Expert: James Ball - 9/30/2009

Question
I just had a chimney sweep come out and clean my fireplace that has a wood-burning insert, but he did not pull the insert out for the cleaning.  Is this okay?  The last time it was cleaned was about 2 - 3 years ago and they pulled the insert out completely.  He got on the roof to do the sweep and then just shoved a regular shopvac tube up into the interior vent of the firebox and then cleaned the firebox.  Afterwhich, he told me that he was surprised that the chimney was in such good condition considering the fire arrestor was of such poor quality and should've been replaced a while ago.  He also mentioned that there had been about an inch of soot lining the chimney and that it was probably related to not having a good quality arrestor.  He mentioned too that the chimney was unlined, had terracotta fire bricks from the top all the way down to the base and that the insert was the type that was just shoved flush to the fireplace without any tubes.  He said he could pull the insert out but it wasn't really necessary if it had been pulled out just a couple years ago and probably more costly than necessary.  Is this typical?  If he swept the chimney clean and the soot dropped down, how do I know that his shopvac actually cleaned it all out since he didn't pull the insert out?

Answer
Hello Edna, he did not clean it properly that unit should have come out and not be reinstalled unless it is piped to at least the first flue tile (code) we do not clean "slammed" units like your and only service units that are lined (and insulated) to the top with a SS liner.
I would have a local Certified Chimney Sweep (www.csia.org, there you can look up by zip code to find one near you) take a first hand look at what you have they should be able to help.
Hope this helps
James