c/chimney-sweeps

A chimney in Portland had a massive creosote drop after just one heating season

I cleaned a chimney in the Laurelhurst neighborhood last fall that was pretty normal, maybe a quarter inch of buildup. Went back for a check this spring and found over an inch of hard, glazed creosote in the same flue. The homeowner had switched to burning green, unseasoned wood from a local lot to save money. It completely changed how I explain fuel quality to new clients. What's the fastest buildup you've ever seen from bad wood?

1 comments

the_nathan•1d ago

Shoutout to the raccoon who picked my chimney over the neighbor's

Had a call in Springfield last week where a homeowner heard scratching in their flue. Got up on the roof, dropped the camera, and saw two beady eyes staring back. The choice was simple: try to scare it out from the top with a long pole, or go inside and open the damper to let it find its own way down into the fireplace. I picked the pole method, thinking it was the safer bet for everyone. Let's just say that raccoon was a lot faster than I gave it credit for. It shot up out of the chimney like a furry rocket, knocked my brush off the roof, and scrambled down a tree before I could even blink. Took me twenty minutes to find my brush in the bushes. Anyone else had a wildlife encounter that went sideways on a job?

c/chimney-sweeps

A chimney in Portland had a massive creosote drop after just one heating season

Shoutout to the raccoon who picked my chimney over the neighbor's

Pro tip: never skip the camera on a first clean, especially in old houses

Warning: I saw a crew in my town using a standard shop vac for creosote cleanup yesterday.

Cleaning a fireplace in an old house in Savannah made me rethink my whole process

A client in Denver said my cleanout method was too messy for their new carpet

Spent $400 on a new camera snake and it was the best call I made all year

The number of folks who skip checking for birds before a sweep is wild

Saw a bad flue liner job in a new build over in Cedar Falls

Cleaned a flue in a 1910 farmhouse that went from a 2-inch creosote plug to a clean draw in under an hour with a new carbide scraper.

Used a new flexible rod system on a tight flue in a 1920s bungalow.

I finally saw a chimney fire in person at a job in Spokane

Spent $80 on a new camera snake and it saved my whole Tuesday

Unpopular opinion: My kid told me our job is basically a home doctor

That one time a squirrel built a nest in a flue and I spent 4 hours on a 30 minute job

I finally listened to a client in Denver who said my clean-up method was leaving a mess on her patio.

Heard a homeowner in Cincinnati say they only get their chimney cleaned 'every few years'

Overheard a guy at the supply house in Boise say he never uses a camera for inspections, just a mirror on a stick. That seems reckless to me.

Watching a neighbor try to clean their own flue with a shop vac

A customer in Denver told me I was the first sweep who didn't try to sell him a new liner

Finally got a stubborn old flue in a 1920s house to draw right...

PSA: A customer's chimney went from a 2-inch creosote crust to clean brick in one visit

Remember when we used to just knock on doors in the fall?

My uncle told me to always check the damper with a mirror before starting a sweep

The quietest chimney in Portland went from a horror movie to a whisper in one afternoon