Hi all,
I just moved into a new place in the Beacon Hill section of Boston, MA. For those of you that don't know, it's the oldest section of Boston with a lot of 3 to 5 story brownstones from the late 1700's and 1800's.
My main impetus for the move (besides the bigger space) was the promise of a working fireplace. Most of the fireplaces in the area have been decommisioned so this was a gem to find.
I am in a basement apartment and I believe there are 4 floors above me. My fireplace is very wide (I think about 4 feet) and I checked the flue opening which is fairly wide and runs the entire width. There is also a copper smoke screen at the top that goes down about 8" and out about 3". There is no damper on my flu, I assume because it's in the basement. But I did confirm with my neighbor above that she does have a damper. I assume the rest of the folks above her do as well.
The reason I met my neighbor was because of the issue I'm about to describe. I started a small fire (primed the flu for about 10 minutes and saw a decent draw). Then I lit my kindling and a small kiln-dried log. The problem is, although some of the smoke would go up the chimney for a minute, after that period of time, it would cease to go up and start pouring into my apartment. After another minute or so, the smoke would begin to go back up. This prompted a knock on my door from my neighbor because the smoke made it's way up the stairwell and began smelling up her apartment. She told me she had her damper closed, which should not be a problem as she said she always kept it closed, even when the previous tenant had fires. She also mentioned that they had the same problem last year with the previous tenant and they had the landlord hire a chimney sweep to fix the issue. Once the chimney sweep did his job last year, there were no more problems.
So my assumption is that there is something blocking the draft and that the landlord should have someone come out. In my opinion, it's in the good of his interests to do this yearly anyway, as a safety precaution, given there are 5 tenants in his brownstone building. However, I called him and explained the situation, reminding him about the same issue last year. He responds with "Someone else in the building must have their flue closed." It was an email response so he's calling me after work today.
I don't think this response makes any sense. Just because the other tenants have their damper closed, that shouldn't prevent my smoke from drafting up the chimney. Effectively, that would mean that every time anyone in the building wanted a fire, they would have to check with all the neighbors to open their flue? Sounds ridiculous to me and more like he's trying to avoid paying for a chimney sweep. Plus, if everyone left their flue's open to accommodate everyone else, they'd lose heat constantly during the winter.
What do you guys think about his response? If he doesn't budge, I may get a chimney sweep to come out and observe the problem, then have him talk to the landlord with his analysis.
I really want to use this fireplace. I've already scheduled a 1/2 cord to be delivered and plan on using it 2 or 3 times a week in the winter.
Justin
I just moved into a new place in the Beacon Hill section of Boston, MA. For those of you that don't know, it's the oldest section of Boston with a lot of 3 to 5 story brownstones from the late 1700's and 1800's.
My main impetus for the move (besides the bigger space) was the promise of a working fireplace. Most of the fireplaces in the area have been decommisioned so this was a gem to find.
I am in a basement apartment and I believe there are 4 floors above me. My fireplace is very wide (I think about 4 feet) and I checked the flue opening which is fairly wide and runs the entire width. There is also a copper smoke screen at the top that goes down about 8" and out about 3". There is no damper on my flu, I assume because it's in the basement. But I did confirm with my neighbor above that she does have a damper. I assume the rest of the folks above her do as well.
The reason I met my neighbor was because of the issue I'm about to describe. I started a small fire (primed the flu for about 10 minutes and saw a decent draw). Then I lit my kindling and a small kiln-dried log. The problem is, although some of the smoke would go up the chimney for a minute, after that period of time, it would cease to go up and start pouring into my apartment. After another minute or so, the smoke would begin to go back up. This prompted a knock on my door from my neighbor because the smoke made it's way up the stairwell and began smelling up her apartment. She told me she had her damper closed, which should not be a problem as she said she always kept it closed, even when the previous tenant had fires. She also mentioned that they had the same problem last year with the previous tenant and they had the landlord hire a chimney sweep to fix the issue. Once the chimney sweep did his job last year, there were no more problems.
So my assumption is that there is something blocking the draft and that the landlord should have someone come out. In my opinion, it's in the good of his interests to do this yearly anyway, as a safety precaution, given there are 5 tenants in his brownstone building. However, I called him and explained the situation, reminding him about the same issue last year. He responds with "Someone else in the building must have their flue closed." It was an email response so he's calling me after work today.
I don't think this response makes any sense. Just because the other tenants have their damper closed, that shouldn't prevent my smoke from drafting up the chimney. Effectively, that would mean that every time anyone in the building wanted a fire, they would have to check with all the neighbors to open their flue? Sounds ridiculous to me and more like he's trying to avoid paying for a chimney sweep. Plus, if everyone left their flue's open to accommodate everyone else, they'd lose heat constantly during the winter.
What do you guys think about his response? If he doesn't budge, I may get a chimney sweep to come out and observe the problem, then have him talk to the landlord with his analysis.
I really want to use this fireplace. I've already scheduled a 1/2 cord to be delivered and plan on using it 2 or 3 times a week in the winter.
Justin
