Caught a flue fire starting because I skipped the cheap brush

I was doing a routine clean on a house off Maple Street last Tuesday and almost missed a huge creosote buildup hidden behind a bend. My usual cheap nylon brush wasn't cutting it so I grabbed a stiff poly brush I'd been ignoring for months. That thing ripped out a solid inch of glazed creosote that could have gone up any day. The homeowner told me she'd been burning unseasoned pine all winter and I felt sick thinking about what could have happened. Now I'm telling everyone to ditch the bargain bin brushes and spend the extra 20 bucks. Has anyone else found a brush that actually gets the rough stuff on a tight flue?

3 comments

3 Comments

leo_black761mo ago

Four years of cheap brushes and a near miss with a chimney fire on my own place taught me the same lesson. That flaking plastic just polishes the creosote into a nice glossy layer of danger. I switched to a steel wire brush with a flexible shaft and it stripped out stuff I didn't even know was there. The homeowner burning unseasoned pine is basically asking for a chimney fire starter kit. Your wallet will survive the extra 20 bucks, your house might not survive the alternative.

foster.tessa1mo ago

Yikes, I heard a fire investigator say one out of four chimney fires start from exactly that glazed creosote buildup.

allen.iris1mo ago

Yeah, I had almost the exact same wakeup call. Bought a cheap plastic brush from a big box store and used it for two seasons. Thought I was being diligent too. Pulled the brush out one day and half the bristles were just gone, melted into a shiny coat inside the flue. Had a pro come inspect and he showed me the camera footage, it was like someone had painted the inside of my chimney with black enamel. Spent a whole weekend with a angle grinder and a wire wheel on a extension rod to get that crap off. Never cheap out on brushes again, some lessons you only need to learn once.