I generally work Mon-Fri from 9:30 through until mid afternoon on the tools.  This gives me time in the morning to do some admin and walk the dog and at the end of the day to answer messages & catch up on more admin.

I can work on the tools outside these hours by exception to fit with a clients needs. 

For 2 main reasons:

• To reduce the possibility of a chimney fire.
• To reduce the volume of obnoxious or toxic gases (paticularly carbon monoxide) entering a room.

A cleaner chimney is a safer chimney

An un-swept chimney above an open fire or wood-burner in use will have deposits of soot or creosote (tar) or both present on its inside surface. The deposit will depend on the fuel being burned and the temperature at which it was burned.

As wood burns it gives off volatile hydrocarbon fumes - smoke.  Any of these that are not burnt rise up the flue and some of them will condense into creosote/tar droplets as they come into contact with the cooler surface of flue.  As it cools it solidifies but remains flammable under the right conditions - when heated sufficiently.

Soot is incompletely burned carbon and gets dislodged by the turbulence around the flames and some then gets pulled up the chimney and sticks to the sides.  Soot is also flammable and will burn at the right temperature. Once hot enough soot or creosote can be ignited by a stray ember floating up the chimney in the draft. Alternatively it will spontaneously combust if sufficiently heated.

If these soot and creosote deposits are not periodically removed on a regularly used chimney they will build up over time slowing the exit of subsequent exhausting gases causing them to cool and deposit more soot and creosote making the problem worse and further increasing the risk of them catching fire.

Chimney fires can be dangerous and can quickly spread beyond the chimney itself into other parts of the building.   A chimney that has had a fire should be inspected and any significant damage should be repaired before it can be safely used again.  This can be costly and involve a need to re-line the chimney.

If the deposits that condense on the inside of a flue are allowed to build up they will start to reduce the size of the flue and the efficiency with which it can exhaust the toxic fumes from the appliance below. If these toxic fumes do not go up the flue they’ll come into the room.

This can, but won’t necessarily, create an unpleasant smell in the room causing the user to take preventative action. Among these gases is carbon monoxide which is highly toxic to humans and animals but is invisible and has no smell so can go undetected. The toxic effects of carbon monoxide cause many symptoms which are likely to be mistaken as originating from other causes, explained below, and can lead to death.

Carbon monoxide poisoning is more common than most people realise and very poorly understood by the public at large. At the very least ensure a carbon monoxide alarm is fitted in any room you have with a solid fuel appliance and better still read up on carbon monoxide poisoning, how to prevent it and how to read the symptoms. See further down this list for more information.

Factors that contribute to the dangers of carbon monoxide (CO) are:

• Lack of understanding of how easily it can be introduced into our breathing environment.
• Lack of awareness of how toxic a gas it is and how its toxicity accumulates.
• The fact that it is invisible & has no smell so can easily go undetected by humans and animals.
• The fact that the symptoms of CO poisoning are similar to everyday symptoms of other causes such as flu or food poisoning so often get mistakenly attributed to other causes.

All domestic burning appliances will give off some CO and at low densities this is not an issue. Inefficient burning generates higher volumes of CO which again doesn’t have to be a problem to health if this goes up a flue and is expelled at the top rather than into the room.  If this comes into the room however it can become a serious problem.  CO is slightly lighter but similar in density to air and is generally warm as it is released so rises slowly and accumulates from the top down though this will depend on how much air circulation there is in the room.

CO is toxic to humans because it weakens the body’s mechanism for circulating oxygen. CO binds around 200 times more strongly to the haemoglobin in the blood which is the part of the blood that is used to transport oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. If we breathe in CO it clogs up the ‘oxygen receptors’ on the haemoglobin preventing the oxygen bonding and thus starving us of oxygen.  CO effectively “chokes us without strangulation”.  Once bonded the CO isn’t going be displaced from the haemoglobin other than by special treatment.  The normal way the body gets rid of it is as the blood cells are replaced over time (years).  The effect of CO poisoning is thus cumulative.  We can’t receive relief by going outside and breathing fresh air (though we obviously escape further CO poisoning this way) – once clogged with CO our blood stays that way unless treated or replaced.

