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Default Saving My Fireplace

My wife and I just bought an older farm house (circa 1901) and we've
been enjoying nightly fires. About a week ago we noticed smoke
starting to accumulate in the living room and got nervous. I had
installed a roof top damper weeks earlier, but we had many fires
without incident after I installed it.

With the lights off and using a flashlight, I realized smoke was
belching out from behind the mantel and along the brick trim all the
way down to floor level. I realize this is a potentially deadly
problem. My theory is that smoke is escaping through the old mortar
joints in the flue tiles, leaking down around the flue inside the
brick chimney above the firebox, and ultimately into the house (and
who knows where else).

Given that we definitely want to enjoy the open fireplace (we just
bought 7 cord of mixed hardwood!), is relining the chimney with a
flexible liner an option? I have read some warnings about the danger
of using a round liner and the resulting impact on flue diameter
reduction. We are on a tight budget, but the fireplace is one of the
few luxuries we allow ourselves! The existing flue is in the
neighborhood of 12" x 12" and is not a straight shot (one bend).
Looking down the chimney from the top I can see a number of misaligned
tiles. I have researched "squarized" liners (their grammar...not
mine) and the cost is steep.

Is there any economical way for me to attack this problem? I have a
fair amount of construction experience, but I don't know one wit about
flue sizing, etc. My concerns are that I will put in a flue, only to
find that (a) it's undersized, or (b) smoke is escaping the smoke
chamber below the flue itself and I'm no further ahead.

We have guests arriving in three weeks and I would really like to have
this taken care of so we can enjoy our new home with family.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Greg

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Default Saving My Fireplace

hard to say from here , you could call a chimney sweep .
personally i would consider lining it and installing an insert
you would get much better heat from the wood youve purchased
and not have a pnuemonia hole when you dont have a fire going

better yet install an airtight wood stove using the existing masonry chimney
to run your stove pipe out

did you have this inspected before you purchased the home ?




wrote:
My wife and I just bought an older farm house (circa 1901) and we've


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Default Saving My Fireplace


wrote in message
ps.com...
My wife and I just bought an older farm house (circa 1901) and we've
been enjoying nightly fires. About a week ago we noticed smoke
starting to accumulate in the living room and got nervous. I had
installed a roof top damper weeks earlier, but we had many fires
without incident after I installed it.

With the lights off and using a flashlight, I realized smoke was
belching out from behind the mantel and along the brick trim all the
way down to floor level. I realize this is a potentially deadly
problem. My theory is that smoke is escaping through the old mortar
joints in the flue tiles, leaking down around the flue inside the
brick chimney above the firebox, and ultimately into the house (and
who knows where else).

Given that we definitely want to enjoy the open fireplace (we just
bought 7 cord of mixed hardwood!), is relining the chimney with a
flexible liner an option? I have read some warnings about the danger
of using a round liner and the resulting impact on flue diameter
reduction. We are on a tight budget, but the fireplace is one of the
few luxuries we allow ourselves! The existing flue is in the
neighborhood of 12" x 12" and is not a straight shot (one bend).
Looking down the chimney from the top I can see a number of misaligned
tiles. I have researched "squarized" liners (their grammar...not
mine) and the cost is steep.

Is there any economical way for me to attack this problem? I have a
fair amount of construction experience, but I don't know one wit about
flue sizing, etc. My concerns are that I will put in a flue, only to
find that (a) it's undersized, or (b) smoke is escaping the smoke
chamber below the flue itself and I'm no further ahead.

We have guests arriving in three weeks and I would really like to have
this taken care of so we can enjoy our new home with family.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Get an EPA certfied insert, with a stainless liner to the top (and a little
more). You'll quit sucking all the house heat up the chimney, you'll get a lot
of heat into the house, and you'll produce a lot less polution. With the glass
doors, you also have the visual aspect of the fire.

Another advantage of this combo is that it is easier to clean the round liner
than an old chimney. On mine, I take out some metal supportd and a few bricks
from the top of the stove, line the bottom of the stove with paper, then run the
bruch down from the roof. Most of the crud ends up on the paper to be wadded up
and disposed.

I found a used insert and the stainless pipe for $350 on craigslist. It was
worth every penny. The blower on mine significantly increases the heat output.

Bob


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Default Saving My Fireplace

On Oct 2, 4:17?pm, "Bob F" wrote:
wrote in message

ps.com...





My wife and I just bought an older farm house (circa 1901) and we've
been enjoying nightly fires. About a week ago we noticed smoke
starting to accumulate in the living room and got nervous. I had
installed a roof top damper weeks earlier, but we had many fires
without incident after I installed it.


With the lights off and using a flashlight, I realized smoke was
belching out from behind the mantel and along the brick trim all the
way down to floor level. I realize this is a potentially deadly
problem. My theory is that smoke is escaping through the old mortar
joints in the flue tiles, leaking down around the flue inside the
brick chimney above the firebox, and ultimately into the house (and
who knows where else).


Given that we definitely want to enjoy the open fireplace (we just
bought 7 cord of mixed hardwood!), is relining the chimney with a
flexible liner an option? I have read some warnings about the danger
of using a round liner and the resulting impact on flue diameter
reduction. We are on a tight budget, but the fireplace is one of the
few luxuries we allow ourselves! The existing flue is in the
neighborhood of 12" x 12" and is not a straight shot (one bend).
Looking down the chimney from the top I can see a number of misaligned
tiles. I have researched "squarized" liners (their grammar...not
mine) and the cost is steep.


Is there any economical way for me to attack this problem? I have a
fair amount of construction experience, but I don't know one wit about
flue sizing, etc. My concerns are that I will put in a flue, only to
find that (a) it's undersized, or (b) smoke is escaping the smoke
chamber below the flue itself and I'm no further ahead.


We have guests arriving in three weeks and I would really like to have
this taken care of so we can enjoy our new home with family.


Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Get an EPA certfied insert, with a stainless liner to the top (and a little
more). You'll quit sucking all the house heat up the chimney, you'll get a lot
of heat into the house, and you'll produce a lot less polution. With the glass
doors, you also have the visual aspect of the fire.

Another advantage of this combo is that it is easier to clean the round liner
than an old chimney. On mine, I take out some metal supportd and a few bricks
from the top of the stove, line the bottom of the stove with paper, then run the
bruch down from the roof. Most of the crud ends up on the paper to be wadded up
and disposed.

I found a used insert and the stainless pipe for $350 on craigslist. It was
worth every penny. The blower on mine significantly increases the heat output.

Bob- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


concrete liner is way to go, with that old a home theres no liner just
brick and the mortar joints are failing......

DONT use fireplace till this has been fixed severe fire hazard!

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