🐿️Pinecone Attack

c/chimney-sweeps

3

foster.ruby•10h ago

Old timer on St. Mary's Street taught me something I still use

I was doing a clean on a 1920s house in Baltimore and this guy came out, maybe 80 years old, said he swept chimneys since he was 12. He showed me how to spot a bad flue by the smell of the soot, not by looking. Anyone else pick up a weird trick from a customer or old pro like that?

7

ryan653•1d ago

Showerthought: The difference 2 years of dry ash buildup made on a single flue

I cleaned a house in Raleigh last month where the homeowner swore they had it swept annually. Pulled out almost 4 inches of packed dry ash from the bottom 3 feet of the flue - the top half was totally clean. They had a wood stove insert installed 2 years back and never changed their sweeping routine. How do you guys handle customers who think one sweep a year is always enough no matter what they burn?

20

allen.amy•3d ago

Debate with my dad about using wire brushes vs poly brushes on stainless liners - what's your take?

He swore by wire brushes for 30 years but I heard they can scratch the passivation layer, so I switched to poly brushes last month after a guy in Pittsburgh warned me about it. Anyone here had issues with wire brushes causing corrosion down the road?

29

mason209•3d ago

That one clogged flue job in Cleveland took me 6 hours instead of 2

I had a job last Tuesday where a homeowner had this old oil furnace liner that collapsed inside the clay tile. I figured I'd run a rotary brush through it and be done by lunch, but I spent four hours just pulling out broken chunks of tile and liner. Has anyone else had a simple job turn into a full day project like that?

29

hayden_rodriguez•4d ago

Rant: Customer told me my smoke test was sloppy and he was right

Guy with a 1920s house in Providence pointed out I missed a hairline crack where the flue meets the crown. Ever since I started using a fog machine instead of just a flashlight, I catch way more small leaks.

30

umab86•6d ago

Wasted $60 on a cheap chimney camera from Amazon

I bought this little inspection camera off Amazon for about 60 bucks, thought it'd save me from climbing up on the roof so much. First time I used it, the picture was all grainy and the light barely showed anything past three feet down the flue. Second time, the cable just snapped inside the chimney on a routine cleaning job. Had to fish it out with a magnet and a wire hanger, wasted a whole afternoon. Anyone else get burned by one of those cheap camera setups?

19

tarak17•8d ago

Brushes vs rotary tools for heavy creosote buildup

I had a job last week in an old house near Minneapolis where the flue was packed with so much glaze I couldn't even get my standard wire brush through. Ended up switching to a rotary drill attachment halfway through and it cut the time in half but left more dust everywhere. Anyone else find one method works better for certain types of buildup?

2

young.emma•9d ago

Old timer told me I was over-scraping my flues - changed my whole approach

I had this guy named Larry come look at my work after I did a job on Elm Street. He said I was scraping the liner way too hard and actually risking damage. Turns out I was trying to get every last speck of soot off when a light brush is plenty for glass-smooth liners. Has anyone else had to unlearn the 'scrub it clean' mentality?

23

the_robin•10d ago

I just realized most people are using the wrong size brush for their flue

Was out on a job last week in a house built in the 50s and the homeowner said they had been cleaning their own chimney for years. I took one look at their brush and it was way too small for the 8x12 flue they had. They were just pushing soot around and not actually scrubbing the walls. I had to break it to them that theyve been wasting their effort for like 3 years. How many of you see this on the regular?

12

rosejackson•11d ago

Had a talk with a lady who told me my brush technique was all wrong

I was sweeping a house last Tuesday and this older woman watched me work for like 10 minutes. Then she came over and said I was going at the flue tiles too hard, that I was scraping them instead of brushing. She used to do this job with her dad back in the 70s. She showed me this slow twist motion she always did and said it cut her cleanup time in half. I tried it on the next job and honestly it worked way better. Has anyone else gotten tips from random homeowners that actually stuck?

31

skylergrant•12d ago

Took me 5 years to realize I was bending my rods wrong

I've been sweeping for a decade and always bent my rods by hand at the middle. Last month an older guy at a job in Portland showed me to brace them against my thigh and bend from the base. My wrists stopped hurting the next day. Anybody else have a basic move they learned way later than they should have?

6

abby_martin28•13d ago

Brush direction debate: up-down or down-up?

I've been sweeping chimneys for about 8 years now and always brushed from the bottom up. Figured you gotta push the soot ahead of you, right? Last month I was working a job over in Oakwood and the homeowner, who used to sweep in the 80s, watched me for a minute. He asked why I was pushing dirt back into the flue instead of pulling it down. Kinda stung because I never really thought about it that way. Now I'm wondering if I've been making extra work for myself all this time. Anyone else have a method they used forever until someone pointed out it was backwards?

14

reese_lane29•14d ago

Question about how much creosote builds up in a season

I just cleaned out a chimney in a house that had a wood stove going all winter. The buildup was almost 3 inches thick in places. Found a study from the Chimney Safety Institute of America that said 1/8 inch of creosote is enough to start a dangerous fire. How often do you guys actually check yours between cleanings?

22

terryj45•15d ago

Had a flue fire call in an old farmhouse last Tuesday that shook me up a bit

I was out at a place near Lancaster County, an old stone farmhouse built in the 1800s, and the homeowner said they hadn't swept the chimney in over a decade. When I got up on the roof I saw the creosote was almost an inch thick in places, and the liner was cracked from a small fire they didn't even notice. Has anyone else run into folks who just don't think about their chimneys until something bad happens?

