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Update: I saw a crew using a leaf blower to clear a flue last week
They were working on a brick chimney in Springfield, and the foreman was just blasting air down from the top. I know some guys think it's a fast way to move loose debris, but it doesn't get the creosote glaze off the tiles at all. I had to go back to that same house six months later for a proper sweep and the buildup was bad. Are we really okay with this becoming a common shortcut?
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blake3221mo ago
That "fast way to move loose debris" line hits hard. I tried using a leaf blower on my own fireplace once, just to see. Ended up coating my entire living room in a fine layer of ancient ash. My wife still brings it up every time we clean. It's definitely a shortcut, and you're right, it just leaves all the real gunk behind.
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clark.robin1mo ago
Look, in a tight housing market like ours, time is money. That crew probably had three more chimneys booked that same afternoon. A proper chemical clean and brush takes half a day, but a leaf blower clears the big chunks in twenty minutes and gets the homeowner their inspection certificate. For a lot of people, that's all they're paying for.
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mark_thomas1mo ago
Clark.robin makes a fair point about the time pressure these crews are under. Read an article last year where a real inspector said that method misses all the creosote buildup, which is the real fire hazard. The certificate might get signed, but the safety part is a total gamble. Homeowners are paying for a false sense of security, and that's a real problem.
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