Vent: My old brush head snapped off inside a flue liner yesterday

I was on a standard cleaning job in a 1920s house in the old part of town. The flue was a bit tighter than I guessed, and I was putting some pressure on a 90 degree bend. Heard a loud crack, and the whole brush head, a SootMaster 8-inch poly, just sheared off the rods. Left the whole thing wedged about 15 feet up. I had to fish it out with a hook tool I made from a coat hanger, which took almost an hour of careful poking. The customer was nice about it, but I lost a lot of time on the job. I've had that brush for about three years, guess it was just worn out. Anyone have a brand of brush that holds up better to tight bends?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_sarah4d ago

Lost a lot of time" sounds rough, but an hour to fish it out with a homemade tool seems like a pretty good save to me.

mitchell.wren4d ago

Oh man, that reminds me of my buddy who dropped his car key down a storm drain. He spent like two hours with a coat hanger and some duct tape before he finally hooked it. The look on his face when he pulled it up was priceless lol.