That job in Billings made me question the spin brush hype

Went up on a triple flue last Tuesday outside Billings. Homeowner had a power sweeper set up from the last company, claimed it was the only safe way. I pulled a bird nest out of the second flue by hand, then ran my rods through the other two. Not one scratch on the liner, and I was done in 40 minutes flat. The spin brush guys keep telling me I'm wasting time, but I've seen those things fling creosote into the smoke shelf if you hit a rough spot. Maybe they're fine for straight chimneys with zero offsets, but my area has nothing but 15 degree turns and old clay tile. Anyone else stick with manual rods and catch grief from the power tool crowd, or am I the last one left?

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reese8628d ago

Laughed at the part about the spin brush crowd giving you grief, because they always act like rods are some kind of ancient torture device. I watched a guy last season run his power brush through a flue with a 15 degree offset and he flung so much junk onto the smoke shelf that we had to pull the whole thing apart to clean it up right. Forty minutes with rods beats two hours of re-cleaning any day. Those brushes work fine on a straight shot, but around here the chimneys have more bends than a country road. Keep doing what works, the tool guys can keep buying new toys.

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