Shoutout to the guy who told me to check my brush angle

For years, I just shoved the brush up there and worked it around, thinking more force was better. Then this older sweep in Boise, after a job, asked me what angle I held the rod at. I said straight up, obviously. He just shook his head and said, 'Try holding it at a 15-degree angle off the back wall, you'll get the corners.' I tried it the next day on a brick chimney in a 1920s house. The amount of extra soot and creosote chunks that came down was crazy, like I'd missed a whole section before. Has anyone else had a simple tip like that totally change their technique?

2 comments

2 Comments

evanpalmer1mo ago

Remember what @hollym12 said, but don't tilt it side to side on a push, that just wears your brush down faster.

hollym121mo ago

That's a solid tip about the back wall... never thought of that. What about the angle side to side, though? My old boss caught me holding the rod straight vertical on a really wide flue once. He told me to tilt the whole thing about 10 degrees toward the side I was pushing from. It sounds weird, but it keeps the brush from just skimming the center and actually scrubs the far wall on the push. Made a huge difference on those big old square stacks.