Fireplace cleaning

What makes a fireplace different from an ordinary stove

A modern fireplace is usually a cast-iron or steel firebox enclosed in a surround of stone, brick or panels. There is an air gap between the firebox and the surround, and above the firebox is the smoke chamber, from which the smoke goes through the connecting pipe into the chimney. At the top of the firebox is a baffle plate, which slows the smoke and reflects heat, and ash and soot collect on it.

An open fireplace without doors draws a lot of air through the firebox, so it needs a larger flue and good draught. If the flue is too narrow or clogged with soot, the fireplace starts to smoke into the room, especially in still weather. A stove fireplace with doors burns more slowly and with less air, and then tar forms in the flue more often.

How we clean a fireplace

1. Preparation The fireplace must have cooled down. First the ash is taken out of the firebox.
2. Baffle plate We lift the plate out of the firebox. Without it the connection opening and the smoke chamber can be seen, and the soot can be removed from below.
3. Smoke chamber and connection If there is a cleaning door in the surround, we clean through it. We clean the connecting pipe with a round brush, and the bends with flexible rods.
4. Chimney We clean the flue from the bottom with a brush on rods, or from the roof with a brush and weight. We collect the soot in the firebox or at the lower door of the chimney.
5. Check We put the plate back and check the door seals, the damper if there is one, and the draught. We issue the certificate.

If the fireplace surround has no cleaning door and the smoke chamber can only be reached by removing the surround, the surround is usually not broken open. The fireplace is cleaned as far as it can be reached through the firebox and the chimney, and the certificate records which part remains out of reach.

When a fireplace needs cleaning

• the fireplace smokes into the room when you light it or open the doors;
• the glass gets covered with soot within an hour, even though the firewood is dry;
• black smoke comes out of the chimney, and inside there is a smell of soot or tar even when the fireplace is not lit;
• there is a layer of ash and soot more than a centimetre thick on the baffle plate;
• before the season or after a longer break, for example after buying a house.

The cleaning deadline depends on the design. A metal firebox without a massive masonry surround does not store heat for long. So, in our reading, it fits the description of a long-burn appliance in the regulations (one that does not store heat for longer than three hours), and it is cleaned by 1 November and again by 1 March. A fireplace with a large masonry mass is cleaned by 1 November. The full table is on the stove cleaning page.

The fireplace flue and other appliances

In houses where the fireplace is connected to an old brick chimney, it often turns out that a stove or even a gas boiler is connected to the same flue channel. The building code forbids a fireplace and a gas appliance on one flue channel, and two solid-fuel appliances on one flue are allowed only within one flat and on one storey. We record this in the certificate and recommend a solution: a separate flue or chimney lining.

How much fireplace cleaning costs

Fireplace cleaning together with the connection and the chimney costs from €100, usually €100–130, with the certificate and call-out in Riga and the Riga region. It costs more if the chimney is tall and must be cleaned from the roof, if there is a thick layer of tar in the flue, or if we clean other appliances on the same visit. We name the price for each additional flue before the work. All prices: prices.