Sweeping chimney

oldtractor

Just wondering,how often do you have your chimney swept and what does it cost please?

comeandgo

After our last chimney fire the fire brigade advised us to get it swept twice a year as we burn logs and my husband does it for free - he bought brush and draining rods as the sweep we had cost £50 and that was a few years ago.

Chimney_Sweep_3

Depends on what your burning if its wood or house coal every 3 months WHEN IN USE, smokeless fuels once a year should be OK average price in Essex is £50 not sure about the rest of the country.
Use a NACS or guild sweep to ensure a good job, be aware of the window cleaner, grass cutter chimney sweep the turns up in a car !
I sweep several flues a year that have been done DIY normally with the wrong rods or brush and a chimney fire has resulted, most are surprised how much I remove compared to thier own efforts.

Ectophile

I paid £40 for my last sweep (up from £35 the previous year) in East Sussex.

I have it done about once a year for my wood burner. My sweep hasn't recommended I have it done more often, and has even told me I could have it swept every two years.

If burning wood, the quality of the wood makes a big difference as to how much gunk is left in the chimney.

hethmar

Ectophile, do check your lining and wood burner warranties to see if they stipulate how regular sweeping should be. I know the liners we install require 2 times per season. Most liners require proof of sweeping if a claim is made on the warranty.

muckybutt

Chimney_Sweep wrote: »

Use a NACS or guild sweep to ensure a good job, be aware of the window cleaner, grass cutter chimney sweep the turns up in a car !
I sweep several flues a year that have been done DIY normally with the wrong rods or brush and a chimney fire has resulted, most are surprised how much I remove compared to thier own efforts.

OY !! I kinda object to that statement, there is no need to be registered for starters and secondly there is nothing wrong with turning up in a car :mad:
I am a sweep - have been for the last 8 1/2 years - never had a van, don't need one to be honest as everything I need is carried in separate totes.
I have all the correct gear - rods - brushes - removal tools - stove service kits etc, all of which fits neatly in the rear of the estate.

Don't tar everyone with the same brush, just because we aren't registered and don't have vans doesn't mean to say we are carp at the job we do thank you very much, I pride the jobs and advice I give out and I have often come across NACS jobs where their service has been below that I would have expected from a so called pro.

Ectophile wrote: »

I paid £40 for my last sweep (up from £35 the previous year) in East Sussex.

I have it done about once a year for my wood burner. My sweep hasn't recommended I have it done more often, and has even told me I could have it swept every two years.

If burning wood, the quality of the wood makes a big difference as to how much gunk is left in the chimney.

Quite so ecto, I often go by what comes down as to the advice to re sweep etc. The majority of customers that have stoves and I know they know how to use and burn them I normally recommend once a year unless they get problems, customers that don't really know what they are doing and burn allsorts of rubbish i'll say twice - maybe three times a year, as you quite rightly said wood quality makes a huge difference.

Where I sweep I charge from £30 upto £50 depending how far I have to travel.

Ectophile

hethmar wrote: »

Ectophile, do check your lining and wood burner warranties to see if they stipulate how regular sweeping should be. I know the liners we install require 2 times per season. Most liners require proof of sweeping if a claim is made on the warranty.

The stove's now out of warranty, so it doesn't make much difference. They do recommend a sweep as part of the yearly service. But (like most people, I suspect) I've never actually had the stove "serviced" so that's moot.

As for the liner, I doubt I've got much chance of making a claim after 45 years. It's a 1960's house with a clay "pot lined" chimney. Both the stove retailer and the HETAS-registered installer told me there was no need for a separate liner, so I saved the money.

Chimney_Sweep_3

muckybutt wrote: »

OY !! I kinda object to that statement, there is no need to be registered for starters and secondly there is nothing wrong with turning up in a car :mad:
I am a sweep - have been for the last 8 1/2 years - never had a van, don't need one to be honest as everything I need is carried in separate totes.
I have all the correct gear - rods - brushes - removal tools - stove service kits etc, all of which fits neatly in the rear of the estate.

Don't tar everyone with the same brush, just because we aren't registered and don't have vans doesn't mean to say we are carp at the job we do thank you very much, I pride the jobs and advice I give out and I have often come across NACS jobs where their service has been below that I would have expected from a so called pro.



Thats why I mentioned grass cutting window cleaning and chimney sweep types, some un registered sweeps are very good and most likely better than many of the so called PRO reg`d sweeps.

mumf

I believe there are some here with issues about the HETAS fitters. That is another story though. I do my own chimneys, once a year.

Lotus-eater

I'm sure most HETAS fitters are great, the ones I had, I wouldn't trust now to fit a screwdriver into a toolbox.
And HETAS were less than useless in sorting it out, in fact they positively went out of their way to stop me complaining about said fitters. HETAS are a load of chancers, made up of salesmen who work for other salesmen.
Don't trust HETAS! Find your own local well regarded fitters.

If this helps one person out there, my job is done.

I have my chimney swept once a year and again, the quality of sweeps is very variable.
One damaged my gutters, one bullsh*tted me about the type of wood I should be burning (his BIL could have provided much better wood etc) the other one I found (and have kept with) has been great and knows what he is talking about.
He charges about £40.

PaulF81

Fully agree with the above. I fitted my own. If the next purchaser has an issue with that, I will rip it out and take it with me, free of cost.