I had a family of raccoons who crawled down my chimney (one died). To get rid them, I tried a portable heater, hose, and radio. I was told to toss some mothballs down the chimney. They came out, which is good, but for 2 years now I have had this terrible mothball scent in my home I cannot get rid of. What can I do? The flue portion is too high to get my hand in and I do not have a vacuum hose long enough to suck them out.
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I would get nok-out, available on Amazon. I would spray it up the chimney.
I personally do not believe you can use any type of product that will kill this odor - it may mask it for a while but odor will probably return.
If you use your chimney and it has been a while since it was cleaned, this may be the ideal time to bite the bullet and call a chimney sweep to do the job.
Chimney sweeps usually charge $150 - $300 according to where you live and what needs to be done.
If you are experienced with doing work on your roof, you can do it yourself for probably $50-$75 and have the equipment to do the job every year.
Home Depot sells the chimney brushes - you will need one that fits your chimney size. They also have the fiberglass rods to reach the length of your chimney.
Most DIY sites give instructions for cleaning from the opening on your roof but a partial job can be done from inside the house.
The house has to be prepared properly before any work is done or there will be a terrible mess.
If you are interested in doing the job yourself there are several YouTube videos on the subject.
www.youtube.com/
First, mothballs are highly flammable so it is best not to use your fire place until you have these professional removed if you can't do it yourself, which it sounds like you can't.
Second, the smell is probably infused into your furniture and paint if you are still smelling it two years later.
You may need to do three things to fully rid your home of the smell...
1. Get the chimney cleaned out. If that doesn't eliminate the smell, you will need to move on to...
2. Have your soft furniture (couches/chairs) and rugs professional steam cleaned. If that doesn't eliminate the smell...
3. Paint the room effected. As the paint people at the hardware store the best brand to help eliminate smells in the walls (they get this question all the time when people buy a smoker's home and want to get rid of that horrible stench).
Post back with updates! I hope method one is one and done, but I am thinking it is going to be a 3 step process.
You have two choices to do the job and get rid of the order. You fireplace needs to be cleaned out and it can be done professionally or you can do it yourself. If you choose to do it yourself they normally sell all the tools at Home Depot so you can clean it out yourself. This is a big job and you will need to cover your furniture and prepare your home so that when you brush the fireplace you will not get all the ash in your home.
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