Chimney Sweeping in Cortez, CO

Sweeping a Working Stove, Not a Fireplace

Almost everything we sweep in Montezuma County is attached to an appliance that heats a house. That is a different job from sweeping a fireplace, and it changes what we are looking for.

A hard-working stove produces volume - more deposit per season simply because more wood goes through it. But it also runs the flue hot, which keeps the deposit lighter and flakier than what comes out of an occasional-use system. The chimneys that give us trouble out here are not the ones in the coldest houses. They are the ones where the stove is oversized for the space, so the owner damps it right down to avoid cooking themselves out of the living room, and it smoulders all winter at exactly the temperature that glazes a flue.

If that describes your setup, the fix is not a more aggressive sweep schedule. It is smaller, hotter fires - and we would rather tell you that than sell you two visits a year.

Brushing Insulated Pipe

Class-A stainless is what most Cortez homes vent through, and it takes a poly brush rather than a wire one. Wire on stainless scores the inner wall and gives corrosion somewhere to start, which matters because the inner wall is thin and it is the only thing between the fire and the insulation. It is a small detail that separates people who sweep metal systems regularly from people who mostly do masonry.

While the pipe is open we check the joints and the storm collar, because on this ground UV and temperature swing do more damage to the sealant and the flashing than anything the fire does.

Wood Out Here

Piñon and juniper are what most people burn, and both are resinous. Burned dry and hot they are fine - better than fine, they put out real heat per cord. Burned green or smouldered they deposit heavily and quickly. Juniper especially tends to go into the stove sooner than it should because it splits so easily.

The practical marker is the glass. If your stove door glazes brown within a week of cleaning, the wood is wetter than you think or the stove is running too cool. Both of those show up in the flue long before they show up as a problem.

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