As you know, I haven't had much luck with chimney sweeps lately, so in anticipation of a long and cold winter without a properly burning fireplace I placed an order on ebay for an electric throw rug. This rug was pulled from under me this morning when Rob from "Mountain To The Sea Home Services" phoned me to say he would be here within half an hour.
Which is about as long as it took him to push a brush up the chimney to dislodge a bucket full of creosote that had formed inside it like a plug.
I'm typing this while sitting close to a brightly burning fire which makes me feel soooo much better even though I'm a whole two-hundred-fifty dollars poorer. I don't begrudge Rob the money, he's earned every cent of it, coming all the way out to Nelligen and getting his hands dirty, but I am seriously considering becoming a chimney sweep in my next life.
I mean, what's the point of studying for many years, and continually keeping up your professional accreditations, and continually learning new things, if you can simply push a long-handled brush up and down a chimney and collect two-and-fifty dollars for half an hour's work?
Still, if you need your chimney cleaned - which is best done before the house burns down - I can recommend Rob: he's quick and efficient. As for the price, it's still cheaper than setting your whole house on fire.
P.S. I've just checked the internet and found that I could've bought a flue cleaning brush kit for a fraction of what I paid for this expensive clean-out - see here. Something to think about before next winter!
