c/chimney-sweeps

Had a change of heart about nylon brushes after a job in St. Louis last Thursday

Honestly, I've always been a wire brush guy for heavy creosote. Thought nylon brushes were for light stuff only. But I showed up at this old house in St. Louis and the flue was packed with this hard, shiny creosote. My wire brush kept skipping over it and just made a mess. The homeowner came out and said he used to be a sweep back in the 80s and handed me his old nylon brush setup. Told me to try it slow with some pressure. I figured why not, I was already frustrated. Within 10 minutes that brush was grabbing the creosote and pulling it down clean. No scratching the liner either. Now I'm wondering how many times I've damaged liners with wire brushes over the years. Anybody else made the switch and regretted it took so long?

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loganl22•7h ago

Tried a rotary brush over a regular brush on a heavy creosote job

I had a chimney in an old house near Boston last month that was caked with that shiny stage 3 stuff. Used a poly brush first and barely made a dent, switched to a rotary brush with chains and it cut through like butter in half the time. Has anyone else found the rotary worth the extra setup hassle?

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daniel857•1d ago

Got into it with a homeowner last week about sealing flues with silicone vs mortar mix

She was adamant that silicone was faster and would hold up just as well, even after I told her I've been doing this 12 years. I pushed back that mortar mix is the only real option for high heat flues, but she pulled up some YouTube video from some guy in Ohio who said silicone was fine. Now I'm second guessing myself a little. Has anyone else run into customers who are dead set on a method that goes against what we learned in the trade?

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hayden466•1d ago

Hit my 1000th flue cleaning today and it felt weird

I was doing a regular job over on Maple Street and my helper mentioned it was my thousandth cleaning since I started tracking. I didn't feel any different or special, just dirty and tired like normal. But now I'm thinking about all the creosote I've scraped out over the years and it kind of hits you. Has anyone else hit a milestone like that and not realized it until later?

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alice_kim•2d ago

Went back to rotary brushes after trying square ones for a month

I figured square brushes would scrub more surface area on a 12x12 flue, but they just kept catching on the corners. After fighting with one on a job in Springfield last Tuesday, I swapped back to my old round rotary and it was done in half the time. Anyone else find square brushes more trouble than they're worth?

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the_max•5d ago

Took me 4 hours to clean a chimney that should have been 45 minutes

Pulled up to a house in Portland and found 2 inches of creosote buildup plus a massive bird nest wedged halfway down the flue. Had to rod it from both directions and still missed a chunk that I only caught on the camera check. Has anyone else run into a simple job that turned into a full day ordeal?

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lilyg83•5d ago

My brand new brush split in half on the third job Tuesday

I bought a new poly brush from the supply house thinking I was treating myself. Third chimney on Tuesday, a standard 6x6 flue, and the head just cracked right down the middle when I hit a little patch of creosote. Lucky I had an old wire brush in the truck, but now I'm back to using that one. Anybody had a poly brush fail like that, or did I just get a lemon?

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leo612•7d ago

Shoutout to the old-timer who showed me his trick for spotting hidden creosote glazing

I was at a job in a 1920s house last fall, and the homeowner told me his dad used to run a brush through and then hold a mirror up to the flue to catch glazing that a light couldn't show. Have any of you tried that or got a different method for finding the sneaky buildup?

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troythompson•8d ago

That old timer in Cleveland swore by using a shop vac for heavy creosote buildup instead of rods and brushes

I tried his method on a 1930s chimney last week and ended up blowing soot all over the neighbor's driveway - has anyone else had a shop vac trick backfire on them like that?

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grant.sam•11d ago

Appreciation post: The old timer who told me my brush angle was wrong

I've been doing chimney sweeps for about 5 years now. Always thought I had a solid technique with my rod and brush. Then about 6 months ago I was on a job in downtown Portland and this older guy, probably in his 70s, was watching me from the next roof over. He just yelled across and said, 'You're fighting the flue with that angle, son.' I was kind of annoyed at first. But after I finished that job I went back to my truck and thought about it. Next day I tried his way, tilting the brush head more to follow the natural curve of the chimney instead of forcing it straight up and down. Cut my time on each job by about 15 minutes. Now I check my brush angle on every single job before I start. Has anyone else had a random stranger give them a tip that actually worked better than what they learned in training?

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abby_black•13d ago

Tried that tapered chimney brush everyone swears by and it got stuck halfway down

I picked up one of those cone-shaped tapered brushes after reading online that they handle heavy creosote buildup better than standard brushes. Used it on a job out in Oakdale last Wednesday, and it got wedged tight about 4 feet from the top. Took me 45 minutes of wiggling and pulling to get it free, and I nearly had to cut the rod. Anyone else had a tapered brush get stuck like that, or did I just get a bad one?

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skyler_smith85•13d ago

Hit 50 chimneys cleaned in a week and I'm still not sure if that's normal or insane

Last month I did 52 sweeps in 7 days, mostly around the older neighborhoods in Portland. Half were these tiny flues from the 1920s that took forever, the other half were simple liners I could knock out in 30 minutes. My back is telling me that's too many, but the cash says otherwise. How many do you guys usually aim for in a busy week without burning out?

