 You clean out the ashes, get the chimney swept once a year. How often should you sweep the chimney? After you get your new stove, you burn it for a year and take a look at it. Say the house is built in the 80s. How often should this hypothetical house get its wood stove? At least once a year. You have to check it. You have to look and see if you have creosote buildup or not. All chimneys are a little bit different. Do you guys do that?