Traditional Fireplace Issues

[goobers]

I have been combating a problem in my condo for about 1.5 years now. The companies hired to inspect/clean the chimneys tell me there's nothing wrong there & I have tried a variety of DIY cleaning solutions of my actual fireplace to no avail.

Basically I have a traditional fireplace in my condo that's encased in brick, with a flue that opens up into the chimney stack, and the front of the fireplace is a sliding glass enclosure. I normally purchase fireplace wood from one of the big box stores like Home Depot or Lowe's every cold season along with some Duraflame logs to mix things up. I use the fireplace as an alternative to running my electric baseboard heaters when I'm home for long durations (eg. weekends).

Regardless of what I'm burning in the fireplace, I am finding my condo fills up with a light smoke haze and eventually completely smells of smoke. Growing up in a single-family home with a traditional fireplace we never had these issues and I'm torn as to what to do. I'm most concerned that the stagnant smoke and smell will trigger the entire building's smoke alarms forcing a visit from the Fire Department for no emergency reason.

I'm here to ask for advice/help on whether this is normal in this type of setting (the condo is only 880 square feet total), if there's potentially an airflow issue causing this, or perhaps the solution is as simple as burning a different type of wood or product.

Any help would be appreciated!

TIA

 

[bholler]

I have been combating a problem in my condo for about 1.5 years now. The companies hired to inspect/clean the chimneys tell me there's nothing wrong there & I have tried a variety of DIY cleaning solutions of my actual fireplace to no avail.

Basically I have a traditional fireplace in my condo that's encased in brick, with a flue that opens up into the chimney stack, and the front of the fireplace is a sliding glass enclosure. I normally purchase fireplace wood from one of the big box stores like Home Depot or Lowe's every cold season along with some Duraflame logs to mix things up. I use the fireplace as an alternative to running my electric baseboard heaters when I'm home for long durations (eg. weekends).

Regardless of what I'm burning in the fireplace, I am finding my condo fills up with a light smoke haze and eventually completely smells of smoke. Growing up in a single-family home with a traditional fireplace we never had these issues and I'm torn as to what to do. I'm most concerned that the stagnant smoke and smell will trigger the entire building's smoke alarms forcing a visit from the Fire Department for no emergency reason.

I'm here to ask for advice/help on whether this is normal in this type of setting (the condo is only 880 square feet total), if there's potentially an airflow issue causing this, or perhaps the solution is as simple as burning a different type of wood or product.

Any help would be appreciated!

TIA

Is there a fresh air intake on the fireplace? If so are you opening it?

 

[goobers]

On the top [edited original that mistakenly said bottom] of the glass enclosure there's air vents, which I assume pull air in. Otherwise there are no other openings or intakes other than leaving the glass door open.

 

[maple1]

Has it always been like this?

 

[bholler]

On the bottom of the glass enclosure there's air vents, which I assume pull air in. Otherwise there are no other openings or intakes other than leaving the glass door open.

Can you post some pictures

 

[jetsam]

@begreen, thread collision in aisle three, bring a mop.

If you are sure the chimney is unobstructed, you may have insufficient flue size or insufficient draft due to tight construction. Open fireplaces need to draw a tremendous volume of air (which is why they are no longer used for heating).

Is the condo a part of a house or a cell in a big block? When was it built? What size is the flue and how long is it?

 

[goobers]

@begreen, thread collision in aisle three, bring a mop.

If you are sure the chimney is unobstructed, you may have insufficient flue size or insufficient draft due to tight construction. Open fireplaces need to draw a tremendous volume of air (which is why they are no longer used for heating).

Is the condo a part of a house or a cell in a big block? When was it built? What size is the flue and how long is it?

Sorry for my delay in responding, I was out of town.

The condo is part of a 3-story building with each vertical stack of 3 units sharing a chimney stack (each unit's flue leads into the main chimney stack). The building was originally built in 1988 and renovated in 2007, but I don't believe the renovations touched the chimney stacks/fireplaces.

The size of the flue is about 10 inches in diameter. I'm on the 2nd floor of a 3-story building, so I'm guessing from my unit to the rooftop is about 25-30 feet.

Also - I mentioned above there were vents on the bottom of the fireplace frame. I was mistaken, they are actually at the top.

 

[Rob711]

I can't offer much, I'm just amazed a condo would have functioning open fireplaces. I'd be afraid Nancy, in 2b, would get drunk and burn the whole place down. Or a chimney fire that goes un noticed. Good luck

 

[goobers]

Photos finally got approved

Open flue

• goobers
• Dec 9, 2018

Closed flue

• goobers
• Dec 9, 2018

Photo of fireplace with glass doors open

• goobers
• Dec 9, 2018

Photo of vents along the top of the fireplace frame.

