Dropped $85 on a rotary chimney brush kit from Harbor Freight and it chewed up my flue liner in one job
Used it on a brick flue in an old house over in Dayton and the bristles bent sideways and gouged the mortar bad enough I had to call in a mason. Any of you got a brush setup that actually holds up on old brick?
Man that sounds exactly like my setup. I grabbed the same kit a couple years back for a rental I own and the bristles folded over on the first flue, just laid right down against the brick. Mortar joints were already soft in that old place so the brush just ate into them, and I had to tuck point half the chimney myself. The metal center rod also wobbled so bad it slapped the liner on the way down. Harbor Freight is fine for some stuff but chimney brushes are not it. I ended up going with a poly brush from a chimney supply place and it has held up way better on old brick.