Just learned something about creosote buildup that makes way more sense now

I was up on a job last Tuesday cleaning a flue for a lady in Maplewood, and her chimney was a mess. Like, I've seen bad ones before but this had this weird shiny crust I don't normally get. So I called up an old sweeper I know, guy named Frank who's been doing this since the 80s, and he told me it was glazed creosote from burning unseasoned softwood. He said to try a rotary loop tool with a chain flail attachment instead of just my standard brush. I gave it a shot on that job and man, it cut through that stuff like butter. Took me maybe 20 extra minutes but the result was way cleaner than my usual approach. How do you guys deal with glazed creosote when you run into it? Is there a trick I'm still missing?

2 comments

2 Comments

nathan_foster6019d ago

I mean, is glazed creosote actually that big of a deal? I've seen it plenty and just hit it with the same brush a few extra times and it's always been fine. Maybe it's just me but this sounds like one of those things sweepers overthink.

dylan_green5818d ago

Wait till that stuff hardens into a glass like layer and then tell me a brush works fine.