My brush got stuck in a flue liner last Thursday

I was doing a routine sweep on a 1960s house in Arlington, and the brush jammed halfway down. Tried pulling it back up, but the cable popped out of the handle. Ended up having to pull the whole brush head apart with a hook tool from the top. Has anyone else had a brush fail like this on a tight flue?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_simon2mo ago

Man, sounds like the flue liner really didn't want to let go of that brush. Guess it found a new friend it wasn't ready to part with.

parkerkim2mo ago

Tried using a shop vac to pull the brush from the bottom while someone wiggled the cable from above, @the_simon. Worked like a charm after fighting it for way too long lol.

rosew371mo ago

Actually I gotta push back on the shop vac idea a tiny bit. Not because it doesn't work, but because if that brush head is really stuck tight in a flue liner from the 60s, you're way more likely to just break the liner trying to pull it down with suction. Those old clay liners can be pretty fragile, especially if they've got cracks or mortar joints that are already loose. I've seen guys try the vac trick on liners that were already in rough shape and end up with a collapsed section, which is a whole different nightmare. Better off going with the hook tool from the top like the original poster did, or if you can get to the bottom, try pushing the brush head up instead of pulling down. That way you're working with the natural angle of the flue instead of fighting it.