I finally tried the shop vac trick for a tough flue blockage

Had a chimney in Oak Park last Tuesday that was completely clogged near the top - couldn't get my standard rods to push through. On a whim I taped my shop vac hose to the bottom opening and ran it on reverse, and that blew loose debris down in about 10 seconds flat. Anyone else use this method or am I just getting lucky with that one job?

3 comments

3 Comments

david56213d ago

You mentioned "tough flue blockage" but you didn't say what kind of flue it was. If that was a gas flue with a smooth metal liner, the shop vac trick works great every time. On a rough clay tile flue though, you might just be pushing that debris deeper into a crack or loose mortar joint, causing a bigger problem later.

joel_butler13d ago

Try blowing compressed air from the bottom up through the cleanout door instead.

rodriguez.felix13d ago

The "pushing debris deeper" thing david562 mentioned about clay tile flues is real. I had a buddy who tried the shop vac trick on his old fireplace flue and ended up with a chunk of creosote stuck so bad it took a pro with a rotary brush tool to get it out. So yeah, if you're on a rough clay liner, I'd think twice before going at it with compressed air from below like joel_butler suggested. On a metal liner, that method probably works fine since the surface is smooth and nothing's gonna catch. But on those old flues, sometimes it's better to just sweep from the top down with a stiff brush.