pat142•6mo ago

I finally cleared that old farmhouse chimney after my uncle's weird trick

My uncle, who did this job for forty years, told me to always pack a bag of rock salt. He said if you run into a really tough, damp creosote plug, throw a handful up the flue before you start brushing. I thought it was just an old wives' tale, but I had a job at the Miller farm outside of town yesterday. Their chimney hadn't been touched in maybe fifteen years. I got the camera up there and saw this nasty, tar-like blockage about halfway up. Remembered what he said, tossed some salt up, waited ten minutes, and went at it with the poly brush. The stuff just crumbled away like dry sand instead of gumming up my rods. Saved me at least an hour of fighting it. Has anyone else tried something like that, or was I just lucky this time?

3 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

3 Comments

jessesingh6mo ago

So your uncle's secret weapon against chimney gunk is basically the same stuff we throw on an icy driveway? That's wild... I guess it makes sense if it's pulling moisture out. Sounds a lot better than my method of just swearing at it until something gives way.

5

casey1456mo ago

Sounds like a lot of drama for some soot.

2

marywells5mo ago

@jessesingh swearing is step one in my book too, but rock salt actually works if you can get it up there dry.

2