For years I was using a wire brush that was way too stiff for residential flues, thought the clumpy soot was just normal creosote. Then a homeowner handed me a nylon brush last month and the difference was night and day. Has anyone else made that mistake with brush stiffness?
I was working on a job in an 1880s Victorian downtown and about halfway up the flue, the brush head just popped right off the cable. It was one of those poly heads I've been using for maybe 6 months. I thought I was gonna have to fish it out with a magnet or something, but luckily it got stuck at a bend about 10 feet down. I ended up having to pull the whole cable out and tie a knot in a rag to shove it past the brush and coax it back up. Has anyone else dealt with a brush head failing like that, or did I just get a cheap one?
Used my shop vac for fine soot cleanup like always and it took forever plus filled the air with dust. Switched to a proper soot vacuum my buddy lent me and the difference was night and day - no cloud of crap everywhere. Has anyone else made the switch or do you just deal with the mess?
I was so pumped to start a routine sweep on a property in the Pearl District yesterday morning. Pulled out this brush I just bought from a supplier last week, thinking it was gonna be a smooth hour. Not even 10 minutes in, the plastic collar around the bristles just snapped clean off. Had to scramble and borrow a crappy spare from a buddy who was across town. Has anyone else had bad luck with those newer poly brushes, or is it just the cheap batch I grabbed?
Had to cut it out and redo the whole job in the rain while the homeowner stood there smoking a cigarette, has anyone else run into those thin cheap liners that just give out under heat?
I was out near Lake Tahoe doing a seasonal clean on a rental cabin, and what I found in their flue was honestly bad. There was almost an inch of glazed creosote in spots, and I'm guessing they hadn't had it touched in at least 3 years based on the layers. The homeowner said they only burn 'premium fire logs' and thought that meant no maintenance needed. I had to use a rotary tool to break through some of it because a standard brush wasn't even scratching it. Has anyone else run into people thinking those manufactured logs don't create creosote?
I was at a job in Lincoln last week and the homeowner's kid asked why I was sweeping with the bristles pointing up. I told him that's how you do it. He said his dad always did it the other way. I laughed it off but later I tried it his way and holy cow, so much less dust floating everywhere. Has anyone else had a basic technique that took way too long to figure out?
I was dead set on using a $300 rotary cleaning setup I bought online, but after fighting with it for six months and snapping a cable, I dug my granddad's old brush-and-weight kit out of the garage. Took one try on a tough 1920s flue in Denver and it snaked through every creosote buildup in 20 minutes. Anybody else find that the old basic tools sometimes beat the new high-dollar gear?
I was reading through the NFPA reports last night after a long day of sweeping. Always thought most fires started from creosote buildup right above the firebox. Turns out it's way higher up in the flue where people don't look. Makes me want to double check my camera inspections on every job now. Anyone else change how they inspect after learning something like this?
Had a big crown repair last month on a 1920s house. Old clay flue liner, lots of cracks. I usually go with silicone for the flexibility but I got talked into a high-temp polyurethane by the supplier. Said it bonds better to old clay. First heavy rain three days later and I got a call about water dripping down the fireplace. Pulled the cap off and the polyurethane had already pulled away in two spots. Total failure. Cost me a return trip and a free replacement. Silicone would have held no problem. That poly stuff just doesn't like moisture during cure. Anyone else had polyurethane fail on older flues?
I used to think those $40 rotary brush kits were a gimmick. Always stuck with my hand brushes and rods like the old timers taught me. Then I took on a job in Mobile where the creosote was packed in like concrete, 3/8 inch thick. Borrowed a buddy's rotary kit for one flue and it cut my cleaning time from 45 minutes down to 15. Now I'm thinking about eating the cost for my own setup. Anyone else make the switch and regret not doing it sooner?
Used to swear by the old stiff wire brush for years. Every sweep in my crew around Cleveland did it that way. But about 6 months back I tried a poly brush on a tricky clay liner job. It didn't scratch the surface up and still got the creosote off fine. Now I'm the odd one out at meetups telling guys to make the switch. Anyone else run into pushback from old timers on this?
I've been sweeping chimneys for about 4 years now and last Tuesday I had a job at a old house in Springfield where the flue was caked in this hard black creosote. I was going at it with my wire brush like I always do, pushing hard to scrape it off. The homeowner was watching me and asked why I was attacking it like that. He used to be a sweep back in the 90s and told me to let the brush do the work with lighter strokes. I tried it and realized I was just scratching up the tile liner the whole time. It took me the same amount of time but my arms didn't feel dead after. Now I'm wondering how many flues I've damaged with my heavy handed approach over the years. Has anyone else had a similar wake up call about their technique?
For 8 years I scrubbed every flue down to bare brick like my mentor taught me. Then a homeowner pulled up a photo from 3 years later showing cracks forming in the mortar where I'd been too aggressive. Anybody else have to unlearn an old habit that was actually doing damage?
Used to spend 20 minutes scraping off that shiny stage 3 stuff with a wire brush and now a poly brush knocks it down in half the time on this old masonry chimney in St. Paul I just did, anyone else made that swap and seen a big difference?
Had a flue liner crack on me last Tuesday in a little house near Austin, and I patched it with regular high-temp silicone instead of the $30 stuff - held up fine through two test burns. Anyone else tried skipping the fancy sealants on low-use fireplaces?
I was on a job in Portland cleaning a flue last Tuesday, and I didn't spot the nest until I shoved the brush in. It collapsed and wedged the brush halfway down, took me 45 minutes with a shop vac and a hook tool to pull it all out. Has anyone else had a nest turn a routine clean into a nightmare?
Had an older homeowner pull me aside last month after I swept his chimney. He said my poly brush was scratching his clay flue liner and making it worse over time. I didn't believe him at first, but he showed me the tiny grooves in the liner he pointed out from a previous sweep. After that, I switched to a softer nylon brush for standard clay flues and only use poly on metal liners now. It only cost me about $30 for the new brush, but it already saved me a callback on a job last week when the liner looked way cleaner without the scratching. Has anyone else dealt with this issue with poly brushes on old clay?
I was cleaning out a chimney last week for a lady in Portland and I swear the draft felt different than what I expected based on the flue size. So I got curious and looked up some old manuals from the 70s and found out that even a 1/8 inch layer of creosote can reduce cross sectional area by like 15 percent depending on the flue shape. That blew my mind because I always just scraped till it looked clean but never thought about how the smoke flow actually changes month to month. Has anyone else noticed a big difference in how a chimney pulls after a heavy buildup season vs right after a clean?
I was halfway through a creosote-glazed flue when the motor started smoking and then just died, so I had to finish by hand with a wire whip, has anyone else had a brush lock up mid-sweep?
I was working a job over on Maple Street in a house built in the 1920s. The homeowner had a clay liner that was pretty smooth on top but I could feel some grab lower down. My old rotary brush head got caught on a rough patch and the cable just twisted and snapped right there inside the flue. I had to fish the brush head out with a magnet on a pole which took me almost an hour. The whole thing made me late for my next appointment and I lost time I could have used on another job. I am thinking about switching to a poly whip setup instead but I have used this brush for close to 8 years now. Has anyone else had a brush cable snap on them like that or am I just overdue for new gear?
I was sweeping a house in Denver last Tuesday and the homeowner kept insisting I add a second cleanout to his flue. I told him it was unnecessary and argued my point for about 10 minutes. He pulled out a photo of his last sweep's work showing heavy creosote buildup right where the flue turned. I added the cleanout and found a solid 2 inch blockage in that exact spot. Has anyone else had a homeowner teach them something they should have already known?