Cleaned my chimney with a sooteater today as i ve done for the past 3 years.
Best way to clean chimney liner.
Remove the damper plate which is turned by a lever to keep warm air from rushing out of the top of the chimney out of the metal frame or damper that it sits in.
Chimney liners come in sizes of 4 inches 6 inches 8 inches and 10 inches.
Note that i also use rutland creosote remover which seems to do a good job of turning sticky creosote into an easily removed brittle powder.
Of all the chores you scramble to stay on top of in your home cleaning brass cleaning grout cleaning up mold regular cleaning chances are cleaning the chimney is not at the top of your list while you re cozied up in front of the fireplace gazing into the crackling flames sooty buildup and flammable residue aren t exactly romantic things to think about out of sight out of mind right.
When choosing a brush be sure to select one that is the same size as your chimney liner.
How to clean your own chimney since every chimney and setup is different you may have to modify these steps to meet your specific chimney design however the process should be very similar.
Among the best reasons for relining a masonry chimney is that it wasn t built right in the first place that is without a flue liner a material that provides a smooth relatively seamless surface as well as insulation.
If your brush is too small it will not effectively clean the entire inside of your chimney liner and if it is too big it will not fit.
Or more layer of buildup the thickness of a nickel call a chimney sweep.
This can be done by pulling out.
Tips for keeping your chimney clean.
I probably got 2 quarts of powdered creosote from our stainless liner.
Burning well seasoned dry wood is one way to minimize creosote production.
According to the chimney safety institute of america csia chimney fires can reach 2 000f which is hot enough to crack masonry chimney liners and potentially start a fire in the surrounding wood framing.
A quick way to tell if your chimney needs cleaning is to run the point of your fireplace poker along the inside of your chimney liner.
Look for cracks in the chimney liner damage to the chimney crown or damage to the chimney damper or flue.