If you re not experienced working on the roof of a house or if your roof is particularly steep hire a professional or consider the bottom up method of cleaning the chimney from the fireplace.
How to clean your chimney from inside.
Measure your chimney flue.
Here are the steps for cleaning your chimney yourself.
How to clean your chimney.
It will be either square or round 6 or 8 determine the height of the chimney.
First you remove the creosote that has built up on the inside of the chimney walls.
When you clean your own chimney you accomplish three things.
To clean your chimney you ll have to use properly sized tools.
Determine the size and shape of the flue.
Also wear protective equipment such as a dust mask and eye protection while cleaning a chimney.
If you find a 1 8 in.
How to clean your chimney.
You may choose to call in a chimney sweep or clean the chimney by yourself.
Or more layer of buildup the thickness of a nickel call a chimney sweep.
There isn t a simple rule of thumb on how often to clean your chimney such as cleaning after 50 uses or one year.
Chimney sweeps may see 40 to 50 chimney fires a year and more than half of the chimneys they service require.
While it s a very good idea to have the chimney inspected by a csia professional serious diyers can do some maintenance themselves.
Stay safe by practicing good ladder safety and by having an assistant monitor you when you are on the roof.
If the chimney has not been cleaned in a long time it is wise to have a chimney sweep do the first cleaning.
But it s still an important task as a smoky fire without enough oxygen emits lots of unburned tar vapors called creosote that can condense inside the fireplace flue and stick to it possibly leading to a chimney fire.
Measure the sides of your chimney from the bottom through the fireplace.
You can clean a chimney top down from the roof or from the bottom up inside the house.
You could also climb up a ladder and measure it from the top.
Drop cloths and plastic tarps to seal off the area from all the dust protect yourself with the appropriate gear protective goggles a dust mask a sturdy ladder and purchase the right types of chimney brushes for the job.
Why clean your own chimney.
First take a good look at the inside of the flue.