Warning: I almost used a power rod on a 60 year old liner, glad I went hand brush first
Got called to a house in Rochester built in 1958 and the homeowner pushed hard for a fast power sweep, but I felt how crumbly the mortar was at the thimble and went with hand brushes and a 6 inch poly. Took me an extra 40 minutes and the guy grumbled about the price, but a power rod would have chewed that terra cotta to dust. Anyone else run into liners that look fine until you touch them?
Terra cotta from '58 is basically a stale cracker at this point. That homeowner got mad at you for saving him from a $4,000 reline job, which is a wild way to say thank you. I've pulled brushes back out looking like they went ten rounds with a dust buster on liners that felt solid two seconds before. Forty extra minutes beats explaining to a guy why his chimney is now a pile of red sand.