Cracked brick in old 1930's brick fireplace :(

[irev210]

Hi all -

So wood burning is new to me and didn't realize that there is a lot that I needed to know about old brick fireplaces!

I had a Chimney Sweep come out and inspect a 1930's fireplace in our home that we recently moved into. The guy said that everything was good to go and so I asked general questions about building a fire. His only comment was to build the fire back as far as possible.

So, had a nice fire and saw that a brick was cracked. I don't know if it was already cracked (I don't think so) or if it cracked because I built the fire too far back and it got hot.

Can someone offer any thoughts? Is this a problem? Anything I can do? Any general threads on how to build proper fires to accommodate my older brick fireplace?

 

[fossil]

You didn't crack the brick. The cracked brick is not a problem. You can build a fire in a masonry fireplace pretty much any way you want, so long as it stays in the fireplace. No worries about that brick. No action required. Burn on! Rick

 

[irev210]

You didn't crack the brick. The cracked brick is not a problem. You can build a fire in a masonry fireplace pretty much any way you want, so long as it stays in the fireplace. No worries about that brick. No action required. Burn on! Rick

Whew, that is great news! Any other tips for not wrecking stuff?

Started small to warm things up, after 6-7 hours it peaked at this:

No issues with a fire this size? Don't want to go any bigger... but want to be safe. Never had a fireplace before...

 

[fossil]

That's not going to hurt anything. I know you get lots of radiant heat out of that when it's roaring...and ambiance & whatnot. Something to consider, though, is the fact that a masonry fireplace & chimney like you've got there is a very inefficient woodburning appliance. Most of the heat from the fire goes right up the flue to daylight, along with a whole lot of warm air from the living space. There are alternatives to burning wood that way. We know all about them here. If you're interested, stick around, ask questions, do searches. A woodburning insert might be just the ticket for you. Welcome to the forums! Rick

 

[irev210]

That's not going to hurt anything. I know you get lots of radiant heat out of that when it's roaring...and ambiance & whatnot. Something to consider, though, is the fact that a masonry fireplace chimney like you've got there is a very inefficient woodburning appliance. Most of the heat from the fire goes right up the flue to daylight, along with a whole lot of warm air from the living space. There are alternatives to burning wood that way. We know all about them here. If you're interested, stick around, ask questions, do searches. A woodburning insert might be just the ticket for you. Welcome to the forums! Rick

I'll definitely stick around. It's an older apartment-style building, so there is steam heat but sometimes the heat can go out or sometimes a few extra degrees can make the difference of being comfortable to downright chilly when the temps really go down.

I really appreciate the help - given this is a shared building I feel like it's only responsible to take precaution when burning.

Look forward to many hours of reading!