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My grandpa said to always sweep the flue before the firebox. I ignored him once.
He ran a sweep business in Boise for 40 years. On a job last month, I cleaned the firebox first on a standard brick chimney. Took me 45 minutes. When I went up top, a huge chunk of creosote had fallen and blocked the damper. Had to go back down and clear it, adding another 30 minutes to the job. He was right, you need to clear the path from the top down first. Anyone else have an old rule they learned the hard way?
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amygonzalez21d ago
Your grandpa's rule is solid for brick, but it's not universal. Modern stainless steel liners in prefab chimneys are a totally different game. If you sweep from the top down on those, you risk driving debris into the gap between the liner and the outer wall. That creates a hidden fire hazard. The right way depends entirely on the system you're working on. The old school method can actually cause problems on newer installs.
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felix_bailey4521d ago
My neighbor's 2018 prefab unit had a small gap around the top plate seal. Sweeping top-down just packed creosote flakes into that space like insulation. The inspector found it during the sale and called it a total liner replacement. That hidden layer becomes kindling.
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