DIY Chimney Sweeping

squigglebit

I've seen brush sets for less than what I pay for a sweep.
Now my question is, does anyone do it there self? is it safe? is it difficult? or anything else I need to know.

I'm more than happy to pay for a professional if that's the best option.

Grumpelstiltskin

I would pay a professional. soot is very very difficult to get rid of if you spill any.

tacpot12

In terms of risk, you might accidentally dislodge a loose brick or a birdsnest, or even push the chimney pot off the chimney stack, which might crash through your roof.  It probably is a job you could do yourself, but soot is dreadful stuff. If you can find a sweep, it will be worth paying them to clean the chimneys. 

Mistral001

I do my own chimney sweeping.  I use a home made bush using branches of holly tied to the end of some fibreglass rods salvaged from a windsurfing sail.  The branches need to be tied very well to the end of a rods. I  tie a rope to the holy "brush" in case it comes off somewhere in the flue. 

I cannot remember where I got the idea about the holy branches from.  I think it was my granny years ago.  It is much gentler than the commercial brushes, so it might not get the flue spotless.  The soot does not come down in billowing gusts that fill the room like you would think it would.  It falls down a bit like how dry fine sand falls when it is poured from a bag.  So I do not need to take special precautions to deal with the soot.  I just brush it up into a shovel and put it in the bin.

Jellytotts

We had a set of rods and brushes and I used to do our open fire every other year.  A sheet attached to the fire place prevented too much stuff going anywhere and we have an ash hoover (a Lidl special) that dealt with the resulting mess nicely.

We've since moved and have a log burner so I'll let the professionals do that.

Apintplease

We have a stove with a double insulated flu and we sweep ours

Its not a brush, more of a bung and our flu isn't that long being as the stove is upstairs

You can do it yourselves with the correct tools. As long as you are burning the correct fuel efficiently, there will be very little soot

For us we use smokeless or well seasoned logs. We don't have a problem with the glass blackening and we use the stove as it should be used, burning hot, no smouldering. We sweep out very very little soot. We only clean yearly to ensure we aren't getting resin deposits. 12 years and touch wood we are doing things right

button_box

My husband cleans the chimney for our open fire and the flue for our stove. We have a set of drainage rods (and brush) which we keep for the purpose. (We also have a set of drainage rods for drains!) When he does the open fire he has an old thick sheet which he puts over the mantle-piece and tucks in at the sides to stop any soot coming into the room.There is a hole in the middle of the sheet and once he has the brush in place he then threads the drainage rods through the hole and pushes them up the chimney. He has been cleaning our chimney for years with no problem. Any soot that comes down is vacuumed up. He knows exactly how many drainage rode he needs. If you were going to do it yourself you would have to get someone outside to tell you as soon as the brush came out,so that you didn't keep adding more and more brushes.If you are in a rented property it may be in your lease that you have to get  a professional sweep who gives you a  certificate to say it has been swept.  I have also seen a hoover for ash and soot in Lidl  and should imagine this will be the time of year when they will be on offer.

Frith

I’ve done mine for the last 20 years (no heating in my house besides the stove) and parents have done theirs for past 50 years, without incident. 

To be fair, as mine is on full blast in the winter, I’ve forcibly and accidentally cleaned it by setting the soot on fire a couple of times. 

berries

I've got a open fire which I sweep out twice a year or more depending on if I've forgotten to write a date down. So better safe than sorry to.be done more.

I've got a set of rods and brushes works a treat once I got the hand of it!! 

echos_mum

We learnt that it is the INSURANCE companies that will only pay out for a chimney fire, or a damaged chimney, if you can show an ANNUAL certificate from a properly registered Chimney Sweep. So my advice is to check your household policy wording (buildings AND contents as both can be affected by fire) and if in doubt, call your insurance company. A small annual charge could save a massive payout if you find you are not insured for a DIY job.