noproblemo2
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chimney sweep???
Does anyone know of someone to clean chimneys in the Rosarito/Ensenada area???
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monoloco
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It is pretty easy to do yourself, just buy the brushes and extensions and use a shop vac in the fire box.
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toneart
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| Quote: | Originally posted by monoloco
It is pretty easy to do yourself, just buy the brushes and extensions and use a shop vac in the fire box. |
I do it myself. You have to be able to climb a tall ladder and crawl onto the roof though. It is easier going up than coming down. The ladder likes to
slip sideways. Gauging your balance is crucial.
Here is a tip: buy the brush (be sure you get the right one for the size of your chimney) and rather than buy the extensions, glue a long length of
1/2" PVC together onto the brush. It is flexible and easy to use. Just plunge it up and down the whole length of the stove pipe a few times.
I have an 8" wide chimney and a wood burning stove. I also have to unscrew the chimney cap. Be sure to take a wire brush up with you to scrub the
creosote off of the inside of the cap. I do this on a couple of sheets of newspaper which I also take up with me.
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noproblemo2
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doing it ourselves is not an option, dh lost his balance ability to a mini-stroke a few yrs ago, so need someone to do it.
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DENNIS
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| Quote: | Originally posted by noproblemo2
doing it ourselves is not an option, dh lost his balance ability to a mini-stroke a few yrs ago, so need someone to do it. |
You can do it..............never mind. 
How about those chiminey sweep Presto Logs that are supposed to remove all the dangerous stuff. Do they work? Saw them advertised on TV the other
day.
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Bajahowodd
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Work about as well as Enzyte, I'm told.
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Gypsy Jan
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Hi, noproblemo2
Please send me a U2U with your contact info (local Rosarito phone number or email, whatever you are comfortable with) and I think we can help you out.
GJ
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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noproblemo2
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Sent U2U Jan
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wessongroup
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Long ago, used to just build a hot pine fire and it would use it "clean" just about everything out.. it's a big, no.. no, I have been told many many
times.
My cousins used to use a logging chain and pulled that "through" a couple of times (they are really cowboys)
There wife's weren't too happy about the way they did things... but they got er done...
I never caught the place on fire, but have to say a couple of times it was looking a little scary and it sounded like a jet was taking off..
I'm looking for a air tight wood burning stove right now.... they are hard to find down here...
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noproblemo2
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VERY hard to come by here!!!! When we bought house #1 there was one in it, so we installed it wish we had taken to #2 with us, but #3 will be a
propane fireplace, getting too old to be hauling wood in and ashes out!!!
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Gypsy Jan
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Instructions for Cleaning a Chimney
Mr. GJ talked to noproblemo2 and he wanted me to post a written version of his advice:
1) Set up the fireplace with paper, kindling and logs READY TO BURN—DO NOT LIGHT THEM YET!
2) Tightly wad up a newspaper, making a bundle 2 or 3 feet in length. Light a fire on one end, and get the flame going.
3) Hold the flaming newspaper above your fireplace set up and as close to the flue as possible. The objective is to get warm air GOING UP THE
CHIMNEY. If there is no obvious fire or smoke going up the chimney, go around the house and close windows and doors—all the openings to the outside.
Once you have newspaper fire and smoke GOING UP THE CHIMNEY, let that fire continue (you may need to use two rolled up news papers, KEEP IT ALL WARM
4) Light your fireplace kindling. The smoke and fire should be going up the chimney. Let that fire burn for 6 or 7 hours and keep it running rather
hot. This will burn up anything caught up there.
5) If there is any smoke coming back into the house and not going up the chimney, then you need to experiment with finding ONE opening around the
house that will gently blow air into the house and force the fireplace to draw everything up the chimney. You may have to vary the opening location,
because winds shift, and you should get to know which openings to work with. DO NOT SIMPLY THROW OPEN EVERYTHING ALL AT ONCE, THAT IS A REAL NO NO!
Good luck!
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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maspacifico
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As a former chimney sweep this might get too long......and revert into an FM3 answer! What a cleaning does is remove most of the creosote that clings
to the inside of the fireplace/flue. This is a safety thing...I have seen really thick buildups and the fireplace is still drawing fine. If you want
it cleaned to make it draw better (assuming it did work at one time) you probably have a screen up top that is clogged, your damper isn't open or not
opening all the way, or, you installed a new exaust fan somewhere in the house, or put an addition onto the house that is higher than the chimney top.
If I had a cement roof and nothing flammable within a couple hundred feet I might try to start a chimney fire...friends and I did that in a rental
before I knew anything, we stuffed dried Xmas trees in the fireplace! It gets real hot and loud....on second thought I wouldn't do it with Mexican
construction!! That's the best way to get rid of most of the creosote but after a chimney fire there is a lot of burnt up stuff that looks like a
honeycomb, the creosote sort of puffs up as it burns. That junk has to be removed or you will clog it up. Another little tidbit...when you brush the
flue (the tube/square/oblong opening from the top to the fireplace) 95% of what you remove will end up on the smokeshelf above the fireplace behind
the damper. If you don't get that stuff out you didn't do much except get most of the creosote right above the flames. Stoves and inserts have their
own problems especially near the salt air.
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toneart
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MasPacifico,
Can you talk further about the problems with stoves and inserts? You mentioned salt air. Are you talking about rust or corrosion of the metal
stovepipe?
What you say is true regarding fireplaces with a Count Rumsford type shelf.
I have a woodburning stove with an 8" chimney and the brush pushes right through, into the firebox. The chimney is double walled (or is that called
triple walled) through the attic and roof, and single walled inside the house.
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maspacifico
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toneart,
Yes corrosion. There were stoves that I wouldn't clean because I could see rust spots forming and back then there were no closed circuit TV gizmos to
see what you couldn't see! Stoves are much better than fireplaces though. Best way to heat your house with a fireplace is to close it up!
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noproblemo2
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| Quote: | Originally posted by maspacifico
As a former chimney sweep this might get too long. start a chimney fire...That junk has to be removed or you will clog it up. Another little
tidbit...when you brush the flue (the tube/square/oblong opening from the top to the fireplace) 95% of what you remove will end up on the smokeshelf
above the fireplace behind the damper. If you don't get that stuff out you didn't do much except get most of the creosote right above the flames.
Stoves and inserts have their own problems especially near the salt air. |
Frankly, this seems to be the best explanation, I know it worked very well til she had her boyfriend clean it, as we lived there until last fall. So
how does one get rid of the creosote if this has happened?
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maspacifico
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toneart...yes, corrosion. The heat plus the salt air really eat things away. I always worried about knocking sections of metal pipe loose. Now there
are those nice closed circuit TV's that let you see what is happening. Probably hard to find down here though...maybe a plumber? By the way, that is
bad stuff to breathe in and make sure you wash it off quick....the effects are worse when exposed to sunlight. Knock on wood I'm OK....except for this
twitch....twitch..twitch.
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toneart
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| Quote: | Originally posted by maspacifico
toneart...yes, corrosion. The heat plus the salt air really eat things away. I always worried about knocking sections of metal pipe loose. Now there
are those nice closed circuit TV's that let you see what is happening. Probably hard to find down here though...maybe a plumber? By the way, that is
bad stuff to breathe in and make sure you wash it off quick....the effects are worse when exposed to sunlight. Knock on wood I'm OK....except for this
twitch....twitch..twitch. |
Thanks, Mas.
I think I have seen one of those cameras during my visit to my Gastrointerologist. (I always try not to breathe in the bad stuff. ) I'll see if I
can borrow his.
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