How do I clean this chimney?

[deanbrown3d]

Hi I'm completely new to chimneys, and my new house has one. Its a brick structure in the middle of the house, starts in the basement, which has a wood fire, up through the 1st floor (another wood fireplace) and through the second floor and roof.

Now, how do I clean the living room's flu? If I push a brush down from the roof, there is no direct line to the living room fireplace (it has a bend), so I'm just not sure where it would all go? I didn't notice an ash door in the basement, but I guess I may have missed it.

Thanks for any insight,

*Dean

[deanbrown3d]

Oh btw I'm, not that lazy! I don't live there yet, so I can't go to the basement right now to check.

[Matt]

Dean,

You have a new house.

Would be a shame to die falling off the roof trying to learn how to do something you have no experience at.

Call a chimney sweep; watch him, and next time, if you feel like it - DIY.

[m Ransley]

Call a pro, they do a clean job you dont want to learn on or fall. You do it and it will be a mess.

[toller]

I have two fireplaces on opposite sides of the chimney. They have separate flues. You just have one flue?

[William Deans]

Greetings,

I am very sorry to hear that you want to know how to clean your chimney and people just tell you that you're too stupid and you'll break your neck. Please don't listen to these guys. You will need to clean your chimney every year and the price adds up. It will also take you longer to hire someone and wait around for them than to do it yourself after you have a couple years worth of experience.

Unfortunately your chimney description is not enough for us to have a full understanding of your chimney's construction. I will tell you that I own a number of houses with a bend in the chimney. When the bend is substantial there is usually an access door of some kind near the bend. In one instance I had to remove bricks to create an access door. Sometimes the access door exists but has been concealed. If you don't have an access door look double hard to figure out why you don't need one before removing bricks.

Hope this helps, William

PS: Some people swear you can just burn a chimney cleaning log (in each fireplace).

[newsgroups01REMOVEME]

Ah to add a little to your good information, watch him, but only so you know he's doing the work. Then everytime you need a cleaning, call him back. What is a $90 job/year verses getting laid up in the hospital.

Just saying........

later,

tom @