Back in '08 I was cleaning a flue out in Toledo and this guy Larry, must have been 70, gave me that advice. I laughed it off because I figured modern brushes were better engineered. Fast forward to last winter, I used a cheap 4-layer brush on a heavy creosote job and the bristles started peeling off halfway through. Had to fish wire bristles out of a customer's fireplace grate for an hour. Larry was right, I should have listened. Anyone else get that kind of stubborn advice from the old dogs?
Had a job last week where smoke kept backing up into the living room no matter what I did. Tried sealing everything traditional but finally hooked a shop vac to the cleanout and pulled a bead of old mortar right out of a hairline crack in the liner. Anyone else use negative pressure to find sneaky leaks?
Spent almost 2 hours on a single flue cap job last Tuesday in Baltimore that should have taken 45 minutes tops. Kept adjusting the flame, turning it up, couldn't get a clean cut on the stainless. Finally noticed the yellow tip was all over the place. Cleaned the nozzle with a wire brush and suddenly the thing cut like butter. I probably burned through $15 worth of extra propane just being stubborn. Has anyone else had a tool maintenance issue that just ate your whole morning without you realizing?
Was working a 3-flue clean over on Maple Street, about halfway through the second flue when I heard a grinding noise. The spin brush just stopped spinning. Pulled it out and found the gearbox was completely seized, grease all baked and hardened. Now I gotta tear it apart and rebuild it tonight. Anyone else had this issue with the older SpinSweep models?
I've been doing it the old way with hand brushes for 8 years but just borrowed a rotary whip setup from a guy in Denver. First job with it left more dust in the firebox than I'd like. What method do you guys trust more for a final clean?
I've been doing this trade since 2016 and thought I'd seen it all. But this house in north Denver had a wood stove insert that the owners said they'd been using every winter for 10 years without a single cleaning. The stuff was almost solid, like tar mixed with charcoal. Took me almost 2 hours with a rotary brush and a shop vac just to get the main flue clear. Has anyone else run into a buildup that bad and what did you do to prevent it coming back?
I had this one house I clean twice a year, older place with a big fireplace. Last spring the owner called me out saying I was leaving black marks on her slate hearth. I thought she was crazy at first, figured it was just creosote dust. But she showed me a photo zoomed in and yeah, there it was. Turns out I was brushing too fast and not letting the soot settle before I moved the brush out. Now I slow way down on the final passes and give it a few seconds. Haven't had a complaint since. Anyone else get feedback like that that made you rethink a basic move?
Had a guy in my local shop in Cincinnati try to sell me some no-name solvent for my nylon brushes. Said it worked just as good as the name brand stuff. Three brushes later the bristles were all gummy and useless, cost me about $60 to replace them. Anyone else had bad luck with off-brand cleaning stuff?
Thought it was just fancy marketing but after three passes with the old single brush gave me nothing, the dual-brush spun through a half-inch of glaze in five minutes and I’m wondering if I’ve been wasting my time on the old method, has anyone else found that spinning brushes outperform the traditional hand rods on heavy deposits?
I was working on a house built in the 1920s over in Oak Park last Tuesday. The flue had this thick, sticky creosote that just would not budge with my regular brushes. Tried spraying a mix of warm water and trisodium phosphate on it first, let it sit for about 10 minutes, then went in with a wire brush attachment on my drill. Came off way easier than I expected. Has anyone else tried something like that for the tough stuff?
Last month I had a job with a 90 degree bend that was too tight for my standard rods and I spent 20 minutes trying to get the brush through with no luck. I grabbed some heavy duty paracord and a small weighted bag from my truck, tied the brush to the bag and dropped it down from the roof to pull the brush up through the bend backwards... Has anybody else used a drop line for those impossible angles?
I had this one guy last Tuesday who called me out for using a poly brush on his clay flue. He kept saying wire brushes are the only way to really scrub creosote off. I tried to explain that on older clay liners, wire can scratch them up and cause problems down the road. He just crossed his arms and said I was being lazy lol. I finished the job his way but I still think poly is safer for delicate flues. Has anyone else run into customers who think they know your tools better than you do?
