c/chimney-sweeps

That old timer who told me to stop using wire brushes on clay flues

I used to always scrub clay flue liners with a standard wire brush. Old guy named Charlie told me I was scratching the glaze off. Switched to poly brushes after that. Has anyone else had early work come back to bite them years later?

Saw a landlord's DIY chimney job in Baltimore that made me cringe

I was up in Baltimore last month doing a routine sweep on a rowhouse, and the neighbor came over to ask if I could check his chimney too. Turns out he had done his own lining job with some flex pipe he bought at a hardware store. He used regular duct tape instead of high-temp sealant, and the liner was sagging so bad it was blocking the flue by almost 40 percent. I tried to explain that this setup could cause a chimney fire or carbon monoxide leak, but he said it had worked fine for two winters. I get that people want to save money, but this is the kind of thing that gives the trade a bad name. Has anyone else run into botched homeowner repairs that were just dangerous to look at?

Stumbled on a stat about creosote buildup that caught me off guard

I was reading through some NFPA chimney reports last night and saw that nearly 75% of chimney fires are caused by creosote fires. That number seemed way higher than I expected, even after 12 years in this trade. Has anyone else looked into those stats and found them surprising compared to what you see on the job?

Rant: That time a brush head snapped off inside a flue on a 3-story Victorian in Portland

I was working on a job in the Hawthorne district and my poly head snapped clean off the rod about 30 feet up inside a tight clay liner. Had to fish it out with a magnet on a rope, took me an extra 2 hours and the homeowner watched the whole thing from her kitchen window. Has anyone else dealt with a failed brush head mid-job?

Thought those fancy creosote sweeping logs were a total scam until my flue caught fire

Old timer at the bar told me they were just sawdust and paraffin but I had a customer last winter who swore by them. Grabbed one on a whim after I couldn't get a brush up my rental's crooked chimney. Burned it, ran a camera up there a week later and that fluffy crap was actually gone. Still don't trust em for heavy buildup but for light maintenance? Okay fine they work. Anyone else had one actually do something or was I just lucky?

Heard a guy at the supply house say he never uses a brush on his last rod

I always thought the brush was part of the final sweep but now I'm wondering if I've been wasting time on something that doesn't matter, any of you skip it and still get clean results?

Question about spinning brushes and why nobody warned me sooner

I spent 8 years scrubbing flues with a standard wire brush before a old timer at a trade show in Des Moines walked over and handed me a spinning brush head and said 'stop doing it the hard way' and now I'm mad at myself for every single elbow I wrecked before that moment.

Picked a rotary brush over the standard wire one for a heavy buildup job last Tuesday

Had a chimney in an old house near downtown that was packed with that thick, glazed creosote. Went with the rotary brush and it cut through it in about half the time, but man did it kick up a ton of dust. Anyone else find rotary brushes leave more mess than the wire kind?

Question about rotary brushes vs standard wire brushes for heavy creosote

I spent 4 hours on a chimney in Denver last week with my standard wire brush and barely made a dent in the buildup. Switched over to a rotary brush attachment for my drill on the next job and finished in half the time. Has anyone else found rotary brushes way more effective for stubborn creosote, or am I just using the wrong technique with the regular brush?

Old timer Mike told me I was brushing too fast

A guy I met at a job in Cleveland said I was moving my rods too quick and just pushing soot around instead of actually scraping. He showed me how to slow down and let the brush do the work, especially on flues with thick glaze. Now I take almost twice as long per job but I'm not getting callbacks about falling creosote. Has anyone else had to unlearn bad habits they picked up early on?

Cord vs rod... which one do you think works better for stubborn creosote?

I keep seeing people swear by the poly cords for cleaning heavy buildup, but I've been using metal rods for 10 years and never had an issue. Then last week a guy named Dave at the supply house told me I'm behind the times and wasting my time... he said cords grab better and don't scratch the flue like rods can. I'm pretty sure if you've got a clay liner that's smooth, rods are fine. But for those rough stainless inserts? Maybe cords are the way to go. What do you all use on a normal 8 inch chimney with moderate glaze?

Vent: That time a squirrel dropped a nut right on my head mid-sweep

Last Tuesday I was up on a roof in Portland cleaning a flue when this gray squirrel perched on a branch above me, chattering like crazy. I look up and it drops a giant acorn right on my hard hat, then just stares at me like it was a warning shot. Has anyone else had wildlife mess with them on a job, or am I the only one getting targeted by furry terrorists?

Had a 70 year old retired sweep school me on soot analysis last week

I was telling him about a job I did in a 1920s house with all this weird greasy soot and he just laughed and said 'that's not creosote, kid, that's old coal residue mixing with furnace oil.' He spent 20 minutes explaining how different fuel types leave totally different residue patterns. Has anyone else had an old timer drop knowledge that totally changed how you look at a dirty chimney?

