Remember when we used to fight with those old clay flue liners?

Had a job on a 1920s house in Springfield where the liner was crumbling and the brush kept getting stuck. Out of frustration, I tried a trick an old timer told me about: wrapping the brush head with a strip of old carpet, nap side out. It grabbed the loose bits without catching and got us through the clean. Anyone still use a version of that trick today?

3 comments

3 Comments

seth_wells4911d ago

My grandpa swore by using a burlap sack strip for the same job on those old Chicago brick chimneys.

mason_ward11d ago

Yeah, it's funny how often the "wrong" tool for the job is actually the right one. Like @wright.drew said, you learn to stop forcing it and work with what you've got. I see that same idea pop up in all sorts of fixes around the house.

wright.drew11d ago

Burlap sack strip" takes me back! I used to think you needed the stiffest brush possible for those old liners. But seeing how that rough fabric grabs the crumbly bits without digging in totally changed my mind. Now I keep an old moving blanket in the truck just to cut strips from.