Cleaning Our Chimney

Sheri and I have been working diligently to get our cabin ready for our first winter in our new home. I had already removed the gas log insert from the fireplace with the intention of replacing it with a wood burning insert. With the onset of colder temperatures, it was time to finish removing the propane plumbing and the flexible vent pipe from the chimney. Once all the hardware had been removed, I realized that the damper was stuck in the open position.

Realizing that the cabin’s warm air going up the chimney before the insert was available for installation, I slid into the fireplace and began working to dislodge the damper. I was not successful in closing the damper but I did manage to dislodge a copious amount of soot. By the time I exited from our masonry cave, I looked more like a raccoon or a chimney sweep from Mary Poppins.

Black soot was an inch deep in the fireplace and I assured Sheri that our wet/dry vacuum would make short work of the mess. I began washing up and Sheri began vacuuming up the black grit. After a few minutes the shop vac stopped working. I removed the top and realized that the debris was clogging up the cloth filter. I removed the fine filter and left the coarse filter in place. I turned the vacuum on and immediately Sheri began yelling, “Turn it off! Turn it off!”  Behind the vacuum a gray cloud of soot hovered throughout the cabin. Apparently the coarse filter does not stop soot from being expelled out of a shop vac. Who knew?

After a shower, some afternoon cleaning, several apologies and cooking lunch, my wife stopped pointing out what a knucklehead I was. She deserves a lifetime achievement award for her patience. When my day began I did not plan on turning myself into a human pipe cleaner.  The fireplace is now ready to accept the insert and I can certainly testify that it is clean.