That time a vacuum truck hose came loose inside a 200-year-old flue

I was working on this old house in Providence last winter, the kind with a flue that hasn't seen a brush since the 80s. Got my rotary kit set up with the vacuum and started cleaning, but halfway through the hose popped off the canister inside the truck. Ended up with three inches of soot and creosote dust all over the dining room floor and the homeowner watching from the doorway. Took me an extra hour just to clean up the mess, plus I had to eat the cost of a second sweep pass. Has anyone else had their vacuum setup fail on a tight job like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

loganl2226d agoMost Upvoted

Man, that's rough, at least the homeowner didn't get a free chimney sweep shower too.

betty_palmer26d ago

Reminds me of how we tend to expect the worst these days, like a chimney shower is just another thing to add to the list of repairs. Seems like every time something goes wrong around the house, there's always a fresh surprise waiting for you.

hayden_butler2726d ago

Honestly I think we do this to ourselves a little bit. Sure stuff breaks but most of the time it's just a minor fix that takes an afternoon. Maybe if we stopped assuming every little thing is a disaster we'd actually save some money on unnecessary repairs.