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Had a job go sideways when I missed a flue tile crack in Cincinnati
I was out on a routine cleaning last month at a house in Cincinnati, the owner said they hadn't had any issues. I got up on the roof, ran my brush down the flue like normal, and everything felt fine. But when I went to do the final inspection with my mirror, I spotted a hairline crack in the terracotta tile near the top. I mean, I almost missed it because it was hiding behind some soot. The homeowner was a bit upset because I had to call a mason to come patch it before I could finish the job, and that added like 3 hours to my day. Has anyone else dealt with a hidden crack like that on a standard cleaning?
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max_torres443d ago
@hollyl25 That soot hiding a crack is tricky stuff. I've had that exact thing happen on a job in Cleveland last fall. The soot was caked on so thick it looked like a solid layer, but when I scraped a small spot with my tool, the crack opened right up. What got me was how clean the tile looked from the bottom - you'd never know it was damaged. Did you have to use a special camera or just the mirror to catch yours? I find that using a bright flashlight at an angle helps spot those sneaky cracks way better than a standard inspection mirror.
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spencer_owens582d ago
Wait Holly, are you telling me you actually missed a crack like that? That soot hiding it is wild. I can totally see how that would happen though, especially on older jobs where the buildup is thick. I bet Max is right about the flashlight trick - I use a headlamp at a low angle for extra stubborn spots. Stuff like that makes you second-guess everything you thought you knew about a clean tile.
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