Any number of conditions can make a contribution to smoking problems in a wood-burning fireside. In some cases, cleaning or some relatively easy measures may improve conditions.
Step one in most situations is to make arrangements for an inspection or cleaning of the chimney flue. An authorized chimney sweep is generally the right professional person to contact for chimney cleaning or inquiry of fireside or chimney problems. Many sweeps now have apparatus to take a DVD of the chimney flue so you can see precisely what problems may actually lie within the flue, as well as to confirm if it was cleaned properly.
Here are some possible practical answers to irritating smoke problems :
Raise the hearth. A fireplace opening that's too big compared against the opening of the chimney flue can lead to poor drafting ( the movement of the gases that come from the burning wood up the chimney ). By building up the base of the fireplace, the opening will be reduced. To try experimenting with this approach, a sheet metal hearth can be supported on bricks placed on the present hearth. If this change improves the draft, the hearth can be raised using firebrick masonry. The hearth extension may also be built up to the same level.
Add a cover hood. Try numerous designs and sizes. An experimental model of a canopy hood can be made from sheet metal and briefly attached overboard of the fireplace opening. The higher the chimney, the better the draft.
Extend the chimney. If the existing chimney is short a good draft could not be able to develop. A good draft is generally provided by a chimney which is Twenty feet or even more higher than the hearth. Several metal chimney sections can be momentarily installed on top of an existing chimney to check whether the draft is improved before a more permanent ( and costly ) fix is attempted. Wavering smoke patterns above the chimney may indicate that tall trees are causing a downdraft ( air forced down the chimney by the wind ).
Trim surrounding trees. The surrounding trees should be trimmed and / or the chimney flue height extended to prevent this condition.
Add a chimney cap or flueguard. If a downdraft appears to affect the exhaust gases, adding a chimney cap or flueguard of metal or stone may help deflect the air before it entering the chimney.
These recommendations for applying amendments to smoking fire conditions could be only the first step sometimes. If there are major fire deficiencies or the chimney is deteriorated, more drastic measures will be required. The only practical options in serious cases could be to reconstruct the fireplace and / or chimney. A more cost effective option is to retrofit a masonry fire or chimney with a gas-powered fire coupled with a new metal flue inside the flawed chimney or to use an electrical fire and seal off the old chimney. Simply maintaining a tiny fire may help also.
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