New house, 2 fireplaces, flue/damper questions. Help please.

[Brilis]

Morning all, first post.

I just moved into a bi-level with a wood fireplace on each level. The owner had paperwork to show they were cleaned last year. I moved into the house in Nov. and finally got around to making a fire 3 weeks ago. I used the main lower level fireplace. I burned a glow log and some split wood that he had left. Looked good and was dry. The fire went for a few hours. Next morning cleaned it all out, seemed all good.

Next few days the room really smelled of smoke, really bad. Bothered my wife's allergy's. I checked the damper which was cast iron and right over the fire box. A small amount of leakage but really not much. Seemed to seal pretty good. I have a boiler which has been running for months. I know I have a small amount of negative pull but nothing has changed from before the fire to after the fire.

Call a local fireplace tech. He came out and said maybe bad wood as it really smelled. Said the chimney was clean. Some broken brick around the top which I was aware of. Maybe rain dripping in a little bit. H gave me a quote to fix 3 layers of broken brick and install a stainless steel damper in the top of the chimney with a chain down below. He completed the work yesterday.

I checked it last night when I got home from work (yes still working) and I still felt a small draft coming down the chimney. I looked up and saw the new chain but also noticed the cast iron throat damper was now missing. So he put a new damper up on top of the chimney and removed the one below. Why not keep both? Not sure why he took it out it was in good shape. Just wondering what you guys think. I wanted to get some more info before I called him. Should i have him come back and put in the old cast iron damper? Can you have both, or no.

Thanks!

Brian

 

[begreen]

It sounds like there may be negative pressure at the lower floor that is pulling air down the chimney. This is not uncommon in some houses. The problem can be because of fans exhausting air on the same or the floor above or it can be from windows open on the upper floors causing the house interior to act like a chimney, pulling in makeup air from the fireplace.
Sometimes installing an insert in the lower fireplace can help reduce this issue. If that is planned for the future then the lower damper being removed is not an issue.