davidinspain

When I lived in France I used to buy the powder or blocks that came with a certificate but can't find any here that include the paperwork.Has anybody come across a brand that does?

Domino

what is it Dave ??

Fred James

I have bought it in the Eroski supermarket and it is also on sale in our local Ferreyteria.


Domino, it is an inflammable "brick" which you place in your fireplace and ignite. It then emits some nasty fumes which allegedly cause all the soot in the chimney to dislodge themselves from the chimney and it results in a simple DIY chimney sweep.

I have used them and they do seem to work. Not cheap though.

Rosemary

Thanks for the explanation Fred. I now have a picture in my head of Dave covered in soot from head to toe.

Rosemary

davidinspain

Fred is totally correct although the product I bought in France stated that it only nuetralised the chemicals in the soot that can ignite.but yes it did then proceed to drop all the loose soot on the carpet.It's worth all those of us who are campesinos to check insurance policies because there are clauses in some policies that require yearly cleaning of chimneys (or proof of an attempt).I'll post the after photos in due course.

Domino

thanks for the explanation Fred, never come across this before, so once again BE has come up with some useful information

surprised the nazi's haven't hit you for your bad spelling of ferretería
perhaps thats a benefit of being a mod.

Fred James

My spelling is fine - the problem is my fingers!

Domino

reminds me of the old computer saying.....
Rubbish In
Rubbish Out

jimenato

I've chucked loads of this stuff on our fire - never seems to do anything.

Porth

Lived in France and used them but in France the insurance guys insist on the chimney being cleaned and a certificate issued every year. No certificate house burns down no cover. Not sure of Spanish requirements

Domino

and how does this effect things if you have a stainless steel flue liner

davidinspain

In the world of small print it's better to be safe than out of pocket

davidinspain

You know the insurance company motto.......anyway we don't have to pay.
have a close look at you policy

Dick Dasterdly

Most older French houses have large amounts of timber built into the roof structure especially and often elsewhere and in the event of a fire would be total write offs.

Many Spanish houses have little or no flammable materials built into their basic structure and in the case of a bad fire affecting contents and internal fittings usually retain their overall integrity and can be back in use in a matter of weeks.
I have seen it happen on several occasions.

fionamw

The only concretey bits of our house were added within the past 10 years, and even then they put (in our case real) wood beams to match/complement the rest of the house!

Back on soot, I'm going to trawl - I'm pretty sure the pros and cons of this brick thingie were done to death when a chimney sweep forum member was still around ........