A customer's fireplace in Denver showed me I was checking for blockages wrong

I was doing a standard inspection last week, shining my light up from the bottom like always. The homeowner asked if I could check from the roof too, just to be sure. When I went up top and dropped my camera down, I saw a huge bird's nest about three feet down from the crown that my bottom-up light had completely missed. It was tucked right behind a bend in the flue. Honestly, I've been doing this for eight years and never thought to double-check from both ends on every job. How many of you make a two-way check your normal routine?

3 comments

3 Comments

jason_robinson1mo agoMost Upvoted

Yeah, "standard routines" get comfortable. Maybe we need a checklist that forces a top-down look on every single job, not just when someone asks.

karenw235d ago

I read somewhere that chimney sweeps in Europe always go top-down because of how their flues are built. Makes me think we Americans pick up lazy habits and just stick with them.

the_skyler1mo ago

That Denver job would have me rethinking my whole process too. Eight years in and you still get blindsided by something simple like a flue bend. Makes you wonder what else we're all missing with our standard routines.

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