Well I'm going to be about £400 out of pocket because I haven't been
cleaning my chimney properly.

It was built a bit over 20 years ago with an 8" clay liner. The
mistake I made was to sweep it with the ball, rope and brush I'd
inherited from my father who had used it to sweep large old fashioned
stone flues. I was always a bit suspicious it was too large a brush as
I was always struggling a bit to get it to reverse and come back up
again. So the nett result was that accumulatively over the years the
bottom section was not getting cleaned - even when I changed over to
rods and a smaller brush.

And of course the crisis arose when it finally wouldn't let any smoke
through at all !!

Call in the professionals - "It's blocked, sir - you've not been
sweeping it properly".

"Yes I know - and I plead guilty, but haven't you got a drain cleaner
like thing to clear it?"

These do exist but are not recommended for clay liners as they will
just chew through the liner where there is a bend. So the only
solution was to break into the flue from the room and clear it out.
Result two large sacks full of soot and a replastered patch on the
wall, that "her-indoors" is now going to use as an excuse for
re-decorating the room.

One thing I did get told was that if you are burning wood, it is best
to sweep the chimney quarterly (obviously with the right equipment).
The professionals do not rate the powder that I bought to crystalise
the creosote. Better to sweep regularly they insist.

I would certainly like to put in a plug for Paul Maclenachan near
Edinburgh; anyone with chimneys problems in the area, look him up in
the Yellow Pages - you won't be disappointed, he was excellent.

Rob

On 19 Nov 2005 11:28:52 -0800, "
wrote:

One thing I did get told was that if you are burning wood, it is best
to sweep the chimney quarterly

For most people, isn't that the same thing as sweping it annually?

I light my fire regularly, because otherwise I'd be knee-deep is sawdust
and offcuts. However it's only 3-4 months of the year where I'm really
burning it to keep warm and I just sweep it each Spring.

How many people are really running woodburners year round?

My chimney (Lumb as I live in Aberdeenshire) is eliptical in shape,
measuring 11" on the major axis and 9" on the minor axis. It is also
completely vertical. This is a single Lumb in an end gable Granite wall
and the house was built around 1870. I installed a Bont ESSE solid
fuel stove with a water jacket in 1983 and the Lumb has NEVER been
swept. I burn a smokeless fuel (Chinacite) and fallen Beech boughs when
available. About once a year, after heavy summer rain, some soot will
fall and restrict the 90° bend into the stove. I open the inspection
hatch and Hoover it out.

In retrospect I think I should have lined the Lumb with 5.5" pipe as
this is the size that comes out of the ESSE stove. Due to the change
in cross sectional area between the 5.5" and the eliptical Lumb there
is not a great deal of draughting and sometimes the fire will smoke
when the front doors are open.

Chris.

Don't know wher abouts you are, Andy, but October through to April for
us near Edinburgh. That'll be two sweeps a year from now on. The bill
for the immediate repair was £360 - don't know how much the total room
re-decorating is now going to cost for a patch about 600mm by 200mm.

Rob

wrote:
[blocked chimney] So the only
solution was to break into the flue from the room and clear it out.

If that really was the only solution, there's serious design fault
which ought to be adressed.