Modern chimneys are not the same as the old ones like ours here. Ours is a big old stone edifice that you fire a shotgun into to clean it, whereas the new ones at the barn are metallic and tube shaped, and need delicate poles and brushes.
And here is M Bacquey (Junior) up on the roof with his kit; his dad was inside waiting for all the muck to appear.
They are impeccable sweeps, you really wouldn't have known they'd been here; you could have eaten off the floor, it was that clean.
Done for another year... now, where's my shotgun. I'd better do ours at the same time.
Will get ours done in a couple of months.
ReplyDeleteAll ready for Winter here, although I don't know if anyone will be in residence up at the barn.
DeleteThe tradition up here in the Dales is to shove a bough of holly up the chimney and then down again and to hell with the mess of the soot.
ReplyDeleteNormally we would send a small child up, but we have none.
DeleteShouldn't it be 'shamney swep'?
ReplyDeleteAnd he wasn't even wearing a beret.
DeleteI am confused. Did you have your chimney swept? Or are you shooting a metaphorical gun shot up the chimney?
ReplyDeleteI light our wood-burner very hot, so it doesn't gather much soot. The pipe detaches very easily, so I clean it myself.
DeleteThanks for the reminder.cro x
ReplyDeleteBuy some rods! Cheap and easy.
DeleteWe have fireplaces in pretty much every room and I think we have only had the chimneys swept a couple of times and definitely not recently ..... and we’ve lived here for thirty four years !!!! Must find a chimney sweep !!! XXXX
ReplyDeleteThe only reason we have a sweep at the barn is because they have to be cleaned from the top, otherwise I'd do them myself!
DeleteA chimney sweep is a very necessary chore to protect it from creosote buildup. Many homes have gone up in smoke because of that. I remind my daughter and son every year about this but they don’t appreciate my nagging.
ReplyDeleteThese modern stove pipes definitely have to be swept each year. Yesterday the man said they were really encrusted! We have them done yearly.
DeleteWe used to do our own; the flue pipe had to be dismantled before you could get the brush in. That's a job I don't miss!
ReplyDeleteI don't even use a brush on ours, I tap the pipe with something, and all the loose ask falls down. It's been perfect for 30 years.
DeleteThey used a method similar to Weaver here. A branch of a certain tree and to hell with the mess. Thank goodness we now have a nephew with a special vaccum cleaner. And he cleans up any mess
ReplyDeletePeople would climb on the roof and throw a couple of chickens down. Simples.
DeleteMy chimney is all brick and we do the yearly clean out with a chimney sweep. He has owned the business for a long time and is well in to his 80's. He sweeps from the roof and inside. Last year he said we needed to repoint the chimney. Another job completed. For aesthetics we added a granite slab above the three stack chimney. This also prevents wildlife from dropping into the chimney.
ReplyDeleteWith wood burners it is recommended to have a flat slab over the chimney. I'm not sure why this should be, but I see them everywhere these days. We remain old fashioned.
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