Lost a whole Saturday to a clogged flue in an old Victorian downtown

I had this job over near Elm Street, an old Victorian with a flue that hadn't been cleaned since like 2004 probably. Took me 4 hours to get the rotary brush through because the buildup was so hard and thick, had to chip away at it with a scraper rod first. Worst part was the homeowner kept coming out asking if I was almost done, and I could hear her kids screaming inside. Has anyone else run into creosote layers that are basically solid rock?

2 comments

2 Comments

chen.adam12d ago

Are you sure you weren't dealing with old plaster or mortar that crumbled down into the flue? I've seen homeowners mistake construction debris for creosote before. Four hours with a rotary brush sounds like you were fighting something that wasn't all soot and tar. If it was truly solid rock like creosote, you'd have had smoke backing up into the house long before you got there. Those old Victorian flues usually have cracks and gaps that let enough draft through to keep things moving. Maybe you need a stronger brush head, or the flue liner is just badly damaged and catching everything. I'd take a second look at what you chipped out. If it's crumbly and tan or gray, that's old masonry dust mixed with creosote, not pure glaze. A lot of those downtown Victorians have clay liners that are shot, and homeowners treat the chimney like it's fine for twenty years. That's more common than a solid creosote plug.

reeseperez12d ago

Nope, I've seen rock-hard creosote plenty of times in old flues.