When it comes to the time to cleaning your chimney, there may be the need for professional services. For those who are not certain of what to be done, it may help to hire a professional to do the work once, then watch and know what to expect. There however are some cleanings that have to be done by professionals. Chimney cleaning involves many activities and which are supposed to be done at various times.
The first thing that should be done is ensuring the roof and chimney are safe and structurally solid. The chimneys that are on the roof are normally cleaned using ladders because of their distance above the ground. Chimneys should be solid so that they do not collapse under the weight of the individual. If they are not in sound structural form, they need to be repaired first before cleaning is done.
There will be the need for the right tools. Professionals use sweeps, brushes and extended rods. People who do the cleanup themselves will also use the same tools but may in some instances have to improvise devices to use in the absence of the right tools. For protection of the home interiors, plastic sheets and drop clothes will be required. The last thing that anyone wants is to have their house messed up because of the cleanup.
The used brush must be specific to that chimney if it is to be effective. The size especially is very important. If the brush used is too big, it is likely to be caught within the structure and thus not clean well. On the same note, if it is narrow then the walls are not able to be cleaned with the desired precision. This is because there will not be enough friction. The best brushes are those that fit perfectly. There should also be cleaning of the dryer vent.
The most common method used in cleaning involves extending the brushes placed at the end of the rod down the flue of the chimney. This is done in a swirling motion. After taking the brush to the bottom, it should be reversed before getting swirled to the top. In each cycle, there is knocking of additional creosote loose. When it gets to a point there is no more creosote falling, the cleanup is stopped.
The cleanup of the bottom sections of the chimneys is done using a rod. Circular movement is used in this case as well. It is a method that is awkward and also makes it difficult to keep sections around the fireplace neat.
Yet another technique is the two person technique which like the name suggests involves two people. A brush will be tied on both their hands. One of them grasps the rope from the roof while the other grabs it from the fireplace. It is pulled alternately, making the brush move back and forth. Flue gets scrubbed in the process.
It is important to choose the right professionals for the job. You need to do proper research before making the final decision on which service provider to use. The pricing should be considered too and involves making comparisons.
To arrange for a regular or one-off chimney sweep, you can just use the following company. Here is the website that provides you with additional information at http://www.villagesweep.com.