9

bencampbell•16d ago

Vent: That one chimney with the offset baffle that ate up my whole Tuesday

So I get a call about a chimney that hasn't been cleaned in like 5 years (which is way too long, but whatever). I show up, normal house in Boulder, looks straightforward. But then I get to the top and find this weird offset baffle that someone installed wrong. It was like a shelf halfway down the flue, catching all the creosote. Took me 3 hours just to get the rods up past it, plus another hour of scraping and vacuuming. My normal clean takes maybe 90 minutes tops. Has anyone else run into a baffle or damper that was just installed in the dumbest possible spot? I'm curious if this is a common issue around here or if I just got lucky.

11

tyler368•16d ago

Rant: Old timer told me my brush technique was all wrong last winter

I was cleaning this massive chimney in a Victorian house up in Portland, Maine back in February, and this old sweeper who's been doing it since the 70s just watched me work for a minute. He told me I was scrubbing too hard on the flue tiles and that I was wearing them down faster than they naturally degrade. Honestly, I always thought you had to really crank on the brush to get the creosote off, but he showed me how a lighter touch with the right poly brush actually cleans better because you're not scraping the glaze off the tile. I switched to his method on the next job, and ngl, I got way less dust flying back in my face and the liner looked a lot cleaner when I was done. It felt weird at first because I'm used to that aggressive scrubbing feeling, but the results spoke for themselves. Has anyone else had an old timer call them out on something basic like that and totally change your routine?

18

patricia_king23•17d ago

Can we talk about those wire whip brushes that look like a joke

My uncle handed me this old rusty wire whip brush last year and I figured it was a museum piece, not something I'd actually use. Tried it on a heavy creosote buildup in a 1920s house last week and it cut through like butter, way faster than my nylon set. Anyone else have a tool that looked useless but turned out to be gold?

21

nathan_torres34•18d ago

Heard a homeowner say 'it's just a little soot' and I had to bite my tongue

I was at a job last Tuesday in a old house near downtown, doing a routine sweep for a family that just moved in. The wife comes up and says 'oh it's just a little soot, can't be that bad.' I opened the damper and there was a good 2 inches of creosote buildup, some of it the hard shiny glaze kind. I tried to explain that's not just soot, that's a fire waiting to happen, but she kind of waved me off. It got me thinking how many people really don't understand the difference between light dust and dangerous buildup. I mean, I get it, to someone who doesn't do this every day it probably looks the same. But man, it's frustrating when they think I'm just trying to upsell them or something. Anyone else run into homeowners that think they know better than you about their own chimney?

2

brian303•21d ago

Unpopular opinion: stainless brush is not always the answer on old flues

I was talking with a mason in Philly last month and he said I was wrecking my customers' clay liners by always using the stiff stainless brush. He showed me how the older flues just get gouged up and trap more creosote over time. Has anyone else switched back to poly brushes on pre-1980s chimneys?

1

brooke533•22d ago

That $200 spinning brush attachment I bought barely works

Picked up a SpinSweep 3000 off Amazon last month for my residential jobs. Thing just bounces off heavy creosote and eats up battery in 20 minutes. Anyone else find those spinning brushes are more hassle than they're worth?

2

milabaker•22d ago

Tried a rotary brush kit from a garage sale - actually cleaned my flue better than my rods

Picked up this old rotary brush setup for $20 at a garage sale in Akron last month. Thought it was gonna be junk but the guy swore by it. Hooked it up to my drill and it knocked out a years worth of creosote in half the time my regular rods take. Still use rods for the fine stuff but man I was wrong about those spinning brushes. Anyone else run into a tool you thought was a gimmick but actually works?

23

gracecarr•22d ago

Got told I was cleaning wrong after 8 years on the job

I had a customer in Denver last month who watched me do her chimney and said I was pushing soot into her living room with my brush. She showed me how she wanted me to tape a plastic sheet over the fireplace opening first. I thought it was a waste of time but tried it on the next job. Now I save 20 minutes of cleanup per house and my customers stop complaining about dust. Any other sweeps here get called out by a homeowner and actually learned something?

5

wren307•26d ago

That old lady in Highland Park who wanted me to sweep her chimney every month for 10 years

I had this client named Mrs. Gable in Highland Park who insisted I come every month even though she only used her fireplace twice a winter. She would hand me a $50 bill and say "just in case the birds come back" every single time. Anyone else have a customer who paid you to show up for no real reason for years?

7

the_wendy•26d ago

Had a bird fly down a flue mid-sweep last Wednesday in Portland

I was working a job on NE 42nd, had the rods going, and a starling came shooting down out of the top. It bounced off my face and landed right in the ash pan, (still alive, just stunned). I had to carefully scoop it out with my gloves and let it go in the backyard. Has anyone else had wild critters interrupt a service call like that?

28

gracecarr•28d ago

Hit 500 chimney cleanings this month and it made me rethink my brush setup

I was just going through my logbook for last month (December is always crazy busy) and saw I did 501 cleanings. That number hit me different because I've been using the same poly brush for like 4 years now. Last week I finally swapped to a steel core brush with a smaller handle and my arms aren't killing me as bad at the end of the day. Anyone else ever stop to count how many jobs they do in a season and realize they need to upgrade their gear?