What to do About a Smoking Chimney

If you have a fireplace then you are well aware that the beautiful centerpiece of your room is also one of the most dangerous. After all, everyone has heard stories of homes and lives being lost due to a fireplace blaze. There are many ways that a fireplace fire can get out of hand. In order to best protect your and family from trauma as a result of a fireplace fire, there are many things you can do as part of routine troubleshooting. Here are just some of the dozens of common problems associated with fireplaces and what you can do to address them. Many of these are simple actions, but others may require the services of a chimney professional.

What to Do about a Smoking Fireplace

Smoke pouring into the room is a result of a closed damper, a cold flue or a blocked flue. This is solved by opening the damper, priming the flue and cleaning the chimney.

If the fireplace smokes only during a low burn there could several culprits. The causes and solutions are:

• Exterior chimney and cold flue-install fireplace doors
• Chimney is too short - Add height to the chimney, this might best be done by a professional.
• Flue is too large - Add a sleeve.
• House is depressurized - Have an outside air source installed
• Air space between the chimney liner and the casing is too large- Re-line the chimney flue with an insulated liner

If there is constant smoke spillage, regardless of the level of the fire then it is likely a result of 1 or more issues. Typically these issues a will be: the house is depressurized, the smoke chamber is too small, the flu is too small or the damper is too low. These can be corrected by installing an outside air source, installing a smoke guard or fireplace doors and reducing fireplace openings.

If the fireplace smokes on damp, windy or rainy days it usually the result of the chimney either being too short, not having a cap on the chimney or that the flue is wet and cold. This is corrected by lengthening the chimney, installing a chimney cap and to "repair" a wet/cold flue prime the flue, and apply a water repellant.

If, when your fireplace is used, smoke enters another room of the house or another story of your home, here are some possible causes and solutions to consider:

• Check the downdraft in an unused second flue - Seal the flue
• Downdrafts in the second fireplace - Install a top-sealing damper(s)
• Breaks between adjoining liners - Re-line the chimney
• Inadequate chimney cap height - Replace or raise the cap the cut tiles to correct the height above the chimney's crown

Having a fireplace in your home is a beautiful feature, as well as practical-especially with the rising energy cost. However, like many other aspects of home ownership, in order for your fireplace to blessing they must be maintained.

Many websites provide additional information and videos on the topics of chimneys and fireplaces. One such site worth visiting is Guradian Chimney at http://www.guardianchimney.com.