c/chimney-sweeps

Spent $400 on a thermal camera and it's not the game-changer everyone says

I keep seeing guys talk about thermal cameras like they're a must-have for every sweep, so I finally bought the FLIR One Pro last fall. Everyone said it would show me hidden cracks and blockages I couldn't see otherwise. Honestly, after using it on maybe two dozen jobs around Springfield, I'm not sold. It shows heat patterns, sure, but a good inspection mirror and a bright light still give me the clearest picture of the actual flue condition. The camera mostly just confirms what I already knew from the draft and the debris. For a $400 tool, I expected it to find something big I was missing, but it hasn't. It feels like an extra step that doesn't add much for the cost. Has anyone else found a specific job where the thermal imaging actually told you something your standard tools didn't?

Found a weird trick for stuck damper plates in old brick chimneys

I was working on a 1920s house in Springfield last month and the damper was completely frozen with rust. Couldn't budge it with normal penetrating oil. On a whim, I mixed up a paste of baking soda and white vinegar and packed it around the hinge for about 15 minutes. After I rinsed it off, the thing moved with just a little tap from my brush handle. Has anyone else tried something like this on old hardware, or got a better fix for this?

Spent $400 on a fancy inspection camera and I'm not sold on it yet

Everyone in my crew raves about using a camera to scope flues, so I bought one to check for hidden cracks. Honestly, half the time the picture is too dark or blurry to tell anything for sure, and I end up doing the old mirror and flashlight check anyway. Am I just using it wrong, or is the tech not as good as people say?

Appreciation post: The time I tried to clean a flue with a leaf blower

Got called to a house in Albany where the owner swore his flue was just 'a little dusty'. He had already tried his own leaf blower from the bottom up, which just packed all the soot and a bird's nest tighter into the smoke shelf. Took me four hours with rods and a heavy duty brush to break through the cement-like mess he made. Has anyone else had a homeowner's 'help' turn a simple job into a full day's work?

Found a hidden crack in a flue liner because a customer's dog wouldn't stop barking at the fireplace

I was cleaning a standard brick chimney in a house over in the west end. Finished the brush, did the camera check, everything looked clear. As I was packing up, the family's old terrier started going nuts at the sealed fireplace door, growling and whining. The owner said he only does that when the furnace kicks on. Made me pause. I pulled the camera back out and ran it again, focusing lower near the thimble. Sure enough, there was a hairline crack in the clay liner, about two feet down from the top. The warm air from the furnace was leaking out through it, and the dog could feel the draft. I'd been missing that spot for years, just doing a quick top-to-bottom scan. How many of you have had a weird clue like that tip you off to a problem you would have missed?

Cleaned my 500th chimney this morning and it got me thinking

I was writing the number on my work log and it just hit me. When I started out, I thought I'd be lucky to do a dozen a year. Now here I am, 500 jobs deep. I remember my first one back in '99, a little brick fireplace in Akron, and I was so nervous I dropped my brush down the flue. Took me an hour to fish it out with a hook. The tools are way better now, my SootSweeper rotary kit saves so much time, but I kinda miss the quiet of just a brush and rods sometimes. It's not just a number, it's all those homes, all those safety checks, all the weird things people stuff up their chimneys. Found a whole bird's nest wrapped in tinsel once. Anyone else have a job count that snuck up on them?

Had a job in a 1920s house in Savannah that made me ditch my old brush for good

Last month I was cleaning a flue with a ton of glazed creosote, and my standard poly brush just smeared it around. I switched to a heavy duty steel brush I keep for emergencies and it cut right through in about half the time. What's your go-to brush for a really nasty, old buildup?

A customer in Boise asked me if I ever find anything good in a chimney

I laughed and said mostly just old nests and soot, but then he said, 'My grandpa found a gold pocket watch in a flue in 1978.' It made me look at every pile of debris a little differently now. Anyone ever pulled out something truly wild besides the usual junk?

Just found out in a safety report that a blocked flue can fill a room with carbon monoxide in under 5 minutes.

I was reading a fire department handout from the local library and it said a partial blockage from a bird's nest can cause dangerous gas to build up way faster than I thought. That really shook me, because I always tell clients it's a slow risk. How do you guys explain the real urgency of a sweep without scaring people too much?

A homeowner in Tacoma told me my camera inspection was useless because I didn't explain what they were seeing.

I was showing them the video feed on my tablet, pointing out some minor creosote, and they just looked confused. They said, 'I have no idea what I'm looking at. Is that bad? Is that normal?' I realized I was just going through the motions. Now I narrate the whole thing like a sports commentator. 'Okay, see that shiny black stuff? That's creosote. We want to get that out. Now we're passing the damper, look how it moves...' Takes an extra two minutes, but they feel way more informed. Anyone else had a client call them out on their communication?

Tried a new camera setup for flue inspections and the difference is night and day

For years I used a basic inspection camera with a fixed LED ring light. It was fine, but in a lot of the older chimneys around here, the soot buildup just swallowed the light and the picture was always grainy. Last month, I finally invested in a newer model with a flexible gooseneck light you can position separately from the lens. The first job I used it on was a 1920s farmhouse with a badly offset flue. Being able to angle the light down the offset while keeping the camera lens pointed straight ahead let me see a massive crack in the clay liner that my old setup would have completely missed. The picture was so clear I could count the mortar joints. It cost about $350 more, but catching that one issue probably saved the homeowner a much bigger repair bill down the line. Has anyone else made a specific tool upgrade that instantly made your inspections way more reliable?

