Showerthought: spent 3 hours on a capped chimney in Lawrence chasing a draft issue that turned out to be a dead bird

Gray Torres · 2026-09-15T22:25:03.376045+00:00

Pulled the cap, swept the flue, ran the smoke test twice, all clear, so I started checking for cracks and even called the homeowner to ask about her furnace. Finally shoved a mirror up there and found a starling wedged behind the smoke shelf, which took me about 90 seconds to pull once I knew where to look. Anybody else got a go-to trick for spotting blockages without dragging the camera up the ladder?

🐿️Pinecone Attack

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Showerthought: spent 3 hours on a capped chimney in Lawrence chasing a draft issue that turned out to be a dead bird | Chimney Sweeps - Pinecone Attack