Smoke

QuestionEdit

Sometimes we get choking smoke blowing back into the room. The damper is set wide open. It can happen with a window open or closed, fireplace is a Weller. 30 year old fireplace. What can we do?

2nd question can chimney sweeps clean brick chimneys from bottom up only?

AnswerEdit

Chuck,

Answer to your first question, there are literally dozens of potential reasons for what you describe. Chimney too short, to small, trees too close, creosote build up, bird nest, flue too large, too small, you get the picture. What you need is to invest in an NFPA-211 level II inspection of your system. please feel free to use the links at the bottom of my home page at www.brooks-hearth.com to find an inspector offering these inspections.

Answer to your second question, yes, we sweep flues from bottom up, top down, what ever we have to do. Best of luck.

QuestionEdit

We recently had our fireplace repaired and decided to use it again. We never did use it much, maybe a dozen times in 14 years. We have had it cleaned, however. Anyway, we had a fire in it two nights in a row, for about 3 hrs. The wood might have been not dry enough (I bought it at the store) because the fire was never "roaring". The next day I cleaned out the fireplace, disposing of the burnt wood and all the ashes. The fireplace screen is glass with a mesh screen inside it. It opens in the middle and their is about a 1 inch space between the doors. WHY DOES MY HOUSE STILL SMELL LIKE SMOKE? The damper was open and the house never filled with smoke. I just can't get the smoke smell out of the living room. Any help you could give me would be GREATLY APPRECIATED. Thank you.

AnswerEdit

im going to assume your chimney runs up the side of your house right? the cold air is settling down the chimney and bringing the smell with it. try closing your damper as soon as you can without letting the smoke into the house. if that doesnt work theres always other ways to solve this problem but lets start with the simplest and take it from there, ok? if theres still a problem write me back