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Stop telling new guys to just use a round brush for everything
Been seeing this advice pop up more and more on here. Round brush has its place but if you're running it through a flue with heavy creosote buildup you're just polishing the problem. I learned that the hard way 3 years ago on a job in Louisville. Customer called me back 2 months later saying smoke was backing up. Went back and looked and the round brush had just glazed the creosote smooth instead of scraping it off. Had to break out the steel wire bristle head and spend an extra hour. Took me forever to win that trust back. Who else has seen this happen?
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kim1912mo ago
Oh come ON, is this REALLY that big of a deal? I've been using round brushes for like 10 years and I've NEVER had this happen. Sounds like maybe the customer had other issues going on or you just got unlucky. I mean how hard is it to actually scrape the creosote off with a round brush if you're doing it right? People make simple stuff way too complicated sometimes.
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hill.andrew2mo ago
I was on a job in Nashville last month where the homeowner had the same issue from a different company. They used a round brush for years and ended up with a chimney fire because of that glazed creosote. How many callbacks have you actually had from round brush jobs, or do you just assume it’s fine because nobody’s complained yet? Because I bet a lot of people don’t notice until something goes really wrong.
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piper9121mo ago
Man I had a job in Cincinnati back in 2018 where the same thing happened. Guy said his regular guy had been using a round brush for years and I had to break out the steel wire head to really clean it. Took me almost two hours to get all that glazed creosote off because it was baked on like concrete. That homeowner was ticked off because he had to pay for extra time, and I felt bad for the other guy but it was totally the brush choice. Round brushes are fine for maintenance but if you got heavy buildup they just make it look pretty without fixing the problem. I've switched to recommending steel wire for any flue with more than a light coating and I haven't had a callback since.
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