Fireplace not drafting well

[hunterseat]

Yes, yes, yes. I agree. My other half is a licensed contractor, albeit a hard-headed one. I'll keep working on him to hire a professional chimney person, especially since it's probable the flue is undersized according to the 10:1 rule in the link. Someone besides he would have to change that out.

We're not sure when the addition (with fireplace) was built but probably late 70's early 80's. There's an OLDER chimney we want to use for a coal stove and I'm going to have to insist on that being inspected. It's been used for an oil furnace, then a gas furnace. That just sounds too messy. There is now an electric furnace so that chimney's not being used.

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by Bones

A licensed professional can make sure the chimney has not had a fire and cracked....

^^^^^This^^^^^ X2

Especially if it is an older chimney that may have been built without a flue liner (and even if it has one).

A chimney that has caught fire could easily have been cracked and the mortar degraded (mortar also degrades over time, with age and moisture). Chimney fires can easily exceed 1,000*F. A subsequent fire in a chimney that is already cracked can allow hot gasses to escape through the cracks and ignite any wooden structure in contact with or adjacent to the chimney. If that happens, well, put on that song with the line "Burning down the house!" and dial 911, then get the frell out.

[hunterseat]

Just wanted to update this. The link to the article in an earlier reply was priceless. We are being more mindful of the glass doors that open and close over the fireplace opening. The article states that the doors should be completely open or they can create a sort of chimney effect and cause smoke to come out. Since we've been keeping them all the way open the problem of smoke coming into the house has gone away.

I just want to say I'm not one to take chances and will, therefore have the very old chimney cleaned and inspected before we start using it. The fireplace chimney is not that old - it's in a newer addition, sitting on the rock that is our yard and looks like it was rarely used. The man who lived here since day one was a very sick man towards the end. He was wheelchair bound with the effects of diabetes - you can imagine. I doubt he was able to work with an open fireplace. We have been using it quite a bit - we recently lost power for 30 hrs. There's nothing wrong with this one. The other one I don't trust. Looks like it will be summer-ish by the time we get the coal stove installed. When the inspector/cleaner comes to do that one, I'll probably see about having this one cleaned. I do appreciate all the replies.