That day my crew's brush got stuck 40 feet up a flue

I was on a job in a Victorian row house over in Fishtown last month. We were sweeping a clay liner that looked fine from the bottom, but about 30 feet in the brush snagged hard on a jagged crack. I had to pull the whole system back down and use a smaller poly brush with extra rods to work past it piece by piece. Took us an extra 2 hours and I had to patch the liner with refractory cement. Has anyone else dealt with a hidden crack that turned a quick job into a full morning?

2 comments

2 Comments

ross.river1mo ago

You ever think a quick sweep is simple until the brush finds something the camera missed? I used to swear by just looking up from the bottom, but now I always run a camera first after a similar surprise cost me half a day.

the_julia1mo ago

Thirty bucks for a rental camera saved me a solid two hours on a job last month. I used to think I could just feel my way through it too, but now I grab one every time. Totally changed my mind on that.