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?

3 comments

3 Comments

jennyp1918d ago

Wow, cracked or missing liners and parging that's basically dust? That's wild. I've heard Beacon Hill can be a nightmare but that sounds next level risky. @the_rowan's shop vac trick sounds smart for that kind of mess though, beats breathing in all that old debris.

kim.xena19d ago

I worked a job in Beacon Hill last month and those 1700s flues are even worse. The clay liners in those row houses are often cracked or missing in spots, and the parging is basically dust. I don't know if undersized is the real issue - more like they were built for coal fires and never meant to handle modern wood stoves or high-efficiency gas. Running a brush through them is a gamble every time.

the_rowan18d ago

Ever try running a shop vac with a hepa filter right at the cleanout while you work, @kim.xena? That's what saved me on a South End job with similar crumbling parging, kept the dust cloud from getting worse and let me actually see what I was doing.