My uncle told me to always check the damper from the roof first, not the fireplace

Charlie Adams · 2026-03-09T16:10:11.899874+00:00

He said it for years (he ran a sweep service in Boise for 40 years), and last week I found a bird's nest completely blocking the top of a flue that looked clear from below. Saved me a ton of time and a callback. Do you all have a specific order you check things in, or just start from the bottom?

oscarmurphy6mo ago

Notice how often the right answer is to start at the end. We check the outlet before rewiring a lamp, and we look downstream for a clog. It saves a lot of wasted effort.

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xena_thompson716mo ago

Oh man, that's solid advice. I learned the hard way to always start at the top after spending an hour cleaning a fireplace only to find a squirrel's winter stash plugging the cap. Felt like a real genius that day. Now my order is roof, cap, then flue, every single time.

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casey_brown5mo ago

Read a story about a chimney fire caused by a blocked cap. Totally backs up what @xena_thompson71 said about starting at the top. That roof check is non-negotiable.

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