Chimney sweep and flue cleaning in South Apopka

Why chemical sprays do not replace brushing

Chimney cleaning sprays and powders are sold with the promise of loosening creosote. Some can change how a deposit behaves, but none of them carry it out of the flue. Mechanical brushing is still what removes the material, and whatever a product loosens still has to be brushed down and carried out.

Manufacturer instructions are cautious about chemicals. One maker of metal chimneys says to use chemical cleaners only as a last resort, and only products whose manufacturer specifically warrants them as non-corrosive to the chimney. A spray that is harmless on clay tile may not be harmless on a stainless system.

Our crew brushes first. Where a glazed deposit calls for a chemical treatment, we use one made for that job, apply it per its label, check it against the chimney maker's instructions and list it on your estimate as a separate line.

A treated log does not sweep a chimney

Some logs are sold as chimney cleaners. Whatever a treated log does to deposits while it burns, it does not brush the flue walls, empty the smoke shelf or let anyone see the condition of the lining. Anything it loosens has to land somewhere, often on the smoke shelf of a masonry fireplace, where it still needs to be removed.

EPA guidance adds a related caution. Many wax and sawdust logs are made for open fireplaces only, so a stove or insert owner should check the appliance instructions before burning any manufactured log.

If you have used a treated log, tell our technicians when they arrive. It does not change the sweep, but it helps explain what they find in the smoke chamber. The brushes and the visual check still do the real work.

Stove habits that coat the flue faster

How a wood stove is run changes how much creosote it leaves in the flue. EPA guidance points to a few habits. Turning the air down to stretch a load into a long, smoldering burn starves the fire of air. Packing the firebox full for a longer burn also adds to the buildup and can damage the firebox.

The same guidance says to keep the stove doors closed except when loading or stoking, and to build hot fires rather than smoldering ones.

When our crew sweeps a stove chimney, the deposits show how the stove has been run, and they share what they see along with any change that would help.

• Hot fires instead of smoldering loads
• Doors closed except when loading or stoking
• No overloading the firebox for a longer burn
• Only dry, split, seasoned wood

The tee cap at the base of an outside metal chimney

Some wood stoves vent through a wall into a metal chimney that runs up the outside of the house. At the bottom of that outside run there is often a tee with a removable cleanout cap. One maker's instructions, for its DuraTech chimney, describe taking off that tee cap for cleaning and putting it back when the cleaning is finished.

The tee is where brushing debris collects, and it is also where it comes out. Our crew brushes the chimney from the top or from the tee, empties the soot through the cleanout and cleans the horizontal pipe that runs through the wall to the stove.

The cap has to go back on firmly, or rain and animals get a way in. If it is rusted, bent or missing, our technicians quote the matching part from the same maker, since a factory-built chimney keeps its listed parts. That shows up as a separate item on the estimate.