Heard a young sweep call a soot eater a 'dusty boomer' today

I was cleaning out a flue behind a newer crew last week and one of them said my wire brush was an antique. Made me think about how much gear has changed since I started in '92. Back then we used burlap sacks and lead weights for heavy creosote, no HEPA vacs or carbon monoxide detectors on every job. That kid probably never had to crawl a 12-inch clay liner on his elbows with a flashlight in his teeth. I don't miss the back pain but I do miss when a set of rods lasted you ten years. Anyone else notice younger guys skipping hand brushing and going straight to rotary?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_viola1mo ago

Wait they're just jumping straight to rotary without hand brushing the heavy stuff first? That's like trying to strip paint without sanding down the rough patches first, bound to miss half the buildup and leave loose soot behind. I get that the powered heads save time but you can't beat the feel of a good hand brush to really know what you're dealing with in there.

drewgonzalez1mo ago

Yeah @the_viola, you're totally right honestly I used to think the opposite but this changed my mind.