As a homeowner, you know the benefits of cleaning your chimney. The chimney functions better, there is little risk of chimney fires, among many other things. The big question you are probably asking yourself is, can I sweep my own chimney if I don’t have money to hire a chimney cleaning services provider?
The good news is that yes you can do it but you have to follow the right chimney cleaning procedure.
Protect your surroundings
Chimney cleaning is messy and you don’t want to mess up your furniture. To protect your valuables, spread out a plastic tarp on them, including the floor. After ensuring everything is safe and secure, remove ash and wood bits out of the firebox.
You should then open the damper while isolating the fireplace from the rest of the living room using thick plastic sheeting and quality tape.
When doing the sealing, be cautious so you leave no gaps that would lead to fine dust landing on your furniture.
Wear protective gear
To reiterate, chimney cleaning is messy, and to avoid messing your clothes, don’t use your good clothes for the work. Instead, wear your worn-out clothes you aren’t going to wear in the future. You can also don an apron.
To ensure the dirt from the chimney doesn’t get into your eyes, wear a good set of goggles with a dependable seal around your eyes. You will also need a dust mask to protect your nose and mouth from the dust.
Remove any materials obstructing the chimney
Whether it’s the chimney cap or animal guard, get it out of the way before you proceed with cleaning your chimney.
When it comes to cleaning, brush from the top-down, working your way towards the smoke shelf. For a thorough job, don’t be in a hurry.
Once you are done with cleaning, replace the hardware you had removed.
Give dust time to settle into the firebox
As much as you want to restore your home to its regular form, you shouldn’t rush into removing the tarp covering your valuables.
After cleaning, give it time for the dust in your chimney to settle then slowly peel apart a small opening in the taped seal you positioned over the firebox then using a smaller-diameter chimney brush, scrub as far as you can up into the chimney.
When you are done, cover your fireplace again and let the dust fall onto the firebox floor.
Restore your house
After cleaning all the parts of the chimney and giving the house enough time for the dust to settle, slowly remove the protective tarps from your furniture and floor so you can continue enjoying your house, now with a much cleaner and safer chimney.
Chimney cleaning tips
To have an easy time cleaning your chimney, avoid going for a long time without cleaning it as the creosote thickens with time making the chimney cleaning process complex.
The chimney cleaning tools you use should be good quality so you have an easy time cleaning the chimney and at the same time you give the chimney a thorough cleaning.
As you are doing the cleaning, ensure no one opens the exterior doors as this will allow a sudden draft that will send dust and ashes all over the living room carpet and furniture.
While you save money by cleaning the chimney by yourself, you can’t do a thorough job as chimney sweep services Columbia MD provides so for peace of mind your chimney will be professionally cleaned, let the contractors handle the work.