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Unpopular opinion: my old mentor in Duluth told me to stop sweeping the whole flue and just focus on the smoke shelf
He swore 80% of creosote buildup and blockages start right there at the shelf, so now I'm wondering if I've been wasting time doing full brushes every single job when a spot check might do, and I want to hear if anyone else was taught this or if he was just trying to save his own back.
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rose_hart311d ago
That bit about "80% of creosote buildup" starting at the smoke shelf makes me think of my uncle who ran a chimney outfit up in Two Harbors for years. He had this thing where he'd tell new guys the shelf was where the fire "talks back" to you, like it collected all the bad habits of whoever burned there before. He'd pull a golf club out of his truck, some old bent up 5 iron, and tap along the shelf listening for that dull thud that meant packed junk behind it. Half the time he was right too, and we'd find a whole mess hiding back there that a quick look wouldn't catch. That said, he still brushed the full flue every time because he said a clean pipe pulls better and you can't trust what's going on up top just because the bottom looks fine. So maybe your mentor was onto something real about the shelf but maybe also saving his back a little.
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