Chimney advice please

[Soroyak]

Hiya. Some advice please as am at a loss. The problem is that when we light the wood burner in the living room there's an awful burning smell in the attic so much so that the fire alarm in the attic has gone off twice. We had the chimney swept and a new lining installed as the sweep said ours was damaged. It had been installed for over 10 yrs. We thought after the replacement we'd solved the burning smell but it has persisted. Actually its become worse - like a chemical, burning tyres smell. The chimney concerned sits alongside a disused chimney. There's an ensuite shower room on the attic next to the wall behind which both chimneys exit through the roof. It has an extractor fan which we think exits into the disused stack. The chimney guy thinks the smoke from the used chimney is drifting into the disused chimney and out through the fan into the attic. Why had the smell worsened though. I am very confused. Thanks Helen

 

[bholler]

Well i would get another chimney guy out to check it. Was the liner insulated? can you post some pics of all the affected areas?

 

[Grisu]

Welcome to the forum!

Is the new liner insulated? Some pictures of the chimney, liner, fireplace etc. may help. What could be happening is that the unused chimney has a downdraft and pulls in smoke from the fireplace chimney; that's probably what your sweep suggested. Do both flues terminate on the same height? If yes, you may need to extend the fireplace flue with a class A (or UK equivalent) chimney section. Have you tried turning on the shower fan while burning in the fireplace and how that changes the smoke smell?

 

[bholler]

Welcome to the forum!
Is the new liner insulated? Some pictures of the chimney, liner, fireplace etc. may help. What could be happening is that the unused chimney has a downdraft and pulls in smoke from the fireplace chimney; that's probably what your sweep suggested. Do both flues terminate on the same height? If yes, you may need to extend the fireplace flue with a class A (or UK equivalent) chimney section. Have you tried turning on the shower fan while burning in the fireplace and how that changes the smoke smell?

Agreed but if the other flue is unused why not just cap it off?

 

[Grisu]

Agreed but if the other flue is unused why not just cap it off?

That would certainly be easiest but apparently the bathroom fan uses it as a vent. Maybe relocating the fan (if possible) and closing the flue would be best but that is hard to say without further detail/pics.

 

[bholler]

hat would certainly be easiest but apparently the bathroom fan uses it as a vent. Maybe relocating the fan (if possible) and closing the flue would be best but that is hard to say without further detail/pics.

yeah i obviously missed that oops. But i know here all bathroom fans are supposed to have dampers that prevent air or smoke in this case coming in when the fan is not in use

 

[Soroyak]

Hello. Thanks for reply. Yes chimneys stop at same height. Not sure if insulated. It's liner 904 grade 20 yrs guarantee. I'll get pics. Fan can't be easily relocated. Yes we turned on fan when we put on fire. Burning smell was worse!

 

[Grisu]

It would actually be an idea to close the unused flue provisionally with some plastic or similar, light a fire and see if the problem is still there.

 

[Soroyak]

 

[Soroyak]

Hiya. Pics. Chimney with cap the one being used.
Attic pic. Wall wirh beam behind which are chimneys. Extractor fan on wall on left of pic.

 

[bholler]

It may be smoke coming in the fan but the smell you are describing is not wood smoke i say you need another sweep to do a full inspection. Was the liner insulated? was the chimney scanned before lining it?

 

[Soroyak]

I don't know to either of those questions. It's disappointing as he's a HETAS registered guy. Anyway will get someone else in. Thanks