Mike : Doug Tuttle here.(pipefitter6735) I have cleaned chimneys for
years. Not being able to see what type of Location your house is in or
the area around the home. Look at this. 1. do You have any large trees
around your house ? This can cause a down draft Espacially on days that
the air is heavy. 2 Is your home set in a draw or valley Inother words
is the ground around your home higher than your Chimney , or close to
the same elvation.3. Is your top of chimney at least 3 foot above
anything within a 10 foot distance of the chimeny top. ONE more THING
IF YOU INFACT SMELLED SMOKE IN the other rooms. Have a Chimney Sweep
set off a smoke bomb in the fire place . Cover the opening of the fire
place with a wet blanket, so that it is sealed. Also if possible cover
the TOP OF THE CHIMNEY. This will confine the smoke to the inside of
the chimney. IF YOU THEN SEE OR SMELL THE SMOKE Y O U HAVE A LEAK
IN the morter and SHOULD NOT burn it till the chimney is repaired. I
would also suggest that if you have not done so have the morter between
the bricks checked to be shore that there is no problems in that
reguard. Best of luck . I hope that I have mabe helped you. PS. look
for smoke stains around the chimney, inside and outside of the house.
Mike wrote:
Hi:

We have a house built in 1925, and it has a small wood-burning
fireplace. Shortly after we moved in I had a metal liner installed in
the water heater/furnace flue. The fireplace flue was not treated. We
had some wood fires, and had a problem with smoke rolling out the front
of the firebox into the living room. After some research I purchased a
smoke guard from http://chimneykeepers.com/ It worked pretty well by
reducing the size of the opening, and we had a handful of fires again.
However, after a while we noticed a smoky smell in the upstairs bedroom
(just above the fireplace). We have had about 6-8 contractors look at
this and almost all of them have suggested less-than-ideal solutions:
A wood stove, a gas fireplace, a metal liner (which I think would
reduce our already small flue too much.) Our flue is 8X8 with a 36W X
30H firebox opening. Someone suggested a product called Chamber Tech
from a company named AHRENS, but they don't have a dealer in my area.
And besides I think that product is just made for the bottom of the
chimney, not the whole flue. Does anyone have any thoughts,
experience, suggestions for me? Thanks in advance!

--Mike