Overheard a homeowner say they just vacuum their chimney once a year

I was up on a roof in Austin last Tuesday cleaning out a flue when the guy next door yells over that he just sticks his shop vac up from the bottom every fall and it's never caused a problem yet - has anyone else had to fix a mess after a homeowner tried that shortcut?

2 comments

2 Comments

luna_jackson2823d ago

Shop vac works fine if your chimney's just for decoration.

mitchell.dakota22d ago

You're joking, right? That shop vac is not going to cut it if you have a real buildup of creosote which is extremely flammable. A proper chimney brush and rod are like thirty bucks at the hardware store and you need to actually scrape the walls, not just suck up some loose soot. Plus, you can't reach the top of the flue from inside the house with a vacuum hose, and that's where the worst blockages usually form.