I am new to this forum and hope this post belongs here. I just bought a house that has a fireplace and has a wood insert. Before the insert was put in place there apparently was a bit of smoke that came back into the house, the bricks abouve the opening show soot, thsat is more than average. The fireplace was built in 84, and is very tall, enough for a 2 story house but only one stroy, room has catherdral ceiling. All brick. My wife, doesn't like the look of the insert and would like to remove it. What would cause a draft to not be suffecient to pull the smoke upward?
Fireplace issues
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savageactor7
Minister of Fire
Hi and welcome. It's is pretty much normal to see these smoke marks on top of older fireplaces...don't let that scare you. It doesn't always mean there is a problem... it's just something that happens over time.
But just in case here's a few things you can check out to put you mind at ease.
A plugged chimney or chimney cap, an air vent not properly opened, a house recently winterized with new windows added insulation that is now so airtight the natural draw has been restricted.
Is the insert getting it's air from an OAK? That's an outside air kit that draws combustion air from some place other than right in front of the fire. I've read on here where OAK's were plugged up with bee hives or bird nests.
If you can go to a clean out stick a small mirror in the chimney you'll be able to very clearly see the if it's clear or not. OK so now you know the chim is cleared. Try just lighting a lightly balled up newspaper only and observe the draft...be ready to throw in some more paper. Open a window if it doesn't draft and see if that make a difference.
But just in case here's a few things you can check out to put you mind at ease.
A plugged chimney or chimney cap, an air vent not properly opened, a house recently winterized with new windows added insulation that is now so airtight the natural draw has been restricted.
Is the insert getting it's air from an OAK? That's an outside air kit that draws combustion air from some place other than right in front of the fire. I've read on here where OAK's were plugged up with bee hives or bird nests.
If you can go to a clean out stick a small mirror in the chimney you'll be able to very clearly see the if it's clear or not. OK so now you know the chim is cleared. Try just lighting a lightly balled up newspaper only and observe the draft...be ready to throw in some more paper. Open a window if it doesn't draft and see if that make a difference.
Wood Heat Stoves
Minister of Fire
http://woodheatstoves.com/images/Draft troubleshooting chimneys.pdf
main reason downstairs units can be problematic is,
downstairs fireplaces can compete with upstairs air leaks(chimneys, range hoods, leaky light fixtures etc, etc) for draft
main reason downstairs units can be problematic is,
downstairs fireplaces can compete with upstairs air leaks(chimneys, range hoods, leaky light fixtures etc, etc) for draft
michaelryba
Member
Like the above posts noted, there are lots of reasons why a fireplace would put smoke into the room. See if you can get enoungh light up in the chimney to see what's going on. Chances are it's simply a poorly designed (i.e. just for looks) fireplace. Before putting my insert in, I took some TSP solution to the stonework above myfireplace and was pleasantly suprised at how much black came off. Is the current insert old? Maybe you can pull the insert, clean it up & work on getting a new one for next year.
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