A week of blocked flues in old Portland houses taught me a hard lesson

Last month I had three jobs in a row where the main flue was almost shut from built-up creosote, each over an inch thick. The worst was a 1920s home where the owner said they hadn't had a sweep in 'maybe eight years'. My camera showed a passage the size of a golf ball. It took me and my dual-motor brush nearly four hours to clear it safely. That stretch made me push my inspection camera on every estimate call now. What's the longest a blocked chimney has set you back on a single job?

Spent $350 on a new camera inspection kit and it's already paid for itself

I was on the fence about buying a new camera system for a while, thinking my old mirror and flashlight were fine. Finally dropped about $350 on a decent one with a 20-foot cable and a color screen. Used it on a job last week in a big old house downtown. The homeowner was sure their chimney was blocked. I ran the camera up and found the problem right away... it wasn't a blockage, but a huge crack in the flue liner about 15 feet up. Showed them the video on the spot. They went from thinking I was trying to sell them something to signing off on a full liner replacement that same day. That one job covered the cost of the camera and then some. How many of you use cameras now versus the old mirror method?

Update: I finally got a clean pass on a 90-year-old flue in an old house

For years, my method for a really tough, narrow flue was just to go at it with the rods and brush until my arms gave out. I'd be up there for hours, coming down covered in soot and dust, and still not sure I got it all. Then about six months ago, I was working on a place in the historic district and the owner, a nice old guy named Frank, showed me his dad's old chimney sweep kit. It had these weird, flexible bamboo rods. I was skeptical, but I tried them on a bad bend last week. The difference was night and day. The bamboo has just enough give to follow the curve without getting stuck, and it doesn't scratch the old clay liner like steel can. I got the whole thing done in under an hour, and the camera showed it was spotless. Has anyone else found older tools sometimes work better on these antique systems?

My uncle said to always check the damper first, and I'm glad I did

Honestly, I was on a call in Boulder last month for a standard sweep. The homeowner was sure their chimney was totally blocked because smoke kept coming back into the room. My uncle, who taught me the trade, always drilled into me, 'Check the damper before you do anything else, kid.' I almost started with the rods, but I looked up first. The damper was just closed. Took me two seconds to flip it open. Saved myself an hour of unnecessary work. Has anyone else had a customer miss something that simple?

Found out I've been using the wrong brush for masonry flues for 8 months

A homeowner in Boise asked if the plastic bristles on my brush were melting, and I realized that's why my poly brush kept looking so chewed up. Anyone else make a simple tool mistake that took way too long to notice?

That Tuesday in March when a simple magnet trick saved me from a huge repair bill.

I found a cracked flue tile in a 1950s house by running a strong magnet over the outside of the chimney, which stuck right where the liner was broken, a trick my mentor in Boise taught me that saved the homeowner about $2,000 in hidden damage.

Bought a $40 'chimney cleaning' brush from a hardware store, it fell apart halfway through my first job in Boise.

Update: I stopped using a full brush on every job and it cut my time in half

Everyone says you need to run the whole brush from top to bottom for a proper clean, but last month I had a tricky flue in an old Boston triple-story. I just used a heavy-duty whip head and a good vacuum from the bottom, focusing on the main blockage. The inspection camera showed it was just as clean as a full brush job, and I saved over an hour. Has anyone else found that a full brush sweep isn't always needed for modern liners?

My stubborn 1920s flue liner in Savannah was packed solid, so I tried a trick with a shop vac and a garden hose sprayer on jet mode, which actually cleared it.

Some guys say that method risks water damage in the brick, but it saved me from a full tear-out, so what's your take on using controlled water pressure for extreme creosote blockages?

Just had a chat with a retired sweep that completely changed how I look at creosote buildup.

Warning: I was cleaning a flue in a 1920s house and the brush got stuck for good.

I was working on a job over in the old part of town, a real tall chimney on a brick house. I was using my standard 8-inch poly brush, pushing it up like I always do, when it just jammed tight about twelve feet up. I pulled and twisted for twenty minutes, sweating like crazy. The homeowner came out and said, 'My old guy always used a smaller brush first to feel it out.' That was the lightbulb moment. I'd been going in with the size I thought was right based on the tile, not checking for buildup or warped clay liners. I had to cut the rods and leave the brush in there, which was a tough call to make. Now I start with a 6-inch brush to scout the condition before I commit the big one. Has anyone else had a brush get stuck because of an unexpected narrow spot?

Finally got the hang of cleaning those narrow colonial chimneys

Took a lot of patience and a new flexible brush. Client left a great review online.

Put up a simple shelf in my garage to organize chimney rods and brushes. Total game changer.

Draft reversals during a windy sweep left me scratching my head

I was cleaning a chimney on a ranch house yesterday, and the wind was really strong. In my experience, draft usually pulls up and out, but with each gust, air shot back down the flue. Soot kept blowing back into the living area, which was a headache. I had to pause my work and time my brush strokes between wind bursts. It made the job take twice as long as normal. This has me wondering if other sweeps run into this often. Maybe there is a simple fix I just don't know about yet. If you have tips for windy days, I'm all ears, take this with a grain of salt though.