any helpful hints?

[keving]

Ive been burning wood in a fireplace insert for two years and am about to clean the chimney for the first time. I check it on a regular basis and only have a small amount of creosote on the flues(the flues are 10in square)I pulled out the insert and vac-ed everything and took the fan(blower) out of the insert to be checked and oiled by a local electric motor repair guy.any hints on how to keep the dust and ash to a minimum in the house ....cover the fireplace opening etc when running a brush up,down and around?

 

[A. Stanton]

Kev,
If you have an insert with the baffle, I would recommend removing the baffle first. If you just have a damper, then remove the damper plate. If you have no door to close, then seal the fire box from the house by placing a sheet of card board or wood against it. I would use duct tape for a good seal. Then clean the flue from the top down. It's the best way to do it. Here's a couple pics of my wood stove insert cleaning. One shows me cleaning from the top; the other the result.