Spent 6 hours on a flue that was just a raccoon's nest

Got a call from a house in Bakersfield last Tuesday. Said they had smoke backing up into the living room. I ran my brush through, pulled out some debris. Still had a blockage. Spent three hours trying different rods, cameras, even a drop light. Finally got the camera past a tight bend and saw it. A whole raccoon nest wedged in the middle. Took another three to pull it out piece by piece. Six hours for what should have been a 45 minute job. Has anyone else had a critter cause way more trouble than it should?

Debate: Should you use a shop vac or a dedicated soot vac for routine cleanings?

I've been sweeping chimneys for about 8 years now, and I'm stuck on this one. Last month at a job in Portland, I used my shop vac with a fine filter and it worked okay, but a fellow sweep told me I'm risking a fire hazard because the sparks can smolder in the bag. He swears by his $500 soot vac from a supply house. But my old mentor, who trained me 3 years ago, said he's used a shop vac for 20 years with zero issues if you clean it out right. What do you guys think, is the shop vac safe enough or is that just asking for trouble?

Showerthought: I spent 4 years fighting creosote with the wrong brush size on every job in Portland.

A senior sweep in Eugene pulled out his gauge and showed me my 8-inch brush was actually leaving a half-inch gap on 7-inch flues, and I felt like an idiot for never measuring the liner before buying brushes, has anyone else been using the wrong diameter this whole time?

I finally listened to an old guy in Boise who said to soak my brushes in vinegar for a day before a big creosote job.

A homeowner in Boulder told me my camera work was making him dizzy

Honestly, I was just doing my normal video scan with the Chim-Scan Pro, moving it around to show every angle. He said the fast spinning and zooming gave him motion sickness and he couldn't actually see the cracks I was pointing out. Ngl, I slowed it right down, kept the camera steady, and talked through each spot for a full five seconds. Has anyone else had a client ask for a slower, clearer video report?

Found a weird blockage in a flue over in the old part of town

I was working on a house built in the 1920s last Tuesday, one of those big brick places near the historic district. The homeowner said the fireplace hadn't drawn right for two winters. I got my camera up there and saw something solid about eight feet down. It wasn't creosote, it was hard and gray. Took me almost an hour with the rods and a special scraper to break it up and pull it out. Turns out it was a huge chunk of old mortar that must have fallen from the crown years ago and just got packed in by soot over time. The homeowner was shocked, he said three other sweeps had just told him the liner was shot. Has anyone else pulled out something that wasn't creosote or a nest?

Shoutout to the guy who told me to check my brush angle

For years, I just shoved the brush up there and worked it around, thinking more force was better. Then this older sweep in Boise, after a job, asked me what angle I held the rod at. I said straight up, obviously. He just shook his head and said, 'Try holding it at a 15-degree angle off the back wall, you'll get the corners.' I tried it the next day on a brick chimney in a 1920s house. The amount of extra soot and creosote chunks that came down was crazy, like I'd missed a whole section before. Has anyone else had a simple tip like that totally change their technique?

I always thought creosote was the main fire risk, but a study from the NFPA changed my mind

I was reading a report from the National Fire Protection Association, the 2022 version, and it said something that really got me. It said that over a third of home heating fires start because of things placed too close to the heater or the fireplace itself, not just from a dirty chimney. I've been sweeping for fifteen years and always focused on the flue lining and creosote buildup. I tell every customer about cleaning schedules. But this made me think I'm missing a big part of the safety talk. Now I make a point to walk around the hearth area and look for firewood stacks, furniture, or even holiday decorations that are within three feet of the opening. I had a job in Charlotte last fall where a family had a wicker basket right next to the fireplace opening, full of kindling. That's a direct hazard I would have missed before. Do you all include a quick 'clearance check' in your standard service call, or do you stick strictly to the flue?

Had a customer in Tacoma tell me his old chimney was built with newspaper insulation, found a 1972 sports section up there

Just realized the worst job I ever had taught me the most

I mean, it was this Tuesday in early March, right after that big snow melt in Buffalo. Got a call for a routine cleaning at a 1920s brick colonial. The homeowner said it was 'a bit blocked.' Idk, maybe it's just me but that's always a red flag. Got up on the roof, dropped the brush, and it stopped after maybe two feet. Spent the next four hours with rods, a camera, and finally a specialized carbide-tipped drill bit from my truck to break through what turned out to be a solid, three-inch thick slab of creosote and concrete-like soot that had basically turned into a chimney plug. My arms were shaking by the end. It was miserable, but I learned more about diagnosing weird obstructions in that one afternoon than in the past three years. Has anyone else had a single, awful job that actually made you way better at this?

Finally tried that camera scope after avoiding it for years

Always figured my mirror and flashlight were good enough, but a job on a 1920s flue in Savannah convinced me. Seeing a hairline crack on the screen that I'd have totally missed changed my tune. What other tech did you guys resist that ended up being a game changer?

Remember when a simple creosote clog could turn into a full day's work?

I spent 6 hours last Tuesday in a 1920s house in Tacoma, fighting a hardened blockage that my standard rods and brushes just wouldn't crack, until I finally had to go back for the heavy-duty rotary system.