c/chimney-sweeps

Bought a cheap camera scope online and it broke after three jobs, lost about $150.

I used a shop vac with a HEPA filter for a standard cleanout in a 1920s house and the amount of fine dust it pulled from the air after I was 'done' was frankly alarming.

After sweeping what I thought was a clean flue in Portland last month, I ran the vac for ten more minutes and it filled a fresh filter with ultra-fine particulates I would have otherwise left swirling in the home, so now I'm questioning if our standard 'clean' is actually clean enough.

Just had the weirdest week of my 12 year career, found a whole family of raccoons in a flue in Cincinnati

Found a photo of my granddad's sweep crew from the 60s and the gear blew my mind

I was going through some old boxes in my parents' attic in Cincinnati and found a black and white picture of my granddad and his crew from 1965. They're all standing in front of their truck, and I swear, half of them aren't even wearing gloves. I knew things were different back then, but seeing them handle those heavy rods and brushes with bare hands really hit me. The brushes looked like they were made from actual tree branches, not the poly bristles we use now. I showed it to my buddy who's been in the trade for 40 years, and he just laughed and said, 'We used to think soot in the cracks was a badge of honor.' It makes you appreciate how far the safety gear and tools have come. Has anyone else found old pictures or stories that show how much the daily grind has changed?

A job in Boulder last fall showed me why I never skip the camera check now.

I was cleaning a standard looking chimney on a ranch house. The homeowner said it had been done the year before. I almost just ran the brush, but I did a quick camera check anyway. The camera showed a huge crack in the flue liner about eight feet up, completely hidden from the bottom. The previous sweep must have missed it. I showed the owner, and we had to stop everything for a full liner replacement. That one inspection saved a potential house fire. Has anyone else caught a major hidden flaw that way?

I used to think a clean brush was all that mattered for a good sweep

For about five years, I just focused on getting the brush through and getting the soot out. Then I did a job on a 1920s house in Portland where the owner showed me the old clay liner. He said his grandpa always told him to listen for the sound of the brush on the clay, not just look at the soot pile. I realized I was just cleaning the flue, not really checking the liner's condition. Now I always run my hand along the inside after the brush and tap the tiles to listen for cracks. Anyone else have a moment that made them change their whole inspection routine?

Talking to a firefighter in Duluth made me rethink my whole approach to creosote

I was having coffee with a guy from the local fire station, just shooting the breeze. He told me they got called to a chimney fire last week, a real bad one that nearly took the whole house. He said, 'You know, we see it all the time. Homeowners think a cheap sweep is fine, but they don't get the full inspection.' He wasn't blaming us, but it hit me hard. I've been focused on the quick, clean job for years, getting the brush through and calling it good. But he described the buildup in the flue liner that a camera would have caught, stuff a standard brush might miss. Now I'm thinking I need to push the video inspection service way more, even if it costs a bit extra and some customers grumble. It's not just about cleaning the soot you can see, it's about finding the hidden risks. How do you guys balance offering a thorough check without scaring off price-sensitive customers?

Had to choose between a new camera or a better light for my inspections

Went with the Sunex 5000 lumen light after a job in a dark, old farmhouse chimney. It showed up a hairline crack my old light missed. What do you guys use for tricky lighting spots?

Question about using a mirror for inspections

I was on a job in Denver last week and the homeowner asked to see the flue after I swept it, so I handed him my inspection mirror and he just held it up to the opening without angling it at all, which made me realize I'd been doing the exact same lazy thing for years and probably missing a ton of creosote buildup on the back walls.

Shoutout to the old guy in Boise who showed me the plastic bag trick

I was cleaning a chimney in a house with a really shallow hearth, maybe only 8 inches deep. The drop cloth was useless because the soot just bounced off the bricks and went everywhere. The homeowner was getting nervous about her rug. This retired sweep who lived next door came over, grabbed a big plastic grocery bag, and taped it right over the fireplace opening with painter's tape. He cut a small hole for my brush rod. It caught every bit of falling debris, and when I was done, I just rolled it up and tossed it. I've used it on three jobs since and it's saved me at least 30 minutes of cleanup each time. What other simple stuff like this have you picked up from other sweeps over the years?

I was brushing out a flue in a 1920s house in Tacoma and finally saw why my creosote logs were always so uneven.

The homeowner pointed out a weird draft pattern that made me check my brush angle, and I'd been holding the rods wrong for years, pushing too hard on the downstroke, lol.

