My brush angle was wrong for 6 years until a customer's dog barked at me

I was sweeping the same way since I started back in 2011 near Springfield, using a 45 degree tilt on the rod. Last week a customer's labrador kept barking at the fireplace, and when I went to check, I saw my brush was riding up one side of the flue and leaving a 3 inch patch of creosote untouched. Turns out for wider clay flues over 12 inches, you need to keep the rod almost vertical and let the bristles flex naturally. Has anyone else had a moment where a pet or some random detail outsourced your bad habit?

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paige_west2mo ago

Wait, I gotta push back on this. The angle of the rod depends on the flue liner material and the system you're using, not just the width. I've done six inch square clay tiles with a steep angle forever and never missed a spot, but my buddy runs a camera and he's seen guys keep the rod dead vertical and still stripe the corners on anything over ten inches. The dog probably just caught the creosote smell or heard something in the chimney, not your brush work. After six years, you'd have seen sooty backdrafts or a bad draft by now if you were leaving three inch patches. Maybe the bristles were worn down on that one brush, not the angle. I'd check the brush head before I rewrite the whole method.

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