ChimneyCharlie

Gallery

Ordinary before

Typical soot deposits before a sweep.
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Ordinary after

Same ordinary flue after the sweep.
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Extreme before

Extreme tar deposits with light coat of ash before a sweep.
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Extreme after

The flue after the extreme tar deposits had been removed.
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Baby Owl
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Pipistrelle bat
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5 birds in one flue was my record for a few years until ....
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I stumbled on this lot all in one flue. I may have missed some but counted at least 43 of them.
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Chimney Repair

I'd already seen a missing brick in this chimney with a camera from the inside so I cut a hole in the top to access it for repair. The missing brick enabled smoke to leak through into a disused flue in a bedroom. Replacement of the brick solved the problem.
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Tarred up

A combination of not burning hot enough and a lack of sweeping enabled this liner to become tarred up to the point where it no longer drew properly. (Photo courtesy of Dave O'Donnell)
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Burnt Lintel

As sweeps we come across many wooden lintels too close to fluepiupes. This one had to come out and be replaced by bricks instead.
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Cheap Stoves

If you buy a cheap stove you can't expect quality - but nor do you expect the baffle plate to burn through like this.
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Large Opening

The stain on the lintel tells us this chimney does not draw properly. The opening is too large for the cross sectional area of the flue.
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Tar Staining

Damp in a chimney can bring tar though the chimney wall from the inside.
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Flaunching Erosion

The flaunching at the top of chimneys erodes over time and needs replacing.
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Mortar flashing

The mortar flashing on the side of this chimney has cracked away and now enables water to get down inside.
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Mortar Bees

These are the burrows of mortar bees in the side of a chimney. You can just see a bee in the hole on the top right
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Witches Mark

It was suggested this might have been a witches mark, to keep witches away, on the side of a chimney. Research suggests its more likely the 'makers mark' of the brick manufacturer from a couple of centuries ago.
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Register Plate Smoulder

The deposits sitting on this register plate are burning nicely - not long before this sets the chimney on fire.
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Chimney Fire Residue

When the tar in a chimney catches fire it aerates & expands changing texture from like hard toffee to like a meringue. This stove was full of aerated and partially burnt tar when I finished sweeping the residue from a chimney fire above it.
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