Before and after on a 3 story chimney in Detroit was wild

I swept this one house's flue last month and the before photos looked like a black hole, but after 2 hours with my rotary brush the bricks looked brand new. Has anyone else had a job where the difference was that dramatic?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_john1mo ago

Wait so how did you get the soot off the bricks without damaging them? I've heard wire brushes can leave scratches on older soft brick and I always worry about that when I see those dramatic before and afters. Was it just the rotary brush or did you use any chemicals too?

lunawilson14d ago

@leo603 probably has a thing for dirty bricks, huh.

leo6031mo ago

3 years back I did a cleanout on a 1920s house in Buffalo and the soot was literally caked on so thick you couldn't see the brick pattern underneath. It took almost 4 hours with a shop vac and wire brush attachments but when I finally got that last layer off the owner cried happy tears. Really makes you appreciate how much abuse these old chimneys can take.