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?
Last month I got tired of scraping by hand and grabbed a cheap angle grinder with a wire cup brush attachment. Figured it'd save me time on a heavy buildup in an old house downtown. Instead it threw sparks everywhere and I ended up with a small fire in the flue liner that I had to smother with a wet blanket. Learned my lesson about skipping the proper rotary brush setup. Any of you guys had a tool hack go wrong like that?
I used to think sweeping was faster, but after watching a guy on a job in Akron empty a fireplace in under 3 minutes with a fine-filter vac, I had to admit it's way cleaner. He said it cuts his dust exposure by half. Anyone else switch over and notice a big difference?
I was flipping through the NFPA 211 handbook last week and saw that only 1/8 inch of creosote is enough to start a chimney fire, which is way thinner than I ever thought.
Went to a job yesterday in a old house near downtown and the homeowner had just paid someone to put in a new stainless liner. I was there for a different issue and noticed ash and soot chunks falling out of the cleanout. Pulled the cap off and there was a bird nest and about 3 inches of creosote sitting right on top of the liner. The guy who installed it just dropped it down without even running a brush through first. Now that liner is getting choked and the draft is garbage. How do you skip the most basic step and call yourself a sweep?
I was over at a job in Portland last month and another sweeper pointed out my brush head was way too stiff for the clay flue I kept scratching up. Turns out I'd been using a wire brush meant for metal liners on everything since I started back in 2018. Has anyone else messed up something basic like that for too long?
I tried that spiral chain whip I saw on a YouTube demo - you know, the one that promises to scrape creosote in half the time - and it practically chewed up the terracotta liner on a 1920s house near downtown. Has anyone else had a tool they trusted turn out way more aggressive than expected?
I ran into a fellow sweep at the hardware store last Tuesday morning. He must be pushing 70, been doing this since the 70s. He said he never uses those chemical creosote logs anymore. Told me he just focuses on getting the flue temperature right during the first burn of the season. Something about how the chemicals can actually leave a residue that makes the next layer stick worse. I had been relying on those logs for 15 years. Made me think about how I approach my cleanings. Has anyone else heard this or had experience dropping the chemical treatments?
Picked up a fancy rotary cleaning kit from a trade show in Cleveland last spring. Figured it would save me time on heavy creosote jobs, but the brush head snapped off on my third use and got stuck halfway up a flue. Spent two hours fishing the pieces out with a magnet on a rod, plus I still had to hand scrub the job. Anyone else fall for a gimmick tool that just created more work?
I was on a job last Thursday in a 1920s house near downtown Portland. Guy had a high-efficiency insert and insisted I use his shop vac with a brush attachment on the flue tiles. Took me 45 minutes to clean what I could do in 15 with a standard wire brush and a drop cloth. Vacuum gear has its place for certain setups, but I think too many sweeps lean on it instead of learning proper mechanical cleaning. Anyone else find attachments slow you down more than they help?
I was at a job in Columbus last week, cleaning out a fireplace insert, and the homeowner came down and watched me work for a bit. She said her neighbor told her creosote is basically just soot and not a big deal. I had to explain that creosote is actually a flammable tar that builds up in layers and can cause chimney fires. Has anyone else run into people thinking creosote is harmless?
I tried it on a 1920s double-flue in St. Paul last week and it dried way harder with no cracks after a test burn - has anyone else had better luck with one over the other on old brick?
I was up on a job in Nashville last March, working on this old Victorian with a real heavy creosote glaze. My mentor's son was helping me and he asked why I was scraping down to bare brick when we only needed the loose stuff off. I just stared at him for a second. I've been doing this since 2015 and nobody ever told me you could damage the tile liner by going too aggressive with the metal brush. Now I'm wondering if half my past clients got worse service because I was stripping their flues raw. So which side are you on - scrape it clean down to the bone or just knock off the crunchy bits and call it good?