Watched a guy in Nashville fix a blocked flue with a shop vac and a wire coat hanger

I was helping out at a job in Nashville last month, a old house off 12th Ave. The homeowner said smoke was backing up into the living room. Usually I'd break out the rods and brushes, but this older sweep I was shadowing just grabbed a shop vac and a bent coat hanger. He shoved the hanger up the flue to break up the big chunks of creosote while the vac sucked it all down. Took maybe 20 minutes and cleared a nasty blockage near the damper. I always thought you needed the full brush kit for every job, but that guy showed me a simpler way for those tight spots where brush rods just don't fit right. Has anyone else used a shop vac with a hose extension to pull debris out of a cold flue?

2 comments

2 Comments

dylan26510d ago

Betty's buddy with the PVC pipe trick sounds like he figured out the same shortcut. It's funny how many everyday problems have a simpler fix if you ignore what everyone says you're supposed to do. That method works fine for a cold flue and saves a lot of hassle compared to dragging out the big brush kit.

betty14410d ago

Had a buddy who manages a rental property in East Nashville swear by this method. He was trying to unclog a chimney flue after some birds built a nest in it and the smoke was backing up into the unit bad. He grabbed his wet/dry vac and a long piece of PVC pipe he had laying around, taped the hose to it, and went to town from the bottom up. Said he pulled out a whole mess of twigs, leaves, and about a pound of dry old soot without ever climbing on the roof. The tenant was happy it didn't cost much and it worked way better than he thought it would lol.