A simple trick with a mirror showed me most people miss a key spot in the flue

I was cleaning a chimney in a 1920s house in Springfield last month and the owner kept complaining about a faint smoke smell even after my service. I went back with a small inspection mirror on a pole and looked up from the fireplace opening, not just down from the top. I found a huge, solid creosote buildup about 18 inches down from the crown that my rods and brush from above had just slid right over. It was a perfect ledge that trapped everything. Now I always do a visual check from below with a light and mirror before I call a job done. Has anyone else found a common blind spot like that in certain older builds?

3 comments

3 Comments

gibson.elizabeth1mo ago

Check the smoke shelf too, especially in those old brick fireplaces. Gunk builds up there and you can't see it from the top.

rileyellis1mo ago

I used to think top-down was enough until I saw that ledge myself.

terry_lewis211mo ago

Yeah, that'll change your mind real quick. Seeing that gap up close, how the mortar is just gone in spots... pictures from the roof never show the real story. You have to be right there, feeling how loose some bricks are. Makes you realize how much you miss from the ground.