Chimney Sweeping and Maintenance Tips

View PDF | Print View
by: oscarplatikus
Total views: 3
Word Count: 538
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2011 Time: 3:07 AM
0 comments

All fireplaces and open fires require that you perform regular maintenance th ensure their safety and that they are working efficiently. With out this basic work, the risk of a chimney fire or carbon monoxide poisoning rises dramatically.

One of the key bits of maintenance is the sweeping of the chimney stack or flue. All of the carbon and other waste products created from the burning of solid fuel gets removed. Since each type of fuel, wood, coal, gas, etc., produces different types of waste, then there are different schedules that should be followed for sweeping.

Wood burning fires- Four times a year

Coal and smokeless fuel- Twice a year

Gas - Once yearly

A professional flue sweep will use a variety of brushes and implements that are attached to rods which are fed upward from the base of the chimney to clear the soot from the walls of the chimney or the liner.

The right time to have the flue cleaned is at the beginning of fall, right after the soot has had chance to dry during the summer and is tough and brittle. This assists the chimney sweep, and is easily removed. Alternatively sweeping right after the fire has been used continually for a couple days, which creates the same result. The loose soot and creosote will then drop to the base of the flue stack, where the sweep can get rid of it all by using a strong industrial vacuum.

While the cleaning takes place, the chimney sweep will be able to create a professional judgment of the condition of the chimney as a whole. The brickwork may be failing in parts, which can lead to exhaust from the fire escaping into the home. This is prevalent with older properties as the mortar between the bricks has a limited life span, and starts to crumble away over time, and through continually warming up and cooling. The answer to this is to get the chimney relined. This can be a necessary but expensive project.

There are lots of products that are available on the market:

Concrete liner - An expansive template is placed within the full altitude of the chimney stack and concrete is poured around it. When the concrete has gone hard the templet is removed and a smaller concrete flue is left. A good solution but has problems where the stack has bends within it.

Clay, pumice stone, ceramic liners - are mainly installed in new properties, but when they are used on older buildings it is often the case to have to remove sections of the chimney wall and set up the liner and then reconstruct and move up the stack stage by stage. The most expensive product but long term the strongest solution.

Stainless steel liners - installed by dropping the liner down the existing chimney and capping off at the top and bottom. Insulation is placed around the liner to keep the liner in place and to assist with the pull of smoke from the fire. By far the cheapest option, but only a temporary solution of 10 to 20 years.

About the Author

For more information on deshollinadores madrid visit Yansil J. Pactrico from http://www.deshollinadosexpress.com/