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My old boss told me to never trust a clean-looking flue on a 1950s house
He said those old unlined chimneys can look fine but be full of hidden cracks. Last month in Cincinnati, I skipped the camera check on one that looked spotless. Found out the hard way when the homeowner called back with smoke in their living room. Who else has been burned by advice that seemed too cautious at the time?
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the_miles1mo ago
Your old boss was right. Those old flues can have hairline cracks you can't see without a camera. I learned to always run a camera up there, even on a clean-looking one, after a similar callback. It takes an extra ten minutes but saves a huge headache later.
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bettyk531mo ago
Yeah, "saves a huge headache later" is putting it mildly. My pride still hurts from missing one of those cracks years ago. That extra ten minutes feels like nothing compared to eating the cost of a callback.
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