My parents house, the chimney is on exterior wall. We have to take a piece
of news paper, and fold it in a "fan" shape. Light the paper about half way
up, and then hold it up into the chimney. When your hand gets warm, take the
flaming news paper, and stick it under the wood holder grate. It takes some
practice.

--
Christopher A. Young
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"cm" wrote in message
news 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