morgan898•14d agoProlific Poster

Hot take: training new guys a certain way is hurting us

Last month at a job in Akron, I had to show a rookie how to sweep a zero-clearance fireplace. He kept asking why I don't use a shop vac for everything like his last boss taught him. I explained that shoving a vac hose up there can scratch the firebox coating and miss hidden creosote. I trained him to use a hand brush and mirror first, and he said it was pointless. Has anyone else run into guys who think power tools beat manual work every time?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_linda14d ago

Real talk, the vacuum trick is tempting but it really does hide stuff. I’ve had guys swear by their shop vac until I pulled a hidden mat of creosote out by hand that the vac would have just compacted deeper. Stick to the hand brush and mirror, then show them the before and after photos on your phone. Seeing is believing, especially when you pull out a crusty chunk they missed.

webb.ben13d ago

Exactly right. I had a guy last winter who swore his shop vac was good enough. Pulled the plate off the cleanout and there was a solid inch of baked on stuff the vac just polished over. Hand brush and a mirror showed me the whole story in thirty seconds. Took a picture of the scrapings pile on the tarp and showed him on my phone. He shut up real quick and handed over cash for a full sweep after that. Seeing is believing every time.

mark_price14d ago

I guess I'm not sure why you'd need to pull out photos of crusty chunks to prove anything. If a guy is paying you to clean his chimney, either he trusts you or he doesn't. I don't see my customers wanting to see the before and after for every job. They just want the fire to work and not burn the place down. A shop vac might push some stuff deeper, sure, but if you're doing a proper cleaning anyway it's not like that's gonna cause a fire next week. Feels like overthinking it to me.