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Posted by hallerb@aol.com on October 2, 2007, 9:01 pm
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> > 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.
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> > 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).
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> > 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.
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> > 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.
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> > 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.
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> > Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> 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 -
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> - 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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