I thought those creosote sweeping logs would save me time on a flue in an old Victorian house last week, but it just flaked off into big chunks that jammed my rotary brush, adding 4 hours of poking and vacuuming to a job I figured would be done in 2.
Old house in Portland, customer said it was a simple sweep. Got up there, everything looked normal. Pulled the brush through, nothing. Then I noticed the damper wouldn't close all the way. Had to drop a camera in and sure enough, there was a nest shoved way back behind the damper ledge. Took forever to fish it out piece by piece with a hooked rod. I was cussing the whole time. Has anyone else found a nest in a spot you couldn't see from either end?
I was working on a job in an old house built in the 1920s and hit a spot of glazed creosote that just wouldn't budge with my standard brush. Tried the poly whip attachment and it barely made a dent after 45 minutes of work. Finally broke out the rotary scraper and some extra elbow grease and got through it in about 15 minutes. Has anyone else found a faster way to deal with that rock hard stuff without tearing up the liner?
So I passed 500 flue cleanings last week in the Denver area, and I started thinking about two sides of this job. One says it's just pushing soot around, the other says you're actually making homes safer and catching problems. What number milestone made you feel like you were actually doing something real in this trade?
I was picking up brushes at the shop last Tuesday and this younger guy tells the clerk he doesn't bother with chemical treatments because creosote's basically just loose dust... I had to bite my tongue so hard. Has anyone else run into rookies underestimating how that stuff bonds to the flue lining?
Had a job last Tuesday where the draft was terrible no matter what I did. Checked the cap, looked for blockages, ran my rods through like three times with the standard 8 inch poly brush. Nothing. Customer was standing there watching me, lol, making small talk about their dog while I'm sweating bullets trying to figure it out. Finally after 4 hours I swapped to a steel wire brush head and the whole thing cleared in like 5 minutes. Turns out there was a heavy glaze buildup that the poly brush just slid over. Has anyone else run into a similar situation where the wrong brush made you look like you had no idea what you were doing?
I kept track out of curiosity and hit 150 cleanings during November. Most I ever did before was around 90. That number shocked me because I didn't feel like I was rushing or cutting corners. Anybody else ever tally up a monthly count and surprise themselves?
Was working on a heavy creosote buildup last Tuesday on an old masonry stack in Portland and couldn't decide if a rotary tool would be too aggressive. I went with the paddle brush and hand rods instead, got it clean in about 45 minutes but my arms are still sore. Anyone else prefer one over the other for stubborn stuff like that?
I had this older lady in Oak Park call me out last winter because her fireplace was smoking back into the living room. I figured it was just a blockage from a bird nest or something. But when I got up on the roof and ran my brush down, I pulled out this thick, shiny layer of creosote that looked almost like tar. She came out and stood there watching me work, and she starts telling me how she's been burning green firewood for the last two months because her kid dropped off a truckload of unseasoned logs. I had to explain to her that wet wood creates that nasty glaze that can cause chimney fires. She actually thanked me and asked me to show her what seasoned wood looks like. Has anyone else run into customers who just don't know about the kind of wood they're burning?
I saw everyone raving about that small portable soot vacuum from the online supply shop, so I bought one back in March. First job I used it on, it clogged after 10 minutes of sweeping a clay liner. Tried cleaning the filter and it lost half its suction. Should've just stuck with my old shop vac and a fine filter bag. Anyone else find those portable units are more trouble than they're worth?
I kept seeing soot buildup on the top of my flue tiles and couldn't figure out why until a guy named Mike from a job site in Denver pointed out my brush head was pitched the wrong way. He said I was basically pushing the creosote back into the chimney instead of scraping it off, and after fixing it my sweeps came out way cleaner. Has anyone else found that a small angle change on their rods or brush made a big difference?