Appreciation post for a customer who pointed out I was brushing too fast

Last Tuesday a lady stopped me mid-job and said 'you're just moving the soot around', so I slowed down and actually got a way cleaner result on her old masonry flue - has anyone else had a homeowner teach them something useful?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_sean1mo ago

Lady with the soot comment was right. I had this old guy in Vermont tell me to wet the brush a little on really dry flues to cut down on the dust cloud. Tried it on a job last week and it made a huge difference, way less mess in their living room. Sometimes you just get stuck in your routine and don't realize you're half-assing it until someone calls you out.

ivanlewis1mo ago

Got an article from a chimney sweep association magazine a while back talking about this exact thing, said moisture helps the bristles pick up the fine particles instead of just pushing them around. @the_sean is spot on about getting stuck in routine, I used to just blast through with a dry brush thinking speed mattered more than cleanup. Tried the light spritz method last month on a rental property and the difference was night and day, they didn't even need to vacuum the fireplace afterwards. Makes you wonder how many other little tweaks we're all missing because nobody ever taught us or we just accepted the dust cloud as part of the job.