smokey bedroom???

[PhilipKS]

Evening all,

Finished a major rebuild of the top of my chimney stack recently (6 pot, shared with the neighbour).

Two disused flues - bedroom first and second floor, one used flue - coal fire in the sitting room.

Had to put new pot on the working chimney due to crack, but chose a similar modern equivalent (pocket beehive). The flue dividers were all well sealed and I re-pointed down as far as I could. All new flaunching, pointing, and visually well sealed

Put vented clay caps on the disused ones.

Now, although the groundfloor fire burns fine, there is a distinct smokey smell in the top floor bedroom (cast iron fire place still there, with a summer cover). No smell on the first floor (fireplace gone and sealed)

I'm wondering if the vented cap has reduced the draw in the top bedroom chimney to the extent that smoke is now coming down into the bedroom.

So...take the cap off? No damp problems historically...

Or try and improve the draw on the working chimney with a cowl or similar??

Any suggestions much appreciated

Many thanks
PhilipS

 

[HaydnExport]

Interesting one , sounds like the flues merge just before(or on) the top floor, so not much you can do apart from remove the cap, or try putting a 'marcone' pot on or even a 'H pot' on your stack. If that doesn't work then getting a new flue liner is the only option i see.

 

[PhilipKS]

Hi,

nope, flues are separate right to the very top. Made a point of mortar sealing the withes well to pot beds before flaunchng to ensure that each flue is completely sealed from the next. Also, as I had the top four oversailing courses of brickwork off, I rebuilt and repointed as far in as I could reach, paying particular attention to the working flue.

Even more bizarly, the smokey fireplace and the working fireplace are not even next to each other in the stack they are separated by the middle floor flue which is sealed in the room (and with a similar vented cap on the top)

Hence why I'm thinking its coming up out and down again. This never happened before...and the old flaunching and pots were in a right mess, smoke came out of the left AND middle pot...but there was no smokey smell in the right hand fireplace!!

Going to get some smoke pellets today and go up onto the roof tomorrow, I'm thinking i'll try just taking the vented cap off first, to try and encourage a better draw in the top bedroom. Probably doesn't help that it is a very short flue, probably no more than 8 feet from the hearth to the top of the pot...but it's been like that for 110 years!

any other ideas welcome!

cheers
PhilipS

 

[Sooty2010]

If smoke is entering from one pot to another you could remedy this by making the pot you are using higher than the others. But if the other pots are capped the problem could be that your main flues (midfeathers) the wall between the two flues are leaking . With the cap on the disused pot is now not letting the smoke escape. You need to get a chimney sweep check this out. You could get a camera inspection to find this out also. If there is a leak the best way to get your problem solved is have your flue lined. Also you never mentioned if it leaked into your neighbours house.