Just realized I was sweeping from the wrong side of the flue for 3 years

Had a job in Salem last Tuesday, a big old colonial with a fireplace on each end of the house. I went up on the roof like always and started sweeping from the top down, and the homeowner came out and asked why I wasn't working from the bottom with a drop cloth and a vacuum. Turns out I was pushing soot and creosote down into the smoke shelf the whole time and never noticed because most of my customers never use their fireplaces much. He was a retired firefighter, and he said he's seen two house fires start from buildup I would have left behind. Now I run the rods up from the firebox first and only go topside for the cap and crown. Any of you old timers got a better order for two flue houses, or is bottom up the standard everywhere?

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cora21629d ago

Been sweeping wrong for three years and the firefighter had to tell you, that's a new level of humbling. Bottom up first is the way I was taught too, so you're not alone in learning it the hard way.

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