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My uncle told me to always check the damper from the top down first
He was a sweep for forty years in Boise and said it saves a ton of time. Last month I had a job in a 1920s house with a stubborn smoke issue. I started from the top like he said, and the damper was completely jammed shut with old mortar droppings. Fixed it in twenty minutes instead of fighting it from the fireplace for an hour. Do you guys have any other old school tips that actually hold up?
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roseb477mo ago
My dad always said to tap the flue tiles with a screwdriver handle before you clean. A hollow sound means trouble, you ever try that?
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wades767mo ago
Oh man, that's a solid tip. I read about always checking the chimney crown first for cracks before even setting up a ladder. A lot of water problems start up there, and you can spot it from the ground with binoculars. Saves you from chasing leaks inside for no reason.
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derekp704mo ago
Damn, that top-down damper trick is pure gold. I remember a job in a real old house where the smoke was choking us out, and I was about to give up. After I read this post, I tried the top-down approach and found a bird's nest blocking the whole thing. Saved me a good forty minutes and a lot of swearing. It's wild how some of those old school tips just cut through the nonsense. You guys ever get a job where the main problem was something simple you missed because you started in the wrong spot?
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