In the heyday of coal fired domestic heating, the job of a Brooklyn Chimney Sweep was both dangerous and hazardous to the sweeper’s health. The purpose of a chimney is twofold; one is to make sure that the fire’s smoke exits the room that the fire is located in and the other is to create the draft that will keep the fire burning by drawing in more new air (for its oxygen content).
Coal And Wood Fires
The coal that was being burnt was (and still is) basically solid carbon combined with variable quantities of other elements (predominately hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen). Burning the coal in air (oxygen and nitrogen) breaks it down into water vapor plus oxides of carbon, sulfur and nitrogen. Unfortunately the combustion process is rarely complete and the exhaust gases (smoke) will contain solid particles (soot) along with carbon and/or sulfur based acidic gases which, on cooling, can combine with the water vapor to become liquid acids (hence “acid rain”). Some of the contaminates will escape into the atmosphere while others may cling to and become trapped within the chimney flue.
Even wood fuelled fires have a similar problem: with an additional complication. One of the contaminants carried up the chimney with the smoke is a substance called creosote. Creosote is highly flammable and can easily be the cause of fires within a chimney. In the old days, the job of the Brooklyn Chimney Sweep largely entailed removing these deposits with physical force – a large, stiff brush; which could be pushed up the chimney (using extendable, flexible rods), to dislodge the deposits. In some cases boys would actually climb up inside the chimneys to do the sweeping.
Health Hazards
It would have been impossible to remove the soot without becoming covered in it and breathing in some of it. Soot contains substances now known to be carcinogenic. As early as 1817, chimney sweeps cancer was reported on in the UK Parliament. The sweeps called it soot wart, which medicine now identifies as scrotal squamous cell carcinoma. Additionally, climbing sweeps could become trapped inside chimneys or burnt by hot flue walls as well as suffering numerous cuts and abrasions while climbing (or even falling).
The Brooklyn Chimney Sweep Of Today
Today’s cleaner burning fuels along with more efficient combustion mean that there are less solid contaminates going up the chimney. However, their presence has not been totally eliminated and chimneys still require regular cleaning. Brushes are still used to supplement more modern tools (such as vacuums, cameras and special chimney cleaning tools) which allow the sweep to stay relatively clean. There is also a far greater understanding of the health issues giving the sweeps near total protection.
Whenever you need the services of a professional Brooklyn Chimney Sweep; look no further than TC Builders Corp. Inspecting, cleaning and repairing chimneys is very much part of the services they provide.
