Clean your Chimney People

"zeontestpilot" (zeontestpilot) 03/04/2016 at 08:00 • Filed to: Houselopnik

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One of my neighbors had a chimney fire last night. A total of three fire trucks came. I waved to them. As a concerned neighbor, and really curious on what was happening, I watched absolutely nothing transpire because it was already over.

The owner said he had it cleaned two years ago, which is dandy but every year is optimal and highly recommended. Also, I met a neighbor who I never met before, a older single lady. Found out she hasn’t cleaned her chimney either; she has only been using creosote logs, which only loosens the buildup but doesn’t truly compare to actually doing a chimney sweep. I offered to clean it next summer, since I have most of the tools already, but I then found out she uses her fireplace for ambience sometimes at night. So I’ll have to help her out sooner. Good Samaritan, right?

tl:dr - sweep your chimneys folks. It’s in your best interest. Also, if a fire truck drifts on your street, that's not a good sign.

nafsucof > zeontestpilot 03/04/2016 at 08:04

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Exactly, once a year minimum, twice if you burn a lot! My neighbor had a chimney fire maybe 10 years ago, almost lost a 150yo home worth 1/2 a mil.

zeontestpilot > nafsucof 03/04/2016 at 08:17

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And it's pretty easy to do on your own, at least I thought it was. I did mine.

zeontestpilot > nafsucof 03/04/2016 at 08:18

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And it's pretty easy to do on your own, at least I thought it was. I did mine.

OPPOsaurus WRX > zeontestpilot 03/04/2016 at 08:32

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i gutta disagree, if the firetruck drifts your street it means the driver hit lvl 99 balla driver

zeontestpilot > OPPOsaurus WRX 03/04/2016 at 08:42

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It started to slide right towards me, by feet. It was still 8' away, but still! I caught me by surprise, I thought the heavy weight would restrict its drifting movement. Also, it got stuck when it tried to leave, when I found amusing.

OPPOsaurus WRX > zeontestpilot 03/04/2016 at 08:47

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i’ve seen an ambulance stuck, i was going to stop to help but I figured the firefighters from the 2 trucks would do better and i’d just get in the way. I’d say a fire truck would be one of the better vehicles to get hit by as the help is right there but then again thats a big mofo to get hit by and you’d probably end up like a bug

zeontestpilot > OPPOsaurus WRX 03/04/2016 at 08:53

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I would be scared to get hit by a fire truck, that’s a lot of moving weight at one time, -_-

nafsucof > zeontestpilot 03/04/2016 at 09:04

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Really? Inexpensive to buy the sweeper or rented from tool rental?

Ash78, voting early and often > zeontestpilot 03/04/2016 at 09:09

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I didn’t even know this was A Thing, but almost all houses in the South with fireplaces converted to natural gas a long time ago. My rental house still has logs and the tenants asked if they could have a fire...I just said "at your own risk" (honestly, I'd love the house to burn down so I could build something new...)

yitznewton > OPPOsaurus WRX 03/04/2016 at 09:42

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We had a Crown Vic cop car get stuck on our corner a few years ago... took a Durango full of cops (one in their PJs) to get them out

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > zeontestpilot 03/04/2016 at 10:05

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You know how to sweep chimneys?

Useful information lol

zeontestpilot > nafsucof 03/04/2016 at 10:15

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I bought mine, since I have a wood burner. It was $15-$25 for the brushhead (you have to get one that fits in the chimney, square brush for square hole and circle brush for circle hole, don’t mix and match), and about $10 per rod (3' each). I have a tall chimney, so I use like 5 to 6 of them together.

When doing it, you have to make sure the rods are always tight, otherwise something might fall off and you’re screwed, lol.

zeontestpilot > Ash78, voting early and often 03/04/2016 at 10:17

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Usually renters aren’t allowed to use a fireplace or wood burner, at least around here. We have a furnace and wood burner on one side of the house, and a natural gas fireplace on the other side.

Plus, what wood you burn is a completely new variable. Is it dry enough, what kind of wood is it, etc.

zeontestpilot > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/04/2016 at 10:19

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I know enough to get by, lol. I've done my chimney before, since I'm cheap and didn't want to pay anyone. It's really straightforward, climb on the roof, stick the brush and rod down the chimney, make sure nothing gets unscrewed, lol.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > zeontestpilot 03/04/2016 at 10:31

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Hahaha.

Well our chimney situation. We have 2.

One is the flue from the gas furnace/gas hot water heater. We had to have that one relined when we bought the house. It had loose tiles in it and the way the previous owners had the exhaust from the hot water heater and furnace put into it incorrectly (aka dangerously). So we had all that repaired.

We also have one for a natural wood burning fire place. It also has lose tiles which are dangerous as hell. we had it swept just to get it clean and they were there anyhow, but until we can get a liner into that one it’s never going to be used. We’d really prefer to just line it and convert to gas as its on that lower level and removing ash would be a pain in the butt anyhow. But we’ve lived there for about a year and a half - zero fires inside because of it.

We also had no caps poured for the tops of both chimneys, the flashing replaced around them and the brick sealed on the outside.

zeontestpilot > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/04/2016 at 10:52

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I also put a chimney cap on mine, super easy too. A screw on each corner, just tighten them.

A natural gas fireplace is a good idea, we have one plus the wood burner. I’ve never used a fireplace, but the wood burner is by far the best heat source...ever.

Our natural gas fireplace heats up a room that is equivalent to a two car garage (technically that’s what it is). Ours doesn’t need to vent at all, so all the heat goes directly into the big room. Really convenient since there's no other heat source for that room.

Laying the pipe down for the natural gas is a pain, I helped my gpa do that to our house. Our pipe is along the back side of the house, and it has to be sprayed to prevent rusting. I wasn't aware of that, so i sprayed after it was already drilled into the cement bricks. I have a nice brown splotch on the side of my house now, lol.

nafsucof > zeontestpilot 03/04/2016 at 10:56

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Good info thanks!

zeontestpilot > nafsucof 03/04/2016 at 11:12

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Any time, I love to help!

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > zeontestpilot 03/04/2016 at 11:26

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haha It’s going to be tricky to get the gasline over there because it’s half under ground is the biggest challenge.

I mis spoke when I said caps, we did that too but we had no crowns poured, the concrete square around the top of the chimney.

zeontestpilot > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/04/2016 at 12:47

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Put the gas line through the basement ceiling and have it go down. That’s how our furnace is. Otherwise you can have it on the outside of the house, then enter where you need it, that’s how our gas fireplace is.

The reason we’ve kept our wood burner, is because if we lose power we still have a heat source that doesn’t require electricity. It’s happened before, :). So a normal fireplace ain’t a bad idea. As you probably know, heat rises, so if your fireplace is in the basement, it’ll heat up that room and rise to the other areas of the house, :). Plus it’s a great way to teach kids the importance of fire safety, lol. We have enough wood for about a week of no power. I'm not taking chances this year, :).

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > zeontestpilot 03/04/2016 at 12:52

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our house layout doesn’t really work for that, it may have to go outside, which sucks.

And if I lose electric the whole area is screwed. Underground wires direct to the sub-station which is about a quarter mile from my house lol.

zeontestpilot > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/04/2016 at 13:10

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Hopefully you have a generator, or a way to have backup heat? I learned my lesson after that ice storm two years ago.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > zeontestpilot 03/04/2016 at 13:29

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Nope. It’s not a bad idea but it’s really not a big risk for us where we live.