Know Anything About Chimney Sweeping?

UnderPressure

Now then, what an afternoon I have had, all in the name of saving a few quid!!

Our chimney at home has not been swept for around 4 years, we only ever use the open fire in Winter and then not all the time, when in use we usually burn a mixture of coal and logs. My better half tried to light a fire last week and the whole of the downstairs ended up filled with smoke, I decided the chimney must be in desperate need of sweeping, it is quite hard where I live to get a chimney sweep and the prices tend to be a bit to keen as well so off to Amazon I went and bought a kit containing 30 foot of drain roads and a 400mm nylon brush.

The last time we had it cleaned I made sure to pay attention and to be honest it seemed like money for nothing, not much effort involved no hassle.............how wrong could I have been!

I dust sheeted the fireplace off, made a hole in the middle, connected the brush to the 1st rod and shoved it up the first part of the chimney, so far so good, connected the next 4 drain rods no problem then it would push no further, lots of huffing and puffing it was lodged and would not go any further, so I pulled all the rods from the chimney and tried to put just the rods up with no brush, these went straight to the top and out of the top of the chimney no issue (chimney not capped) so I decided as all it needed was some brute force............I was wrong I tried everything and could not get past that point with the brush attached, got loads and loads of soot and at least a hundred twigs out of the bottom half of the chimney so decided it definitely needed to have the top half clean, I will give it up as a bad job and see if I can research it or get a chimney sweep in.

Started pulling the rods back down undid, the first one, started pulling the next one down and bam, completely stuck, gets to a point where there is 4 rods and brush up there and it just will not come down past this point, I am a big lad and even with all my weight on it (which would turn most things blue ) it will not budge not an inch!

So no I have the brush and 4 rods stuck up the chimney, I can push it up a little and rotate it nut it will not for love nor money come back down! I did on previous attempts cut the brush down, firs to about 12 inches and now it is down to about 8 inches in diameter, it should come easy it did on all the other attempts but now it is down to the 8 inch size it is stuck solid!

Any ideas anyone? I would still love to finish this job myself I hate paying for stuff like this when really I should be able to do it but I am completely flummoxed and feeling very very stressed out :mad:

Thanks in advance kind fellow MSE'rs

fluffymuffy

Watch this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82RuHdRLzfM and you'll see why your brush is stuck.

UnderPressure

fluffymuffy wrote: »

Watch this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82RuHdRLzfM and you'll see why your brush is stuck.

Hello

Thanks for that link, wow bit of an eye opener crikey that one was blocked solid! I do not think this is my problem though as mine is drawing quite well now, I can feel the drawing effect in the fire place and also I managed quite easily to get the rods without the brush straight out of the top of the chimney.

I am thinking that there may be some kind of ledge half way up and because the bristles are shorter then it is getting really stuck and unable to bend then over the ledge, I was hoping someone would say something similar and then have some kind of a solution, I don't ask for much do I? :cool:

As said I know it is not totally blocked as been able to get the rods up the with ease

UnderPressure

Maybe I should order one of these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Digital-Microscope-Endoscope-Recording-Inspection/dp/B009GBTJC4/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1386862664&sr=8-13&keywords=snake+camera

At least then I can see the chimney from the inside, I think this would be much better because I can also then see it is properly clean.

??

System

Reminds me of our attempt at DIY chimney sweeping. I guess there was more soot than we expected. One rumble and the blasted living room was coated in black soot. Twas about 15 years ago and although I can laugh about it now, it wasn't very funny at the time.


Hope you get your blockage sorted UnderPressure.

shegar

You would probaly be better if you put this thread on the ( Utilities and heating thread) where there is some very knowledgable people that work with fires, chimneys etc etc .........

Tiffany_Aching

We also only use our open fire in the winter and only burn coal and logs. I have to say that I don't think I would sweep my own chimney! Our sweep charges £60 and he comes to sweep our chimney once a year. He is part of a recognised body of chimney sweeps, tells us the condition of the chimney, has a good look at the outside of the chimney and also gives us a certificate for insurance purposes.

I believe this to be money very well spent.

mttylad

The last time I contacted a sweeper he wanted to do it from the top!

I decided to save £90 and do it myself, a set of rods was only £22 ish.

vaio

we do ours DIY and when it get stuck it always comes out with a combination of up & down and clockwise rotation

I'd guess one of the results of having a big brush is that it tends to keep the solid bits (boss & rods etc) central in the flue and away from any little ledges so when you do it next time treat yourself to a new brush and don't trim it down

[Deleted User]

I got a chimney sweep earlier in the year and it was a nightmare trying to get one. The one I've used a few times in the past had retired, another one a rang from the phonebook number did not exist. Another one a phoned who also ran a fireplace shop but couldn't come out for over 2 weeks. No good when couldn't use fire due to chimney being near blocked.

Got one in the end but I think he was just a diyer with a set of rods after some easy money. Didn't do a good job.

greyteam1959

Brute force is probably not the way to get the rods & brush down.
As the other poster said try turning the rods clockwise & move them gently up & down might take a bit of doing but they will come down eventually.
HTH