my chimney's on fire!

[G.]

ok, not yet, anyways.

I have a question, for ya all. I often ask for advice here, since you guys seem to be pretty intellegent and abnormally attractive.

I have a fireplace that I suspect of having a wasp's nest in it. I saw some wasps flying in and out of the chimney last summer and I did find one dead one on the flue when I opened it up last week.

This is the first fireplace I have owned, so I am an idiot. I installed gas logs (until the little g's get bigger) in it.

Can I just fire the thing up and let the heat roast the nest, or do I need to get someone out to sweep the thing out?

What I am worried about is an in-flue fire (or course), the burning paper nest crashing down into the living room, or death from CO poisoning. You know, I sweat the little stuff.

The chimney is a metal pipe about 8 inches dia., most certainly double walled, through a standard column. I think that the column "drywall" is of a rock-type material, certainly not paper-faced. In other words, it's up to code, but not a brick column.

Thanks, as always, and oh, yeah, Lego Star Wars rocks for the kids!

[RusH]

Pay a guy to sweep it. Not worth it. Unless you have a lot of insurance.

[cart7]

If this is a new chimney and you don't feel hardy about climbing up and cleaning it yourself you should probably hire a sweeper to do it. The wasps probably built it close to the top of the stack so if you felt like trying to do it yourself it wouldn't be too hard to clean that out.

If this is an older chimney then I'd suggest having it swept anyway. You have no idea what the previous homeowner was burning so a cleaning is a must.

[rabbit]

Pay a guy to sweep it. Not worth it. Unless you have a lot of insurance.
http://www.gasolinealleyantiques.com/images/Records%20Page/dickvandyke.JPG

[RusH]

^^^never saw that one. :gomer:


hmmm, get a recommendation then.

[EDwardo]

ok, not yet, anyways.

I have a question, for ya all. I often ask for advice here, since you guys seem to be pretty intellegent and abnormally attractive.

.......


Yep. most of us are rocket scientists. But you didn't ask a question in my field!

[RusH]

Yep. most of us are rocket scientists. But you didn't ask a question in my field!

I`m an expert, I`m on my 3rd 40-50 year old house.

buy new, unless you like working.....and ghost stories

[G.]

Thanks so far, guys. BTW, new house, about 3 yrs. old.

So, Edwardo, if I were to light a single stage rocket up the chute to blast out the nest, would you suggest a ballistic solution, or a time-delay/proximity fuse for the HE warhead?

[rosawendel]

hiring someone to sweep the chimney costs around 80-100 bucks a flue, if it helps. not a lot of money, i think.

[EDwardo]

Thanks so far, guys. BTW, new house, about 3 yrs. old.

So, Edwardo, if I were to light a single stage rocket up the chute to blast out the nest, would you suggest a ballistic solution, or a time-delay/proximity fuse for the HE warhead?

Definitely time delay. The key is to achieve maximum velocity before it penetrates the obstruction. Be sure and use a titanium nose cone. It will cost more but if I was launching I would add a data recorder and a minature camera. I collect data for every launch!

Be sure and use plenty of explosive. I always say you can't use too much! Except there was this one time......

Good luck vaporizing those wasps!

[Methanolandbrats]

Thanks so far, guys. BTW, new house, about 3 yrs. old.

So, Edwardo, if I were to light a single stage rocket up the chute to blast out the nest, would you suggest a ballistic solution, or a time-delay/proximity fuse for the HE warhead? Three year old house? Don't be a *****, just light that sucker. Go outside and if big embers shoot out and land on the roof, hose em down.

[RusH]

Three year old house? Don't be a *****, just light that sucker. Go outside and if big embers shoot out and land on the roof, hose em down.

:rofl:

[EDwardo]

Three year old house? Don't be a *****, just light that sucker. Go outside and if big embers shoot out and land on the roof, hose

em down.

Thanks to my fellow rocket scientist for your contribution. ;)

[oddlycalm]

Once your set and are using gas G. you shouldn't need to mess with it again, but I'd spend the $100 to have it sorted out on the first go round. If you do decide to light it off, make sure you have a working extinguisher on the premises. BTW, for gas logs the damper should be wired to stay permanently open to meet code.

Flues that have been in use burning wood should be cleaned and inspected every season. I've attended half a dozen flue fires as a volunteer fireman as well as a couple houses that were fully involved and terminal from same. Not a fun way to get together with the neighbors.

FWIW, the correct procedure to put out a flue fire is to use an extinguisher to shoot short pulses into the chimney from the fireplace and let the massive draw of the flue fire suck the retardant up into the fire. Each shot will slow the fire after which it will pick up steam again which is when to hit it with the next shot. It generally doesn't take more than half a dozen good shots to knock them out, but that takes a larger extinguisher than many folks own. I guarantee that unless a person has heard a flue fire before they will be intimidated by the volume of the roar it makes as well as the tall flames coming out the top.

oc