Wood burning stoves and chimney sweep prices

Greenfires

You might need to be a bit more specific mate - chimney sweeps tend to work fairly locally!

nmh1

Can I also ask for recommendations in the Salford/Manchester area.

grahamc2003

We used to have an open fire and had that swept annually, cost about 5 years ago was £35. We still get calls from the sweep's wife trying to drum up business when he doesn't have much work, but last summer it was up to £55 'depending on how difficult' - so I guess that's a starting price. There used to be two in this area in competition, but the older cheaper sweep retired, so there's now a monopoly.

I'm thinking of buying the gear and doing it myself. My main concern is not getting soot all over the front room while sweeping, albeit, I don't expect much soot to be up there. I've got an old vacuum cleaner I wouldn't mind using to try to catch what soot there is. I think I'd remove the stove pipe and go in through the stove pipe hole in the register plate, feeding the vacuum pipe and rods through it and somehow sealing it off.

thehappybutterfly

I've just paid our local sweep £35 for a sweep and inspection. And he threw in free advice on how to lay a fire! He's in Angus if that's any help Boqq?

Swipe

My sweep is no longer around so this year I bought my own rods and brush and have swept my own and my parent's chimney too. No mess at all if you take your time and do it carefully.

muckybutt

PaulF81 wrote: »

Its a job they used to get small children to do. It's hardly rocket science is it? Shouldnt expect to pay any more than I would a painter or decorator.

Hardly rocket science ? !!!!!! :mad:

Ok then clever cloggs, name three reasons you could get smoke coming back down your chimney ?

Define a cold chimney and its problems ?

How do you remove soot from a 45deg ledge in a flue ?

Sorry but folks like you with that kind of attitude do my noggin in, then when it all goes pete tong you come running for advice.

suisidevw

Swipe wrote: »

My sweep is no longer around so this year I bought my own rods and brush and have swept my own and my parent's chimney too. No mess at all if you take your time and do it carefully.

Does anyone know how this sits with insurance companies and having annual sweeps etc?

muckybutt

suisidevw wrote: »

Does anyone know how this sits with insurance companies and having annual sweeps etc?

To be honest I dont know of any insurance companies that insist on chimneys being swept, our house hold insurers have never asked for either a sweeping certificate or even what type of heating we use.

It seems to be a common misconception as well that the fire service send a bill for chimney fires - they dont ! at the end of the day you pay for the fire service in your council tax, if its a real fire then theres never a charge, malicious calls then yes, false alarms...only if they are reoccurent alarms.

Likewise with certificates issued by sweeps - they are by no means an insurance certificate, all they are is a certificate to say that it has been swept as best as possible.

PaulF81

art_for_arts_sake wrote: »

I've never understood why some people have such a low opinion of painters and decorators. Many of them actually study for City and Guilds qualifications, and there are other training schemes for the decorating industry. Some are highly skilled with experience of gilding and preservation/restoration work. Although there is no legal obligation, there are City and Guilds/NVQ qualifications for chimney sweeps too. It amuses me that people will happily pay over £100 for a garage to give their car a quick once-over yet begrudge someone a decent income after they've spent hours on their other significant possession, their home.

i personally do neither. but then again, the car garage union hasnt stopped me changing my brake pads or doing an oil change have they?

i have lots of respect for plasterers in particular, and typically tip 10% for quality work.

PaulF81

muckybutt wrote: »

Hardly rocket science ? !!!!!! :mad:

Ok then clever cloggs, name three reasons you could get smoke coming back down your chimney ?

Define a cold chimney and its problems ?

How do you remove soot from a 45deg ledge in a flue ?

Sorry but folks like you with that kind of attitude do my noggin in, then when it all goes pete tong you come running for advice.

all the answers to this and much more can be found here, on a free resource. its called google.