The Sweep’s Toolkit
The other day one a “sweep”was called out to a customer’s home to sweep his multi-fuel stove. The customer had a blockage in the flue pipe and the sweep he’d called were forced to admit that they didn’t have the right tools for the job. They found us on the Buy With Confidence Website and we were able to remove the blockage and sweep the entire flue system. It pays to have the right tools for the right job.
Customers often ask us about what we use to clean their flues. The three basic categories of tools you’ll find us using are traditional brushes with a polypropylene bristle, Snap Lok rotary sweeping, Tamar reamer, Torch & Mirror and Industrial multi filtered vacuums.
Brushes
The most basic brush you’ll see us using is a long and flexible polypropylene brush. These allow us to remove deposits from tight spaces. Another type of brush we use is a stiff wire bristle. We use this flatter brush to scrape off glaze-form creosote. Sometimes you’ll see us using long hand brushes for areas like the smoke chamber or fire back.
Rotary Sweeping
Rotary sweeping involves the use of a specialized rotary tool that looks a bit like a drill connected to rods whips/chains. The chain technique is reserved for the removal of heavy creosote deposits from the inner flue walls. Rotary sweeping can be used when brushes can’t get the job done, usually because of too many sharp bends in the system, or due to excessively heavy creosote build-up from poor maintenance .
Vacuums
Anyone who has seen Mary Poppins can tell you that chimney sweeping is a dirty job. And yet, our customers are often amazed at how clean we are. This is due to careful sweeping and the magic of vacuums. Proper vacuuming during the sweeping processes effectively prevents the mess and pollutants from entering the home.
Torch & Mirror
If you can’t see the condition of the flue chimney, how do you know what equipment to use?
For more information on your chimney sweep requirements contact ProSweep- professional chimney sweep and we will be happy to help