Spent an hour talking to an 80-year-old sweep at the supply house yesterday

I was picking up a new set of rods and this old timer started telling me about how he still uses a hand brush for certain flues instead of a rotary kit. He said the rotary was fine for straight runs but you miss the real junk stuck in the corners and he was sweeping before I was born. Has anyone else found that some of the old school methods actually work better than the fancy power tools?

2 comments

2 Comments

wright.michael4d ago

Honestly, a chain knocker sounds like something from a horror movie.

kelly614d ago

oh man that old timer knows what's up! i had a similar thing happen with a chimney sweep i met last winter. he showed me how he still uses a chain knocker on stubborn clay flue tiles instead of a power whip. said the rotary just polishes the soot around but the chain actually breaks up that baked on creosote crust. tried it on a job where the rotary wasn't cutting it and i'll be darned if it didn't clear that flue out way better. those old guys have been doing it so long they know all the tricks the fancy tools just can't match.