We recently bought a tri-level house built in 1973.
In the sunken family room there is a huge red brick wood fireplace that had a woodstove ducked into the chimney by way of the face.
After we removed the woodstove we built a fire.
All of the smoke rolled right out and filled the whole house. After putting the fire out I noticed that the hole to the flue was only as big as a single red brick. The bricks on the top inside appear to be 4in fire bricks…and no damper. I do not know for sure if this is typical as this is the first brick fireplace I have owned all the rest were inserts. How can I remedy this so I can enjoy this lovely fireplace in the winter without dying from Carbon Monoxide poisoning? Also the lathe on both sides of the inside are exposed inside. I don’t remember ever seeing them on any of my previous fireplaces.
Please no mean or nasty comments, the previous owners were using the woodstove as a secondary heat source a week before we moved in and had stated they just got the chimney cleaned a month prior.

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I am wanting to install a wood stove into a house me and my wife have. The walls are concrete walls and I was wondering about burning wood in it. The wood stove is a cast iron free standing wood stove from www.harborfreighttools.com I have a free supply of wood pallets..that I could cut up and burn. Do you think there is any problem using that type of wood to burn. I would keep the the flue cleaned out. Where would I buy the stove pipe to install it at? Also what is the best and easiest way to cut a 6" hole thro a concrete block wall? and tips or suggestions? I am trying to keep our home warm on a budget..
the site is www.harborfreight.com and the stove is part # 32058-5VGA
THERE is no issues with the insurance..the house we have is in Mexico and is a concrete home..

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My house has a 3 flue chimney with one closed off opening to the kitchen for a flue that is not in use. I suppose it was for a wood or coal kitchen range. The chimney rises through my 2 story 1898 home and thru the attic. The other two flues are for the boiler and a fireplace which is never used. . We wonder if a range hood could vent into this flue? Our carpenter worries that it would cause a lot of heat loss. I worry that the old flue might be very dirty.

Technorati Tags: boiler, carpenter, chimney, coal, fireplace, flue, flues, heat loss, kitchen range, range hood

I moved into this house about 6 months ago, I have used wood stoves before with little to no problem but this stove is the worst! When i close the doors on the stove the fire goes out within a few minutes. Even with the flue and dampers open all the way it still goes out, I have used stoves in the past and by my experience this should cause it to burn like crazy and so hot it is uncomfortable. The only way i can keep it burning to is to keep one or both doors completely open. Does anyone have any ideas? Do i just need to get it cleaned?
if there is an air intake i can’t find it anywhere, the stove is built into a fireplace. can’t really look under it either. I have seen some that have a cleanout on the outside of the house but nothing there either. The one odd thing about this stove is, it has a piece of metal covering about about 1/3 of the inside about 8 inches below the flue opening, this is something i have never seen before in a wood stove. could this have something to do with it as well?

Technorati Tags: air intake, cleanout, doors, few minutes, fireplace, flue, wood stove, wood stoves

We have a gas fireplace with fake logs. We want to get more of the heat from the fire coming into the livingroom, but is it dangerous to have the flue closed?

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Hi! I have been dealing with a rather frustrating problem that I can’t seem to work out. I recently bought a first-floor condo in a six-floor building. The condo has a wood-burning fireplace, which was one of the main attractions to me purchasing the place. However, when I try to build a fire, it seems that there is so much cold air in the chimney that unless someone above me is also using their fireplace, I can’t generate enough heat quickly enough to prevent massive amounts of smoke from being blown back in my unit. (Last night I actually had to use the fire extinguisher to put out the fire, as I was afraid the fire department would be summoned for all the smoke!) I have tried the "rolled up newspaper torch," which sometimes works but sometimes doesn’t. And yes, the flue is opened each time. and yes the owner had the chimney cleaned and inspected prior to me moving in. Any ideas? — Myratana
Thanks for all of the suggestions! I do crack a window in the same room that the fireplace is in before lighting the fire, but it must not be doing enough. I’m thinking that it might be the timing–what I had been doing was to stick the lighted newspapers up the flue AT THE SAME TIME that I was lighting the fire. It sounds like maybe I need to do the lighted newspaper thing for a few minutes BEFORE trying to light the fire (especially seeing as how I’ve got a 6-story column of air to try to heat!). Although often it is the smoke from the newspapers themselves that gets blown back down the chimney…hmmm…maybe I’ll try a blow dryer? And I might give the chimney place a call too to make sure they really did do the job right. Thanks again!

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I have a Temco wood burning fireplace that will billow smoke into the house if the glass doors are left open and only the mesh screen closed with a fire going. It drafts fine with the glass doors closed but then all of the heat goes up the chimney. Also it will draft somewhat better if I open all of the doors and windows in the house, but this defeats the purpose of burning the wood and it still allows some smoking into the house. I’ve had many fireplaces before and never have had this problem. The flue is wide open when I have a fire going in the fire box. I have looked up the chimney pipe and see no visible obstructions all the way to the top. I’m stumped and it’s getting cold in the house…LOL!!! Anybody have any ideas??

Technorati Tags: chimney pipe, doors and windows, Fireplaces, flue, glass doors, mesh screen, wood burning fireplace

I have a 52 year old house with an old fireplace that was once converted to gas, and has now been converted back to wood burning. Last year when we tried to use it, everytime our furnace kicked on we got headaches. Our air intake is directly opposite our fireplace and I am afraid it is pulling smoke into the house. I think installing glass doors will solve this problem. I saw another question that said this is fine so long as you open your bottom vents? What are bottom vents? My fireplace only has a flue and no additional venting. Help please?!?

Technorati Tags: air intake, fireplace, flue, furnace, glass doors, headaches

We are thinking about getting an add on wood burning furnace. Wondering if we need to make changes to the existing flue, or need to go with a wood burning stove instead.

Advice as well as informative links would be appreciated. Thank you.

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I moved into a house with wood burning stove. I don’t have a clue how to use it really. We can’t figure out where or if there is a flue?? It’s a Kodiak Stove anyone have one have a clue. I am guessing it’s a old model.
It’s a cast iron stove. says Kodiak Stove on top front. has a door and an ash door with a sliding vent. How do you keep the smoke in like with a flue? yes I realize I probably sound stupid.

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