Had a brutal day last Tuesday on a job in Columbus

I got called to clean a monster 8 inch flue in an old Victorian house, and the draft was so bad smoke kept billowing back at me. Must have taken me 3 hours to get it right because I kept missing a hidden creosote dam halfway up the stack. The homeowner asked me why I was sweating through my shirt, and I just laughed. Has anyone else dealt with those weird offset flues that mess with your rod angles?

2 comments

2 Comments

fiona3301mo ago

my buddy jason ran into that in cinci last month. 8 footer in a stack from like 1900 with two crazy bends. rod kept binding up and he swore the thing was haunted. took him almost 4 hours and he had to cut a new rod in half to reach the last spot.

angelas781mo ago

Pull the whole stack out first. Lay it on a tarp in the hallway and work it from the side. Saves your back and you can see the bends coming before they bind. I've had three like that in a row, had to pop the cleanout on one to get a snake past a hard 90. Always keep a spare 6 footer with a bullet head for the nasty spots.