Winter woodstove prep

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michformulaS

michformulaS

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We bought our house last year and the #1 feature for me was a woodstove. I only burnt a couple cords of dry hardwood through it but am getting ready to burn a couple more this year. Should I hire somebody as a chimney sweep or find a way to clean it. I sent a couple chimney clean logs through it last year. I used to clean my dad's with him every fall with him on the roof and me at the clean out outside the house running a brush on a rope through. This house has a metal chimney that runs up 2 stories and about a 6 foot stainless chimney on the roof. What would you guys suggest? I don't have a clean out straight down like my dad's had.
 
i sweep mine out every year before burning for the season. don't want any build up in there.
 
I agree. Do I run a brush down into the stove itself? I will probably take a drive tomorrow to talk with the home depot / Lowes folks to see what I have for options. I wanted to see if there was a preferred method for a stove that has no access outside the house except the chimney on the roof and the stove itself.
 
If you have the cash hire a sweeper to do it. You do not want a fire, bird nests etc from sitting dormat all summer.

To keep it clean all season every Sunday, get the stove really hot, open all the flues and let it burn wide open for an hour or so. This will burn all of the creasode (sp) out of the pipe. Also if you throw a couple of pieces of OSB board in there it will even burn hotter.
 
I have a friend that bought a kit from Menards. It had a do-it-from-inside assembly. Basically it had a brush and fiberglass rods that screw together as needed. There was a tarp like thingy to hang on the front of the fireplace to keep the dust down. As I recall he would stick a shop vac under the tarp thingy and run a looong hose to the vac placed outdoors.
 
Thats all we used to have too was the chimney cap and the stove. We used a 6" round brush on 2 ropes, one to pull it down and one to pull it up. Our damper was right above the stove and we also had one of those "Magic Heat" units right above the damper. We would just unscrew the magic heat and set it aside and do the chimney and then reassemble the pipe. If you don't have a small section of pipe screwed in right above your damper, now would be the time to put one in for easier access next time. I grew up on a farm and our old Ben Franklin stove was the only thing that kept that old house above freezing. Good luck, Geof
 
Thanks, about every week I would bury the needle one my thermometers on the stove and chimney to make sure it was cleaned out. I would do this for a short period of time when I was home. What should a chimney sweep charge? There don't seem to be many in my area so I can't shop around. If a couple chimney sweeping logs and very hot fires should prevent creosote I am sure I am all set right now.

I appreciate the advice. I am not trying to be cheap but would rather do it myself or continue a maintenance system to not worry about it.
 
michformulaS said:
I agree. Do I run a brush down into the stove itself? I will probably take a drive tomorrow to talk with the home depot / Lowes folks to see what I have for options. I wanted to see if there was a preferred method for a stove that has no access outside the house except the chimney on the roof and the stove itself.
Click to expand...

i go one the roof and run the brush down it. but i only have a rancher. if i had a two story place i'd hire someone..
 
Thanks. I think I will see if I can get the two rope and brush system that I used with my dad growing up. With my shop vac I am sure I can keep the mess from coming in the house. I wish I had my dad's set up with the chimney coming straight down outside the house with a clean out on the bottom before it came in the house and went to the stove in the basement.
 
i use a brush like this.. [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Rutland-Products-16906-Chimney-Cleaning/dp/B000FKDMLO"]Amazon.com: Rutland Products 16906 6-Inch Poly Chimney Cleaning Brush: Home Improvement[/ame]


with the glass rods.. [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Imperial-Group-Br0307-Chimney-Brushes/dp/B000BQWW6S/ref=pd_bxgy_hi_img_b"]Amazon.com: Imperial Mfg Group 5Pc 4' Fbg Rod Kit Br0307 Chimney Brushes: Home Improvement[/ame]


i pull the stack off my stove (its collapsible) and put a bucket there and a towel to seal the stack to the bucket. then go to the roof, remove the cap and run the brush down. all the crap falls into the bucket, i attach the stack to the stove and i'm doe. takes longer to get the brush and all out of the basement and onto the roff then anything else..lol
 
I am pretty sure if you have kept it burnt out you should be good.

My grandpa built his house in 1973 and he said he never once swept the chimmely.
He just made sure to burn it real hot every Sunday after church.

He passed away 6yrs ago at 96, but one time I went up to visit him, he was 93 at the time and splitting wood with a maul, he said he could spit it faster than the log splitter my uncle bought him.

