Nothing fits my small fireplace

[TorontoEdwardian]

Hi ,first time post... really cool to find a forum of fireplace enthusiasts!

Hoping someone might be able to advise me here. We moved into a 1915 built home with a small fireplace. The fireplace itself appears to have been rebuilt and chimney is lined. Chimney sweeper/inspector said it is good to use.

I had fairly significant problems with smoking on the first 2 uses and still trying to get smoke smell out of the house. After reviewing all possible reasons why this is happening, I believe that it is either caused by temperature outside being too warm (it was 15 degrees C) or fireplace opening being too big for the flu size. I do not think the cause is negative pressure, nor chimney height (3 story house).

The prior (temp) I'll have to wait until it's colder to check. The latter, I'm going to have to get a tape measure through the damper and measure liner diameter to if I'm in between that 1:10 - 1:12 ratio. From eyeballing the liner, I think it is possibly a bit too small and would need to add a smoke guard. Which brings me to my question:

TL;DR, My Question:
The fireplace opening is 26" wide x 27" tall. I cannot find a prefab smoke guard that fits 26" width. Does anyone make one? Additionally, I would really like to put glass doors on it for when not in use and cannot find any pre-fab doors that fit 26x27. I've done a LOT of google searching and not finding anything... Am I going to need to have these things custom made?

Appreciate any suggestions here, thanks!

 

[begreen]

Welcome. If the fireplace is on the bottom of 3 floors there is a chance that this is negative pressure. If you hold a smoking incense stick or cigarette under the open damper of the fireplace, does the smoke go up the chimney or flow down into the room?

That is a small fireplace. Often when they are that small they were designed for a coal insert. One possibility might be to put in a freestanding stove like the Hearthstone Craftsbury, Vermont Castings Intrepid Flexburn or Aspen C3, Jotul F602 v3, etc.

In inserts, there are some smaller units. Check around. The PE Vista or Alderlea T5, Regency i1150, and the Lopi Answer NexGen might fit depending on the rest of the fireplace dimensions.

 

[TorontoEdwardian]

Welcome. If the fireplace is on the bottom of 3 floors there is a chance that this is negative pressure. If you hold a smoking incense stick or cigarette under the open damper of the fireplace, does the smoke go up the chimney or flow down into the room?

That is a small fireplace. Often when they are that small they were designed for a coal insert. One possibility might be to put in a freestanding stove like the Hearthstone Craftsbury, Vermont Castings Intrepid Flexburn or Aspen C3, Jotul F602 v3, etc.

In inserts, there are some smaller units. Check around. The PE Vista or Alderlea T5, Regency i1150, and the Lopi Answer NexGen might fit depending on the rest of the fireplace dimensions.

Thanks for your reply! It's on the 1st floor. I should say that smoke mostly goes up the chimney... I burned a number of logs in it and the smoke generally went up, but every once in a while I would see some escaping from the top of the opening... enough so that the smoke alarms went off after about 2 hours. Also, it there is a cold air vent at the front of the fireplace, and I had a window cracked open, and we are on radiator heating (so no return air vents). It seems very unlikely to be a neg. pressure issue...

Regarding a stove, I've considered it, but I'm not sure if I like how that would look in the living room.

Regarding the inserts, this would be my preferred option for many reasons, but I don't think it's possible. I have checked the specs of all those you listed, and this was my initial thought. The issue I'm having is that the rear dimension of the fireplace is 16", so it tapers from 26" at the front to 16" at the rear, and is 16" deep. Pretty much all of the inserts seem to be square (e.g. if they require 23" at the front let's say, they require close to that at the rear as well)... Unless maybe it is possible to cut out some of the stone at the back and make room. Would probably need to get a mason to come in and advise if that is possible.

 

[TorontoEdwardian]

UPDATE: I burned some incense for a few minutes. It all went up the chimney, except for a few seconds when bit blew in the room... I was able to hold the incense right at the opening of the fireplace and it appears to be going up the chimney. The chimney is cold... I understand it sucks smoke much better when warmed up.

 

[begreen]

Pretty much all of the inserts seem to be square (e.g. if they require 23" at the front let's say, they require close to that at the rear as well)... Unless maybe it is possible to cut out some of the stone at the back and make room. Would probably need to get a mason to come in and advise if that is possible.

