Rant: People keep using the wrong brush for their liner and it drives me nuts

I was on a job in Portland last month and the homeowner showed me the brush they'd been using for their own 'maintenance'. It was a standard poly brush, the kind you'd use on a clay tile flue, but they have a full stainless steel liner. That stiff bristle can't possibly get a good seal on the smooth metal surface, so you're just pushing soot around. I see this all the time, folks think a chimney brush is a chimney brush. It matters because you need the right bristle material and shape to actually scrape the creosote off the liner walls effectively. A steel wire brush for a steel liner, a poly for masonry. Using the wrong one means a half clean job and a bigger fire risk. Has anyone else had to explain this basic tool choice to a customer more than once?

3 comments

3 Comments

finley_craig531mo ago

How many times have you seen that poly brush mistake?

the_thea1mo ago

Count it as one mistake, not multiple. People just keep making the same one. It's always the wrong brush for the first coat.

wyatt8511mo ago

That one time at the Miller job still makes me cringe lol