Rant: Worst Tuesday I've had in 8 years of sweeping

Last Tuesday I hit a house on Maple Street where the homeowner hadn't cleaned their chimney in over a decade. I pulled out a solid 5 gallon bucket full of creosote chunks and this sticky black tar that coated everything. My brush got stuck halfway down the flue and I had to climb up on the roof in 90 degree heat to yank it free. Has anyone else dealt with a flue that narrow where a standard 8 inch brush just binds up?

3 comments

3 Comments

riveradams2mo ago

Did you catch that episode on the Sweep Talk podcast where a guy mentioned how older homes sometimes have those tapered flues that just eat standard brushes? Sounds like that might be your problem right there, especially if the creosote had built up unevenly. A segmented poly brush might work better next time since it can flex around those narrow spots without binding.

sage_ramirez421mo ago

Heard a similar story from my buddy Mike who tried cleaning his grandma's old chimney last fall. He brought a standard brush and it got wedged so tight he had to climb up on the roof and yank the whole rope assembly back out. Took him like an hour just to get it unstuck. He ended up buying one of those segmented poly brushes after that and said it was night and day easier with the tapered sections. Have you used one of those yourself yet or are you still testing different brush setups?

taylor.amy2mo ago

Could the original flue liner be ceramic instead of just old clay, since those taper differently?