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Got called for a simple cleaning in a 1920s house and found a whole brick stuck sideways in the flue.
The homeowner said they heard a noise last fall but figured it was just the wind. It took me and my partner over four hours to chip it out without damaging the clay liner. What's the weirdest thing you've ever pulled from a chimney?
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mason_stone7mo ago
Wow, a whole brick is a new one. We pulled out a fully mummified raccoon once, wedged tight about three feet down. The smell was unreal, like old dirt and decay. Had to break it apart with a hook to get it through the cleanout.
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logan6325mo ago
Honestly, I gotta push back on that "small win" idea. A mummified raccoon, as nasty as it sounds, is at least biodegradable and will eventually break down. A brick's going to sit in that pipe forever, causing backups for the next hundred years if you don't get it out.
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laura9927mo ago
My uncle's 1940s cottage had a squirrel nest built entirely of chewed-up plastic grocery bags. It looked like some weird modern art installation up there. Honestly, a sideways brick sounds like a prank from a very bored mason a hundred years ago. At least it didn't smell like mummified raccoon, that's a small win.
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