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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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amygonzalez3mo 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_bailey453mo 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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the_ryan2mo ago
Total liner replacement? That's wild. Just from a tiny gap around the top plate seal. I've seen creosote buildup in weird spots before but never thought a simple sweep could turn a small gap into a fire starter like that. Sounds like a nightmare for the homeowner getting hit with that bill out of nowhere. Hard to believe a 2018 unit could have that kind of hidden problem right from the factory.
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