Most of these small inserts are shallow. I would make cardboard template of the most preferred inserts' dimensions and try fitting it. If the bricks need shaving back a bit in the corners a good installer can do that with a grinder.

 

[TorontoEdwardian]

Most of these small inserts are shallow. I would make cardboard template of the most preferred inserts' dimensions and try fitting it. If the bricks need shaving back a bit in the corners a good installer can do that with a grinder.

Great idea, I will check that out... At first glance, however, I think that it is almost impossible. Here is a top down view of the fireplace:

Most inserts need at least 16" depth, but need over 20" at the rear... Nonetheless I'll try making a template and see how far off it is.

In the meantime, I've attempted to measure the flu liner by feeding a bent tape measure up there. I think the flu liner is 7". If that is the case, then the area of the flu is about 38.5" sq., while the fireplace opening (26x27") is 702" sq., which is only a 1:18 ratio... I would need to lower the height of the fireplace opening by 10" to achieve 1:12 ratio. I'm thinking to experiment with some aluminum foil and tape to see if this works.

Back to my other question: Does anyone know where to buy smoke guard that would fit 26" across? And same Q for doors... I just can't find anywhere that makes doors or smoke guards for smaller square openings...

 

[begreen]

PE, Lopi and Regency has inserts that are roughly 23"x19" and 14" deep. At 12.75" deep the Country (IronStrike) Striker C160 might have fit, but is not available in 2020 so far.

 

[gthomas785]

Back to my other question: Does anyone know where to buy smoke guard that would fit 26" across? And same Q for doors... I just can't find anywhere that makes doors or smoke guards for smaller square openings...

I have not seen one that narrow, but I think it wouldn't be too hard to get one of the adjustable ones and trim it with a hacksaw. The one I bought was just two folded sheet metal pieces, and the mounting system was two pieces of EMT that slide over each other with a spring clamped on. If you trim 2" off everything, you'd have a 26" smoke guard. Might need to clean up the (only 1) exposed edge with a file and some high heat paint.

 

[TorontoEdwardian]

I have not seen one that narrow, but I think it wouldn't be too hard to get one of the adjustable ones and trim it with a hacksaw. The one I bought was just two folded sheet metal pieces, and the mounting system was two pieces of EMT that slide over each other with a spring clamped on. If you trim 2" off everything, you'd have a 26" smoke guard. Might need to clean up the (only 1) exposed edge with a file and some high heat paint.

Okay that's great to know. I agree that it sounds very easy to modify and clean up a bit with file and paint. Based on what you said, I'm assuming it is the Hy-C smoke guard, which is the only one I'm really seeing anywhere. This is probably the best option.. definitely sounds easier than building one from scratch.

 

[gthomas785]

Okay that's great to know. I agree that it sounds very easy to modify and clean up a bit with file and paint. Based on what you said, I'm assuming it is the Hy-C smoke guard, which is the only one I'm really seeing anywhere. This is probably the best option.. definitely sounds easier than building one from scratch.

Yes, this is what I bought:

Amazon.com

 

[TorontoEdwardian]

Update: I ended up building a smoke guard from scratch after looking at the one sold on Amazon, and with a bit of brainstorming help from a friend.

I cut it out of 26 gauge steel sheet metal, created something like a 4 sided box (approx. 1cm on top and sides where it meets the fireplace), and painted it with hi-temp Rustoleum spray paint. It fits tightly enough to stay up by itself, and I used hi-temp silicone (the red stuff) to seal it. Took a couple of hours, mostly spent measuring cutting and bending and hammering the metal.

We are having ZERO smoking problems now and been having a fire almost every night! This solution totally worked. I'm quite pleased.

Here's how it looks before and after painting:

In the photo you can see some waviness/imperfections in the metal because of how the light is hitting it, but you can't really notice it in real life. Also, it's behind a screen:

Here's what the back looks like (notice how the bottom is folded over so that it's not sharp):

Anyways, just thought I would share this for anyone else that might be needing to do the same thing.

Overall cost for materials was $70 Canadian (about $50 US). I also spent $20 on some sweet aviation snips that will surely come in useful for future projects.