Cleaning your Chimney is vital. For safety purposes, you should clean your chimneys regularly. Keeping your chimney clean helps prevent house fires.
When you ignite a fire in your fireplace, two things happen. First, chimney soot starts to form. Second, creosote builds up. It is a heavy, thick, oily residue similar to tar, a byproduct of burning wood. While soot is more easily removed, creosote adheres to the chimney lining. It can be hazardous due to its high flammability. It is a no-brainer that having more creosote intensifies the fire risk.
You don’t want to risk your life and charming house by leaving your chimneys uncleaned. The best Chimney cleaning Charleston has to offer is your best friend. Call them to do the cleaning.
How to clean chimneys?
First Step:
Prepare all the equipment and materials:
You will need the following:
- Dust mask
- Safety glasses
- Safety Harness
- Ladder
- Drill
- Screwdriver
- Vacuum
- Flashlight
- Chimney brushes
- Extension rods
- Sheet plastic
- Duct tape
Conduct an assessment. Put on the eye protection and a dust mask you prepared beforehand, clean the ashes from the firebox and remove the grate. Then, before opening the damper, open a door or window and wait a few minutes for the pressures to equalize. Then, after a few minutes, open the damper and wait for the heat to rise from the house. Lean into the firebox with your brightest flashlight and a fireplace poker.
Close the fireplace. Open the fireplace damper completely. Cut a generous 6-foot long by a 4-foot wide section of sheet plastic and tape it with duct tape to the floor in front of the fireplace. Cut another piece of sheet plastic at least 12 inches longer and wider than the fireplace opening. Tape it over the fireplace to keep debris out.
Start scrubbing the Chimney. Scrub the Chimney with only one rod on the brush at a time, beginning at the top and working your way down. Scrub until the first rod is finished. Screw your next rod onto the back of the first rod. Brush downwards, adding more sticks as needed until you can’t go any further. You will eventually reach the smoke shelf, which is a common stopping point for most do-it-yourself chimney sweeping operations.
Remove the brush while scrubbing. Remove the brush in a single motion. Instead, use this time to lightly scrub up and down while pulling the rod assembly upward. Remove a rod and set it aside when you reach a joining point.
Remove all of the soot from the smoke shelf with the noodle brush.
Afterward, using the long-handled brush, clean the sides of the firebox.
Finally, vacuum the entire firebox. The poly sheeting and canvas tarp should then be folded and moved outside. Clean them out by shaking them off, and then put them back in the fireplace chimney the next time you clean them.
Get rid of the creosote. You may be able to throw away the sandy creosote deposits in a garbage bag through your regular trash collection method, depending on local regulations in your area. However, always check with your local town hall or waste disposal facility to see if there are any specific guidelines or instructions for disposing of creosote from your Chimney.
Clean the materials you used. Cleaning after your workplace is a rule of thumb. Put out and store all the materials you used. After, clean the place down the Chimney. You can also remove the covers that you taped before cleaning.
Properly storing all the materials and equipment is vital; this way, you know when to find them the next time you will clean your Chimney.
All in all, cleaning a chimney can be a DIY, but if the creosote is too thick, calling Chimney sweep Charleston SC best companies is your most sound decision.