100 year old chimney in Buffalo looked like new after 4 hours of sweeping

Had a job last week on a house built in 1920. The owner said it hadn't been cleaned in maybe 10 years. I figured it would be a disaster with a ton of creosote buildup. But after I got in there with the rods and a poly brush, the inside was almost spotless. Turns out they only burned seasoned hardwood and had a good liner put in back in 2010. The before and after shots barely showed a difference. Anyone else ever get a job that looked rough but turned out way easier than expected?

2 comments

2 Comments

leeknight1mo ago

Hard to say if that chimney was really as clean as it looked on the surface. Creosote hides in cracks and around the liner joints, especially in old masonry. Buffalo gets wild freezes and thaws, so that brickwork might be hiding damage or a partial blockage somewhere. Without a camera inspection and a good look at the crown and flue tiles, I'd be cautious before calling it "new." Your mileage may vary, but I've had a few jobs where the clean sweep just meant the real mess was further down or behind a build plate.

williamprice1mo ago

I get what you're saying but I really think a good clean sweep is pretty thorough. If the sweep knew what they were doing and used a good rotary brush, they'd get most of that hidden creosote out. And for old masonry in Buffalo, you can usually spot freeze thaw damage just by looking at the crown and flue tiles on the way down. I've seen too many jobs where people overthink it and end up calling a camera inspection for nothing.

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