That Tuesday morning job that turned into a three-hour disaster

Last spring I had a simple flue cleaning in an old Victorian house near downtown Portland. The homeowner mentioned they hadn't used the fireplace in years. I popped the top and found a wasp nest the size of a basketball completely blocking the flue about 4 feet down. Took me two trips to the truck for extra rods and a shop vac attachment to get it all out. Has anyone else run into major blockages that weren't creosote?

3 comments

3 Comments

finley_walker571mo ago

Wasp nests don't count as a real blockage problem.

danieljenkins26d ago

In my experience living in the south, wasps can get pretty aggressive too. I had a nest blocking one of my gutter downspouts last fall and it turned into a four foot long mud and leaf log that took me an hour to break up. Have you ever actually tried clearing out a drain that has an active nest in it, or is this just from what you've heard?

the_ben1mo ago

Last summer I counted 12 nests in one drainage pipe near my place @finley_walker57, and that pipe was completely backed up for weeks until a professional cleared it out. Those little guys can pack a ton of debris in there that traps leaves and mud, making things way worse than people realize. Not saying it's the same as a full tree root clog, but it's not nothing either.