• goobers
• Dec 9, 2018

Photo of exterior of fireplace

• goobers
• Dec 9, 2018

 

[kborndale]

Sorry for stating the obvious, but are you opening the flue? Is it one of the pull chain type flue's? They can get stuck sometimes and you have to give a good yank on the chain to get the flue to open.

 

[kborndale]

Sorry for stating the obvious, but are you opening the flue? Is it one of the pull chain type flue's? They can get stuck sometimes and you have to give a good yank on the chain to get the flue to open.

well those pictures answered my question at the same time I posted them!

 

[begreen]

You can post pictures in the posting directly, no need to post them to the media library first.

That is a silly small flue opening for a big open fireplace. It looks more like and 2 sided ZC fireplace. Does it have a metal chimney all the way up to the top?

 

[goobers]

That is a silly small flue opening for a big open fireplace. It looks more like and 2 sided ZC fireplace. Does it have a metal chimney all the way up to the top?

It quite possibly could be a prefabricated type ZC fireplace that was made to look like traditional brick fireplace. Though, when i touch the brick it definitely feels like real brick. I don't have access to the original building drawings, but I would have to assume the entire chimney is metal to the roof.

 

[bholler]

It quite possibly could be a prefabricated type ZC fireplace that was made to look like traditional brick fireplace. Though, when i touch the brick it definitely feels like real brick. I don't have access to the original building drawings, but I would have to assume the entire chimney is metal to the roof.

It is a prefab fireplace. Which makes the smoke problem surprising they usually draft pretty well. I am wondering if it is lack of makeup air. Next time try cracking a window to see if it helps.

 

[goobers]

It is a prefab fireplace. Which makes the smoke problem surprising they usually draft pretty well. I am wondering if it is lack of makeup air. Next time try cracking a window to see if it helps.

I'm giving it a try right now. Will hopefully be posting positive results with the balcony being right next to the fireplace.

 

[goobers]

I cracked my balcony door open about 1 inch...it's about 2 feet away from the fireplace location.

Here's a photo of these presto logs burning. So far so good, with little smoke filling up my condo. There's a lovely smoke smell, but nothing overpowering like it used to be. I'm hoping when I use some regular firewood I have the same positive results.

 

[bholler]

I cracked my balcony door open about 1 inch...it's about 2 feet away from the fireplace location.

Here's a photo of these presto logs burning. So far so good, with little smoke filling up my condo. There's a lovely smoke smell, but nothing overpowering like it used to be. I'm hoping when I use some regular fire wood I have the same positive results.

View attachment 235972

Ok that means you dont have enough makeup air

 

[Pertzbro]

Ok that means you dont have enough makeup air

Could it be negative pressure since he's in a condo? Would/is it possible to get a reversible bathroom exhaust that they could flip to DRAW air in?

I imagine he's rather limited on fixing the makeup air since it's a condo with HOA's and all...

 

[maple1]

I would think a stove in a condo would be a tricky proposition to begin with. Depending on the condo. I think any I have been in have large central ventilation systems that would always be working to maintain a bit of negative pressure. For good steady ventilation. Which wouldn't be the best situation for a stove or fireplace.

 

[darktower007]

I can't offer much, I'm just amazed a condo would have functioning open fireplaces. I'd be afraid Nancy, in 2b, would get drunk and burn the whole place down. Or a chimney fire that goes un noticed. Good luck

Ha! That cracks me up lol.. not burning a place down how he said if lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lml999]

We have a similar problem with our traditional fireplace in a 25 year old house. If I don't crack a window next to the fireplace when I first start a fire, the smoke actually gets sucked into the basement via the ash pit. I think it's because the NG boiler is directly below the fireplace and keeps its flue warm/hot, so there's air flowing from the utility room up that flue. Since the fireplace flue is cold, it doesn't create a strong draft, at first, so the smoke makes its way into the utility room...setting off the smoke alarm.

Simple cure for this -- I crack the window until the fire is established, the flue warms up and the updraft is established. I can then close the window.

Longer term cure for this -- install the Enviro 1200 wood stove insert in the fireplace. I will still have to manage the draft with a cold flue, but I don't think it will be nearly as much of an issue, in part because the smoke will be contained in the stove and the pipe up the chimney.

We moved into this house just over two years ago and due to other priorities, have not gotten the insert installed yet. Have lots of wood banked outside, probably two or three years worth...

 

[goobers]

So I had another fire running last night and immediately got the smoke smell area (but not smoke haze in my condo). The only difference this time around was the type of kindling I used. The other night when things worked well I was using Fatwood firestarters. Last night I used Enviro-Log premium kindling to help get things started and it's left a smoke smell all over my condo.

I'll be dumping that Enviro-Log stuff and sticking with Fatwood. Next fire I build will be with traditional firewood instead of PrestoLogs to see if it also blankets my condo in a smokey smell.