Howdy! I recently experienced issues with our fireplace the first use after a liner was installed. I'm hoping that if I describe the series of events, someone here might be able to diagnose the problem. Thanks for any help!
A few months ago during a normal chimney sweeping of the downstairs apartment (I live in a row house separated into four apartments, all with connecting fireplaces), structural damage to the chimney was found. After repairs, a company put a liner in and we were told it was safe to use.
A couple of nights ago we put a Duraflame log in the fireplace (which is what we used many times before the repairs) and lit the packaging. Although the packaging burned off, only a small bit of the wood actually caught fire (which has never happened before). We chalked it up to the log being old and helped it along by holding a match on the other side. This worked somewhat, but the log never really lit as it has in the past. About 45 minutes passed and we noticed it smells pretty bad. We though it was the log, so we doused it to put it out. However, it turned out that it was smoke seeping into the apartment. We closed the glass doors but still smoke seeped in. Long story short, we smelled up the apartment pretty good (thankfully that's pretty much dealt with now), but we don't quite know what to do now. Could it be the log? An airflow issue?
The only change to the fireplace outside of the liner is a chain damper which we googled and made sure was open before we used the fireplace, so I don't think that is the problem.
Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
A few months ago during a normal chimney sweeping of the downstairs apartment (I live in a row house separated into four apartments, all with connecting fireplaces), structural damage to the chimney was found. After repairs, a company put a liner in and we were told it was safe to use.
A couple of nights ago we put a Duraflame log in the fireplace (which is what we used many times before the repairs) and lit the packaging. Although the packaging burned off, only a small bit of the wood actually caught fire (which has never happened before). We chalked it up to the log being old and helped it along by holding a match on the other side. This worked somewhat, but the log never really lit as it has in the past. About 45 minutes passed and we noticed it smells pretty bad. We though it was the log, so we doused it to put it out. However, it turned out that it was smoke seeping into the apartment. We closed the glass doors but still smoke seeped in. Long story short, we smelled up the apartment pretty good (thankfully that's pretty much dealt with now), but we don't quite know what to do now. Could it be the log? An airflow issue?
The only change to the fireplace outside of the liner is a chain damper which we googled and made sure was open before we used the fireplace, so I don't think that is the problem.
Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
