Spent almost a full day on a blocked flue in an old farmhouse outside Madison

Got called out to this place last fall, a real classic brick farmhouse. The owner said the fireplace hadn't drawn right in years. I figured it was a standard creosote plug, maybe some nesting debris. Nope. After getting my rods and brush up there, I hit a solid wall about eight feet down. Felt like rock. Tried the poly brush, then the chain whip, nothing. Finally had to get the inspection camera up there. Turns out the old clay liner had partially collapsed decades ago, and then someone, maybe in the 70s, had poured some kind of mortar mix down the chimney as a 'fix'. It had set like concrete. What I thought was a two-hour job turned into a nine-hour marathon of careful drilling and chipping with hand tools to avoid damaging the brick. Anyone else run into a bizarre old 'repair' that cost you a whole day?

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