My favorite brush handle broke mid-job last Tuesday

I was working a chimney in Bakersfield when my trusty fiberglass rod snapped in half after just three years of use. Cheap plastic ferrule gave out, and I spent an hour fishing the brush out of the flue with a shop vac and a bendy wire. Anybody else stopped trusting those budget rod kits from the hardware store?

3 comments

3 Comments

seanjohnson2mo agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you had to fish a brush out of a flue with a shop vac and a wire? That sounds like a nightmare I never want to live through... Three years on a cheap fiberglass rod sounds about right though, those budget kits always cut corners on the ferrules. I'd rather pay double for a solid steel rod with brass fittings than ever risk that again.

foster.patricia2mo ago

Did you get any of the fiberglass rod pieces stuck up there too?

benk261mo ago

Three years is actually pretty good for a budget fiberglass rod with plastic ferrules. Most of those cheap kits don't even last a full season if you're doing more than a couple light jobs. The real issue is they use chromed brass for the ferrule but the plastic sleeve around it is what cracks first. Steel rods with brass fittings are better but they're heavy and can still snap if you overtorque them. The shop vac trick works but next time just use a long magnet if the ferrule is steel, saves you the headache of fishing around with wire.