Just realized my whole chimney cleaning process changed after a job in Burlington
Honestly, I used to start every sweep from the bottom up, using a basic brush and rods. Then I got a call for a big old farmhouse chimney in Burlington that was totally blocked. I had to go up on the roof and work from the top down with a rotary system, and it cleared in half the time. Now I check the blockage level first and pick my method based on that. Anyone else switch up their starting point based on the job?
Henry's right, starting from the bottom every time is a rookie move. You learn pretty fast that a bad blockage just laughs at a brush coming up from the fireplace. That Burlington job was the wake-up call, but there were a few messy ones before it that should have tipped me off. Now the first thing I do is check the flue with a camera, because guessing just wastes everyone's time.
Wait, you used to start every single chimney from the bottom no matter what? That seems like it would take forever on a bad blockage. I'm surprised you didn't run into more jobs where that just didn't work at all.