Just found out my creosote scraping method has been backwards for years

I was working on a brick chimney in a 1920s house in Riverside and the homeowner showed me a photo from his last sweep. The guy used a stiff brush from the bottom up, not top down like I always do. I tried it on the next job and got way more gunk out in half the time. Has anyone else switched up their basic technique after seeing someone else work?

Last week in Boulder, I had a customer's old clay liner start crumbling apart as soon as my brush touched it.

I had to stop the clean, explain the safety risk, and spent an hour on the phone with my supplier to get a liner quote for them by the end of the day, so has anyone else had a liner just disintegrate on contact like that?

Had a coffee with a retired sweep who said 'You're not cleaning a pipe, you're protecting a home' and it stuck.

Had a 30-year-old clay liner completely collapse in a Cleveland job last week. Debating if we should have pushed harder for a camera inspection first.

I thought those new flexible chimney camera kits were just a gimmick

A guy at a trade show in St. Louis kept pushing this camera on a long, bendy pole. I figured it was junk, you know, just another toy. But my regular rigid camera couldn't get around a nasty offset in a 1920s flue last week. I was about to tell the homeowner we'd need to open the wall. I remembered that demo and rented one for a day. The thing snaked right through, and we found a huge nest blocking the main run about 15 feet up. It saved us from a huge mess and a bigger bill for the client. I'm a total convert now. Has anyone else made the switch to a flexible camera system, and which brand held up for you?

Appreciation post: My old brush head snapped off inside a flue in Tacoma last Tuesday.

Had to improvise with a wire coat hanger and some pliers to fish it out. Anyone got a good brand for a more durable replacement?

Vent: A stuck damper in an old Boston brownstone took me a full day to free up

Everyone says a little oil and some tapping will loosen a stuck damper, but this one was rusted solid. I was on a job in the Back Bay and it took me from 7 AM until almost 6 PM, trying everything from penetrating oil to a special flat-head pry bar. I finally got it moving with a careful mix of heat and leverage. Has anyone else had a simple repair turn into a marathon like that?

I thought the 'chimney sheep' wool damper was a total joke until last winter

A customer in Burlington insisted on having one installed instead of a metal damper, and I honestly thought it was just some weird eco fad. We put it in, and I figured the first good rain would turn it into a soggy mess. Checked it six months later during a spring clean, and the thing was bone dry, no mold, and their heat logs showed they'd used way less wood. Has anyone else actually had a good run with these wool plugs, or did I just get lucky?

Just realized I've cleaned exactly 1,000 chimneys in my 8 years doing this. That's a lot of soot.

A customer's question about creosote buildup made me check my own chimney

I was cleaning a fireplace in a house on Elm Street and the owner asked if the black stuff was normal. I explained it was creosote, but the way he asked made me realize I hadn't looked at my own chimney in over a year. Went home and found a quarter inch of buildup behind the damper. Anyone else get a reminder from a simple customer chat?

Saw a 1920s chimney in the old part of Savannah that made me think

I was down in Savannah last week for a family thing and walked past a house getting some work done. They had the old flue tiles pulled out and stacked on the lawn, the kind they made before modern clay liners. They were huge, maybe 18 inches square, and the mortar was just crumbling to dust. Made me think about how we used to have to patch those with fireclay and hope for the best, but now a full reline is the only safe call. Anyone else run into those old giant tiles and have a good way to explain the cost to a homeowner?

My vacuum hose split open halfway through a job in Tacoma

It was a 2 inch tear right near the coupling. I had to tape it up with duct tape to finish the clean, but the suction was terrible. What's the best brand for a durable replacement hose that won't kink?

Just found out my old way of checking for cracks could have cost me big

For years, I just used a basic flashlight and looked up the flue from the fireplace. I thought if I didn't see a big gap, we were good. That changed last fall after a job in Tacoma. The homeowner called back a month later saying they had smoke in a bedroom wall. Turned out there was a hairline crack in the clay liner, way up near the top, that my old light just didn't catch. I had to eat the cost of the full repair, about $1200, to make it right. Now I won't do an inspection without my rotary camera system. It cost me a lot upfront, but seeing that full 360 view is a game changer. I spot issues I would have missed 100% before. What's your go-to method for a solid liner check, especially in older brick chimneys?

I always thought a stiff wire brush was fine for a standard flue, but after trying a poly brush on a stubborn 8x13 clay liner in a 1920s house last Tuesday, the difference in how much less dust it kicked up (and how much cleaner it got the corners) was honestly shocking.

Has anyone else made the switch and found a particular brand or style of poly brush that holds up better over time?