TIL dropping $85 on a rotary chimney brush kit saved my knees on a 3 story brick job in Albany

Nora Hernandez · 2026-09-24T19:45:07.209544+00:00

I was up on this old Victorian in Albany last month, three stories of brick and the flue was caked with creosote about half an inch thick. For years I did it the hard way with a hand brush and rod sections, and my shoulders and knees were wrecked by the end of every job. So I finally spent $85 on a rotary brush kit that runs off my drill, and what used to take me two hours took 45 minutes. Got the whole flue cleaner than I ever managed by hand and the customer even tipped me extra because I wasn't tracking soot through her hallway. I know some of the old timers here will say rotary brushes are lazy or they chew up the liner if you're not careful, which is fair. What speed do you all run yours at on clay tile liners? I've been going slow but I'm wondering if that's actually the safer call.

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TIL dropping $85 on a rotary chimney brush kit saved my knees on a 3 story brick job in Albany | Chimney Sweeps - Talk Freely