Loading…
9
Appreciation post: the old wire brush and vacuum trick for a tight flue
Back in the 90s, I had a job on a 1920s house with a flue so narrow my standard rods wouldn't fit. The owner didn't want the brickwork touched. After a day of frustration, an old timer I worked with told me to try something. He said to tape a small wire brush to a section of flexible dryer vent hose and hook that to my shop vac hose. We ran it up from the bottom, and the vacuum pulled the brush up, scrubbing as it went. It cleared a solid inch of glazed creosote in one pass. I still use a version of that setup for tricky old liners. Anyone else have a weird old method that still works?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
irisjenkins7mo ago
My uncle was a chimney sweep in Boston for forty years and he always said that trick was a great way to lose a brush or damage a historic liner. He saw a few liners get scratched up pretty bad from a brush catching on a loose joint. His rule was always to push a brush, never pull it, so you have full control. That method just seems like it invites trouble, even if it works sometimes.
6
keith4267mo ago
Taping a brush to dryer vent hose is the kind of thing that sounds completely stupid until it saves your whole day. I love that it was probably some guy's "hold my beer" moment fifty years ago that just never stopped working.
-1