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the_sam•15d ago

My uncle swore by using dryer lint as a fire starter for chimney cleaning

My Uncle Bob told me last fall that wads of dryer lint work better than any commercial fire log for burning off creosote in a masonry chimney. I tried it on a job in Austin last Tuesday and the whole thing flared up way too fast, nearly set the soot on fire before I could get my tools out. Now I'm stuck cleaning a residue that smells like Bounce sheets. Anyone else get burned by a family member's "expert" advice?

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gibson.elizabeth•15d ago

Wasted $250 on a cheap rotary brush kit that fell apart in 2 weeks

I bought one of those off brand rotary brush kits online for cleaning chimney flues. The motor started smoking on my third job and the cheap plastic handle snapped clean off. Now I'm stuck with a dirty flue and have to rent a proper machine from the supply house for $60 a day. Has anyone else had bad luck with those budget sweeping kits?

2 comments

foster.charles•16d ago

Saw a huge difference after switching to a polypropylene brush head on my rods

I swapped out my old steel wire brush for a polypropylene one last month on a job in an old Victorian house and the soot came off way cleaner with half the passes. Has anyone else noticed a big change switching brush materials on different flue types?

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torres.sage•17d ago

Finally picked polypro over steel for my first full brush set and it actually worked out

I've been using a 8 inch steel brush for like 3 years now on my residential routes and kept debating if I should try the polypro ones. Last Tuesday I had a job in a house with a really tight flue on a wood stove insert over in Arlington, so I grabbed a 7 inch polypro from the supply house just to see. Honestly it flexed way better through that first bend and I didnt scratch anything. The soot came off just fine too. Has anyone else made the switch and noticed less callbacks for scratches or is it just a preference thing?

3 comments

taylor_hayes25•18d ago

Had an old rotary brush seize up on a job last Tuesday

I was cleaning a flue for a regular customer over in Elmwood and my rotary brush just locked up about halfway through. Figured it was the motor or the bearings, so I spent 20 minutes trying to get it spinning again with some WD40 and elbow grease. Turned out it was just a twist of wire from a old bird nest wrapped tight around the spindle. Never thought to check for something like that before I started poking at the mechanics. Learned that I need to give the brush a quick once over at the start of every job, even if it seemed fine the day before. Has anyone else found random debris jamming up their gear like that?

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jordan_anderson90•18d ago

Vent: Chasing a creosote log leak for 3 hours only to find it was a 20-minute fix

Spent a whole afternoon on a job in Spokane where smoke was seeping through a brick seam, kept thinking it was a cracked flue liner. Turned out the mortar joint just needed a quick bead of high-temp caulk. Anyone else ever overthink a simple issue like that?

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olivia_bailey•19d ago

Old lady in Des Moines taught me a brush trick I still use

I was sweeping a small flue for Mrs. Patterson last fall, and she came out with a cup of coffee and watched me work. She pointed out how I was holding my brush and showed me this twist motion her dad used back in the 50s. It cuts down on soot scatter by like 40% in tight spots. Has anyone else picked up a random tip from a homeowner that actually worked better than the standard way?

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piperwhite•20d ago

Thought those magnetic sweeps were a gimmick until last week

I saw an ad for a magnetic chimney sweep tool that claimed to grab all the soot and ash without dust. Rolled my eyes. Then my buddy let me borrow his on a job in Portland. Ran it through a 8 inch flue and it pulled out a glob of nails and wire I missed. Not a gimmick. Anyone else find one of those tools that actually works better than you thought?

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jessicac28•20d ago

Stop leaving the top plate gap on prefab inserts

Been to 3 houses this month where someone installed an insert and left a 2 inch gap at the top plate. That's how you get a house fire when the creosote builds up behind it.

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the_sam•20d ago

Why does nobody talk about creosote buildup in zero-clearance fireplaces

I was at a job in Austin last Tuesday on a brand new zero-clearance unit, maybe 2 years old. Pulled the baffle and found almost a half inch of creosote crusted on the top. Owner said they burned only seasoned oak and never had issues. I had to break out the rotary tool with a wire cup to even get to the refractory panels. Has anyone else ran into this on newer prefab units?

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drew965•23d ago

Hit 200 chimneys cleaned in 6 months and I'm the weird one for celebrating

Most guys in this trade brag about speed or gear but hitting that 200 mark taught me more about chimney health and client trust than any brush or rod ever did, anyone else have a random number that snuck up on you as a milestone?

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zarab24•24d ago

Just got back from a job in old Boston row houses

Those flues were so tight I could barely fit my smallest brush. Has anyone else dealt with these 1800s-era chimney liners that are way undersized?

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verar21•25d ago

Rant: An old timer told me my brush was too clean and he was right

I was sweeping a house last month in Denver and this retired sweep, probably in his 70s, watched me hook up my new poly brush. He laughed and said my brush looked like it just came out of the box and I was missing half the soot. I thought he was crazy because a clean brush works better, right? Well he showed me how his old wire brush had this layer of buildup that actually scraped the creosote more aggressively. I switched to a slightly worn brush with some crust on it and I swear I got twice the debris out of the next flue. Now I keep a dedicated brush that I never wash just for heavy jobs. Has anyone else noticed a difference between a shiny new head versus one that's broken in?

3 comments