Early symptoms of CO poisoning can be very similar to many common ailments and are often mistaken for flu, viral infections, food poisoning or even just tiredness. These symptoms, which affect different people in different ways and different orders and not necessarily all together, are:

• Tiredness, Drowsiness
• Tightness across the forehead
• Headaches – which can get severe
• Dizziness, Confusion, Erratic behaviour
• Nausea, Stomach pains, Vomiting
• Breathlessness, Chest pains
• Loss of vision
• Collapse, Loss of consciousness
• Death

A chimney needs to be designed and sized to draw exhaust fumes appropriately from the fire or wood-burner it serves. There is a section in the Building Regulations dedicated to this topic and properly constructed chimneys will conform and thus usually work, or draw, well for their appliance.  A properly drawing chimney will blow no smoke back into the room. The chimney draw also depends on other factors which can change and cause problems. For instance:

• A chimney may fail to draw when it is windy outside due to down drafts.
• A chimney may fail to draw properly because the fire or wood-burner under it is not sealed to the chimney.
• A chimney may fail to draw properly because its air vent has been blocked off or the ventilation is insufficient because the room insulation has been improved since the chimney was installed - New double glazing or flooring for instance.
• A chimney may smoke initially while it’s cold (at start up) but work fine once it is warm - see article higher up this page.
• A chimney may fail to draw properly due to a pressure inversion outside.
• A blocked chimney might always fail to draw properly.  Blockage could be a bird’s nest or a brickwork/lining collapse.
• A chimney that smokes when the fire or wood-burner under it is not even lit may be doing so due to leakage or siphoning from another chimney.

If you have any of the above or other chimney problems I’d be happy to help you sort them out which might involve nothing more than ‘phone call.  Feel free to give me a call if you’d like to discuss a problem.

This strays slightly towards the proverbial “How long is a piece of string?”.   Appropriate sweeping frequency will depend on how much you use it and how you burn.  If your tarring up the glass of  your stove you can guarantee you're tarring up your chimney!  General guidance is as follows:

Fuel                     Sweeping frequency

Smokeless fuel     At least once a year

Wood                     Quarterly while in use

Biomass             At least once a year

Oil                             Once a year

Gas                     Once a year

I’d be happy to discuss this if you’d like some guidance.

As well as sweeping your chimney I’ll check the safety of the chimney and appliance in a number of ways. If your chimney is dangerous to the extent that it threatens life I’ll warn you of this and I won’t be able to sweep it at all. The safety aspects I am required to check are as follows:

• ‘Building regulations conformity check’ drawing your attention to any irregularities.
• Presence of a working carbon monoxide alarm.
• Whether the room ventilation is appropriate for the chimney
• Smoke evacuation test to verify the chimney draws properly

I’ll explain my findings and answer any questions you have on them and I’ll record them on the sweeping certificate which I’ll leave with you.

Any birds nest present in a chimney over a fire or wood-buner can lead to serious problems such as a blockage which can cause toxic fumes to enter the room below or a chimney fire if the nest catches fire.  Any such nest needs to be removed before safe use of the fire or wood-burner can be resumed.

Birds nests may be contaminated with bird droppings, and when disturbed will create dust containing bacteria that it is sensible to avoid breathing in, for which reason they should be removed by someone with appropriate personal protective equipment.  I have such equipment and I have fittings that can be placed on my chimney rods specifically for removal of a birds nest and will be happy to do this for you.  Jackdaws are notorious for building nests in chimneys – depending on how long a nest has been there and how busy the birds have been you may be surprised at the volume of debris that comes out.  My largest so far was 7 large wheel barrows full.