Tony,

Thanks. The damper is wide open when I light the fire. With a flashlight I
can see all the way to the top of the chimney.

cm


"Tony Hwang" wrote in message
...
cm wrote:
We have a two sided fireplace in our house. The house is 18 years old and
the fireplace is original to the house. We purchased the house about a
year ago. We tried several times last winter to have a fire and most of
the time smoke backed up in the house. We have tried having a window
partially/fully open and warming the chimney prior to lighting the logs,
with no luck.

I measured the chimney height tonight and it is taller than it needs to
be. I was told it needs to be 2' taller than the point where it is 10'
away from the roof. There is a large rooftop A/C unit 7' feet away from
the chimney that is 2' taller than the chimney. Should I raise the
chimney above the A/C unit? What else should I look for?

Thanks,

cm
Hi,
I wonder if you have a damper to open?