaveKerwin77]

Great job

[@theresad6990]

If walking on the roof wasn't an issue for me I'd love to do this myself. I was just mentioning the other day that I need to get my chimney cleaned. Nice tutorial. Thanks for sharing your practical knowledge with us.

[@danielsampson6397]

That particular model of chimney sweeper he was using, advertises that it can be done from the bottom. That will keep you warm and dry and off the roof. Miriloni is one of the companies that makes a sweep style like that. I make no comission of the sale of any of those products but I do believe Todd still has an Amazon affiliate link.

[@SSLFamilyDad]

Good point! I don’t like doing it from the bottom just because all the spot and dust gets in the house but if you keep a vacuum running you could certainly do that!

[@danielsampson6397]

@@SSLFamilyDad Yeah it is most definitely a little bit messier doing it from the bottom.

[@theresad6990]

@@danielsampson6397 good to know! Thanks for that info.

[@dovely9279]

I grew up in a slapped together 2 room Appalachia home with cinder blocks for a chimney. My mother never had the chimney cleaned in 20 years before she changed to oil. I'd never heard of chimney cleaning until later on and became quite spooked that we had to have been susceptible to fire. About 10 years ago, I installed a wood stove into my home. I was about halfway through the winter when I suspected a chimney fire. My boy looked outside and said flames were shooting from the chimney. I closed down the stove tight, and it smothered out. I think that happened because the wood wasn't properly seasoned at all. I cleaned the chimney and stove right away. I am thinking of installing a stove back into that old Appalachia home, but I don't know if that chimney is even up to code. Nevertheless, it must be pretty safe, so I may clean it out and do it.

[@neildriedger637]

👍GOD BLESS!!!!!!

[@thegreatwhite75]

@dovely9279 If you had a chimney fire then there's about a 99.9% chance that you probably have some cracked flue tiles now & the chimney should be relined with an insulated stainless steel liner. I'd have it professionally cleaned & scanned to check the inside conditions before using it! Or you could end up a WHOOOOOLE lot warmer than you planned on.......(if you know what I'm sayin) 😉

[@judymckerrow6720]

We had our chimney cleaned several years ago, the guy that cleaned it said it was really pretty clean. For some reason every year starlings try to make their nest in our chimney and end up clawing , scratching their way down the chimney into the wood stove we then have to let them out and hopefully they fly out the patio door. Just my thoughts but I think they end up cleaning the chimney. 🍁🍂🍁💚🙃

[@SSLFamilyDad]

Lol, maybe I should just throw some bird seed in there next spring

[@426superbee4]

That what i did got a tube of driveway, patio, cement repair, to seal the cracks up > Then i used a fire proof cement over the top of the cap, about 1/2" thick > Cause the cap must be getting hot to crack the cement. If that don't stop it form cracking next year i will bust the cap down and replace with fire proof cement. or cap it with metal plates

[@KeMa030]

Hi. In Finland it is mandatory by the law to use professionals to clean chimneys once a year and they have to notify local fire department when it has been done. Do they check these all the time? Propably not. But in case of burning your house down they certainly will. In holiday houses I think it is every two years to be cleaned. You can certainly do it by your self for addition if you burn lots of wood and many people do so. Also I have only oil heating and stainless steel pipe inside actual brick chimney. And that must also to be cleaned by the law. Even though there is nothing to be cleaned 🤣 when burner is working properly. Only natural gas burners/ chimneys are free of mandatory cleaning in Finland.

[@bryanjones14]

Sounds like Finland is full of snitches

[@CrochetNewsNetwork]

Wow, and I thought government over reach was bad in the USA. However I loved Finland when I visited 30 years ago

[@akaredcrossbow]

That’s the way it should be in all countries, mandatory! The biggest reason why there’s so many catastrophic chimney fires in the United States is because it isn’t mandatory and homeowners that are doing it themselves have no idea what to look for, or think they’re doing it properly. It’s not as simple as putting a brush in the flue running it up and down and calling it a job well done, there’s so much more to it! This is why some insurance companies are making it mandatory to have a professional chimney sweep clean the chimney. If a professional doesn’t clean it, the insurance company will drop your coverage immediately, or won’t pay for the damage! Some of the worst chimney flues that I’ve seen in 20 years are the ones that have been cleaned by homeowners and fire departments. So much creosote, cracked flue tiles from chimney fires, and deteriorating stainless liners. It’s a good idea as a homeowner to clean the chimney a couple times a season, but you should always hire a professional once a year to get the job done right. Anything can happen to the chimney over a years time.

[@thegreatwhite75]

​@@akaredcrossbow A VOICE OF REASON AND COMMON SENSE! That's not very common! Thank You! There's SOOOOOOO many crazy videos out there of people trying to give their 2 cents about all things chimney related when there's SOOOO much to it that they have absolutely no clue about whatsoever! And even from some "professionals" that SHOULD know what they're talking about, but don't! Not to mention.....everyone has different setups. Different stoves, or other appliances, masonry chimneys, pre-fab chimneys, different clearances to combustibles, etc, etc, etc. So all these people putting out diy chimney content could get themselves into some REAL deep 💩 by putting out info that someone follows & ends up burning their house to the ground or getting killed from carbon monoxide poisoning and then they say "Well THIS guy said to do it like this!" Do yourself a favor people......get your chimney checked yearly (cleaned if necessary) by a professional chimney sweep! And it's also HIGHLY recommended to get it scanned as well! (A camera with lights on it that is lowered down the chimney to see things that are unable to be seen just by looking up & down the chimney with your naked eye) Especially with tile lined chimneys because there can be missing mortar joints, cracked tiles, holes through the tiles, deterioration (especially in oil flues) and pre-fab (or metal) chimneys should be scanned as well to check the joints & the seams.