He also made sure that his wood was 3yrs dry in a shed.
 
Thanks. I think I will clean it out this year and if nothing much comes out I will continue with your grandpa's plan....I just hope it gets me to that kind of age. I bought my wood split last year around $50 a cord delivered. I will probably do the same this year but now that I finally have my own chainsaw and plenty of room to split my own I will go in this direction.....by the way my dad never bought his wood split...that is why he had a two boys. I have a little time to teach my 5 year old these wonderful skills
 
When I was but a young lad, my Dad would bring home a trailer load of pallets from work every day. It was myself and my brothers job to break up the pallets and bring all the wood in for Dad to burn. We would lay out the pallets in 2 long lines and race down to see who could break them up their line the fastest. Pallet lumber doesn't burn very long but man does it burn HOT!! One year we bought a ton of coal thinking that would extend the burn, but you had to break that up with a sledge into little chunks or the stove would just get too hot and turn cherry red. If you threw a few rock sized chunks in the box every once in a while you could get the temp just right. It used to scare the crap out of Grandma when the coal would "pop" and rattle the burners of that old stove. My mom hated burning coal because the house always smelled like a train yard and there was always a layer of black soot all over everything!! Ahh,, the good old days!! Geof
 
Another way is using a chain.

Lower the chain into the chimney from the top and then twirl it as you raise it up. With practice it becomes very easy to do and works great!
 
I am sure at the time that wasn't your fondest memories but I appreciate so much that time with my dad showing me how to split that wood with a maul now that I can't wait for the time to stand there with my son complaining about having to split wood. That was a big part of me being excited about buying this house. He will hate it at the time but some day he will have jaws wide open as he explains to his kids that he used to help his old man heat his house by splitting wood with an axe.
 
michformulaS said:
Thanks. I think I will clean it out this year and if nothing much comes out I will continue with your grandpa's plan....I just hope it gets me to that kind of age. I bought my wood split last year around $50 a cord delivered. I will probably do the same this year but now that I finally have my own chainsaw and plenty of room to split my own I will go in this direction.....by the way my dad never bought his wood split...that is why he had a two boys. I have a little time to teach my 5 year old these wonderful skills
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that the wood you are most likely buying is from down trees this year.
Grandpa's wood shed had three different colors.
You could tell the difference between the years of wood that was stacked in there and how long it was dry.
Yes he kept a 3 yr supply.
If the wood has alot of color in the core it is not all the way dry.
Wood that is dry all the way thru will be a off-white to tan color.
 
cosgig said:
When I was but a young lad, my Dad would bring home a trailer load of pallets from work every day. It was myself and my brothers job to break up the pallets and bring all the wood in for Dad to burn. We would lay out the pallets in 2 long lines and race down to see who could break them up their line the fastest. Pallet lumber doesn't burn very long but man does it burn HOT!! One year we bought a ton of coal thinking that would extend the burn, but you had to break that up with a sledge into little chunks or the stove would just get too hot and turn cherry red. If you threw a few rock sized chunks in the box every once in a while you could get the temp just right. It used to scare the crap out of Grandma when the coal would "pop" and rattle the burners of that old stove. My mom hated burning coal because the house always smelled like a train yard and there was always a layer of black soot all over everything!! Ahh,, the good old days!! Geof
Click to expand...
LOL as I read this I recalled the coal smell from back in the day. we had a warm morning stove that we'd have to "stoke" every morning and if you were the lucky one to get up first ...better hope one of the brothers or yourself brought in coal from the night before to get started with....

good times good times
 
michformulaS said:
I am sure at the time that wasn't your fondest memories but I appreciate so much that time with my dad showing me how to split that wood with a maul now that I can't wait for the time to stand there with my son complaining about having to split wood. That was a big part of me being excited about buying this house. He will hate it at the time but some day he will have jaws wide open as he explains to his kids that he used to help his old man heat his house by splitting wood with an axe.
Click to expand...

Wow ... funny story! I was raised splitting wood, getting up in the morning with no heat until you built a "far" I have girls and they live in the lap of luxury wouldnt have a clue what to do with a coal or wood stove. I've ruined them while all the time claiming they would grow up knowing how to live. Man I do miss it although it was hard. My girls are dadgum city slickers and spoiled rotten.
 
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