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Fireplace letting a lot of smoke into the house

2 years ago

Hi Houzz,

Just had chinney sweep do a thorough clean, using kiln dried wood, have fireplace grill that funnels flames to the back of the fireplace. its still letting quite a bit of smoke in… damper is fully open, smoke coming out of the top of the chimney. Flame right under flue. https://youtube.com/shorts/F6waIiqRVP4?feature=share

any suggestions on how to fix this?

thanks,

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Comments (3)

tvq1
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Do you have a kitchen exhaust fan nearby? We have occasionally had issues with the "draw" of our fireplace if we have the kitchen fan on high, and/or doors/windows open. It certainly isn't enough smoke to be visible, but we can definitely smell smoke in others areas of our home. As it was explained to us (by the "chimney sweep" that cleaned our chimney) it has to do with air flow in the house affecting the draw of the fireplace.
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Hansen Wholesale
2 years ago
Please take a picture from much further away so we can see the entire fireplace. Also, include the dimensions of the opening. It could be just a very large opening that is not designed proportional to the chimney. Adding a glass door with a smoke guard can help. Try cracking a window so the fire gets more air.
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Is your water heater a gas unit? Your furnace? If it is, I might have a solution since my first house had this similar problem. I am also an electrician and I believe your problem is not electrically related. On windy days, I would encounter a downdraft through my chimney and through the hood of my gas water heater. Two problems here - occasional burning smell AND carbon monoxide. Make sure there is a functioning carbon monoxide detector in the areas of the house where you spend most of your time. If you call the fire department and/or the local gas utilities, they can check for elevated CO2 levels. These burning odors I encountered in my first house were in the colder months when I operated my upstairs fireplace and the damper remained open. Please let us know what you find!
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Tmnca, yes, you can buy tsp in CA. I know about the substitute tsp products that you have mentioned, but you actually can buy real tsp in CA. There are boxes of real tsp on the shelf at my local hardware store. They have the substitute too. Real tsp is evidently also available for pickup at the Lowes and Home Depot stores that are closest to me (according to their websites), though I've had trouble finding the real tsp at the big box stores in the past. If, for some reason, you can't find it at a store near you, you can just order it online and have it shipped to you. Edited to add, I actually went through a period of time where, like you, I thought you couldn't buy it in CA. I don't know the exact laws and whether or not it is actually not legal, but...it's definitely for sale here, one way or the other. I think it may just not be legal to sell dishwasher/washing machine/other detergents with it added?
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kb1923
2 years ago
Yes, please give more dimensions. It looks like the upper firebox is faulty.

There should be no flat ceilings from the transition of the firebox walls to the damper, but maybe it is just the pic.What are the depths of the flat ceiling near the throat/damper (front and back)?

Also what is on the bottom side of the lintel?

It appears that the throat opening isn’t totally clear into the smoke chamber??

In other words the smoke chamber should be wider than the throat opening and above the damper and then very gradually proceed upward to the flue. What is happening here?

If you can provide the following dimensions it would be helpful.

Fireplace opening width and height.

Distance from the front of the brick facade to the firebox back at the bottom.

Horizontal distance from the front of the brick facade to the front edge of the throat opening.

Width of the throat.

Thickness of the lintel (distance from front of fp to back of lintel breast right above the opening).

Vertical distance between the throat opening that the damper sits on to the firebox floor.

Width and depth of the throat opening. Also width to where there looks to be the smoke chamber obstruction.

Of course there may be other things to look at , like height of chimney, etc. but the first approach would be to examine the firebox/throat area which is where most problems originate.

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