[@akaredcrossbow]

@@thegreatwhite75 👍🏻👍🏻

[@dorisharrison9885]

👍

[@SSLFamilyDad]

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[@cliffpalermo]

Do you light a crazy hot fire a couple times a season? Just wondering if normal/mild fires add to buil up. I light a couple super hot fires every year. Gotta check for whats up there now.

[@SSLFamilyDad]

The worst thing is trying to smolder a fire for overnight burns, or burning green wood. But yes, I light a hot fire everyday:)

[@johnfal1849]

What if you didn't have power tools? Is there an Amish way?

[@tnt666tnt]

I'll stick with my brush

[@SSLFamilyDad]

I suppose you could just spin it with you had and shove it up and down. Or you could get a traditional chimney sweep brush

[@CrochetNewsNetwork]

Yes. Go to an antique stor or thrift store and but an old hand crank drill. Should work perfectly.

[@ablelock]

I think it’s much more efficient to use a brush with attachments to extend the pole to clean the chimney. I think you get a better job.

[@jgjg3848]

Do you leave the flue closed while sweeping from the top on the roof? You have a wood stove door you could close too, but my fireplace is huge and open on 3 sides, so there's no door to close to keep the ash dust down. Do you keep the flue closed, then open and let it all fall out after sweeping? Common sense tells me to leave it closed, but I want to make sure. lol

[@judymckerrow6720]

Todd and family, maybe you could go out looking at the fall colors and end up on my side of the state. Then maybe Todd could have a look at our chimney for us ? My husbands too old to go on the roof anymore and I don’t know if I really want to spend the $100.00 plus dollars to have someone “clean” it. It probably should be inspected though it’s getting a little older. So if you feel like taking drive……. JK 🍁🍂🍁💚🙃

[@Doug8D3]

Update coming on the new boiler soon?

[@SSLFamilyDad]

Yes, small update soon then a full walkthrough after that

[@426superbee4]

I have used my fireplace over 15 years, Cause i remember the smoke smell in the house. This year i open it up look down into the chimney. My surprise it was clean as a whistle 👍 Those Creosote Logs really works good. I think a cast iron insert would make it more heat efficient ~ There way over priced. So i used it 3 time this year so far> Main reason is? I got so many oak trees down, and i' am going to make fire wood out of them, and use the fire place. There no smoke smell in the house

[@skrtskit1521]

💖💖🎶🎶

[@akaredcrossbow]

It’s great that you’re cleaning the chimney yourself, but you really need to know what you’re looking at. It’s always good to run a brush yourself a couple times a season, but it’s also important to hire a professional chimney sweep once a year that is trained to know what they’re looking at. A video scan of the liner is extremely important to fully see if the liner is deteriorating, something you probably won’t see from the top or bottom. A lot of insurance companies now won’t cover you if you’re sweeping it yourself, they require the homeowner to hire a professional chimney sweep once a year to do the job. Just sweeping the chimney can be an easy job, but there are so many other aspects of the job that make it more difficult, especially protecting the home and occupants from harmful/toxic chemicals when you’re sweeping the chimney.

[@aziedra4909]

I've hired so many different "professionals", lucky to get one that spends more than 15 minutes. Alot of professionals do significantly worse job than you do. They care about doing the minimum amount of work for the maximum amount of money. They are happy to talk about doing more, but suddenly prices soar.

[@akaredcrossbow]

@@aziedra4909 That’s terrible and not so nice to hear! I own my own chimney sweep company and I do most of the work myself. I’ve been doing it for over 20 years. When I do a single cleaning, the minimum time is an hour, average time is an hour and a half-two hours. I clean everything like it’s my own. I will clean everything from A to Z. If it’s a wood stove chimney, I will clean the stove and the glass, the stove pipe, the clean out, and of course the chimney and cap, make sure everything is up to code inside and out, and if not make no pressure recommendations. If it’s a fireplace I do it all except for the ash dump that the customer should be cleaning regularly. If they want the ash dump cleaned out then there is a big up charge because of the time it takes and the bags of ash I will have to remove. I would rather do it right instead of customers calling back saying they are not satisfied, plus it’s what I would like have done when I hire someone. I charge a flat rate, no matter the size of the chimney. If I come across a chimney that has a blockage or a massive amount of creosote build up that requires special equipment to remove it, I will let the customer know before I start the work that it’s going to be more money. It’s up to them, not me, if they want to continue. If they just want it clear, but not fully cleaned I will do that, but I will also write it on my receipt that the customer doesn’t want a full cleaning and it’s a safety hazard and concern, and recommend the right products for them to use. Companies need to take more pride in the work they do, it’s not all about the money, it’s about safety and giving customers 150% so they get that piece of mind and trust that your company did a complete quality job and never have to second guess the work you performed. I won’t become a billionaire the way I do things, but I will always be comfortable and I’m able to sleep at night knowing I did the right thing. Hope services in your area get better with the quality. 👍🏻👍🏻

[@David-fv7zg]

You didnt show how to clean the chimney cap, nor did you show a very good picture of the before and after. Sorry, but this was not a very good demo, seems like it was something made to get a video out and sell a product.

[@austinryer1926]

Stop complaining! Go up to your own chimney and do it your self and figure it out. He didn't have to post this but he did to help people. Go make your own video if you think you can do better and shut up.