Watched a rookie sweep in Cleveland rod a flue from the roof down, and I had to stop him
He had the rods set up top side and was about to feed them down when I asked if he had checked the smoke shelf first. He looked at me like I was speaking another language. The thing is, I learned this same lesson in 2 messy minutes on a job in Akron back in the day, black crap everywhere because I pushed soot right into the shelf and it clogged. You always work bottom up or at least clear that shelf before you touch the top, no matter what the old timers tell you about speed. Any of you still see guys rodding from the roof first?