My new brush head snapped clean off inside a flue yesterday

It was a poly brush on a fiberglass rod, and the whole thing just gave way about 15 feet up a brick chimney in a 1920s house. I had to fish the pieces out with a magnet and a hook, which took almost an hour. What's the most reliable rod and brush combo you guys use for old, tight flues?

2 comments

2 Comments

grant_martinez512mo ago

My 1948 cottage flue ate a cheap poly brush just like that last fall. I switched to a steel brush on a solid steel rod and it's been bulletproof since. That extra weight makes all the difference.

xena6422mo ago

Actually, the weight isn't the main thing, it's the stiffness of the rod. A floppy plastic rod lets the brush fold over in a tight bend or offset. A solid steel rod pushes the bristles straight into the creosote. My buddy used a heavy brush on a fiberglass sectional rod and it still jammed up in his old chimney's elbow.