Soot Smell

[boxtops]

Next door lit their fire last night, first time since the spring. How can I get rid of the pervading smell of soot in my house? The chimney shutters are closed in our hearths.

[Old_Geezer]

Is this soot in your chimney that has been warmed from theirs ? It's just that I've not heard of a fire use next door causing fragrance issues to ones own home. If the soot isn't something you can remove then I'm unsure what you can do save to disguise it with air fresheners.

[TWR]

Hi Boxy, many years ago my Father was a chimney Sweep, the cause of the problem is Soot build up and the Chimney needs sweeping, if not the result "Could Be" a chimney fire, as the chimney flue goes up it goes at an angle, this is where the soot is trapped and can only be removed by sweeping.

[boxtops]

Thanks guys. Next door did say that their chimney needs sweeping, so I hope that's it. Our chimneys back onto each other so perhaps the scent seeps through? Our own chimneys were swept many years back before we sealed off the caps (never intending again to have real fires). Should sealed chimneys still be vacuum-swept occasionally, do you think?

[Old_Geezer]

No expert but I'd have thought it could not accumulate enough soot from an unused fire to be worth re-sweeping. If unused, is it capped ? I wonder about birds and their nests falling into your hearth.

[Hypognosis]

You say your chimney was swept and capped. It may be that sweeping only ever removes that which can be budged by the brushes and there will always be accumulations left behind in nooks and crannies.

So one possibility is, as said above, heat from next door is driving volatile molecules from the soot, to the point that you can smell them.
The law of diminishing returns predicts that you can get the chimney swept again but the contractor will struggle to reach the pockets of dust missed the previous time. So potential for expense with no improvement to the problem.

A less attractive possibility is that the chimney brickwork is cracked, internally and next door's combustion gases could be leaking into your chimney. The smell would then be the least of your worries.

Carbon monoxide is heavier than air so will work its way to your downstairs fireplace vent. However, you'll need to know if/when the neighbours are running their fireplace before you can make any sense of detector readings.

Regrettably, I cannot beginto imagine what remedial work is possible, inside a chimney stack. Does builder still post on AB?

[boxtops]

Thanks all - yes, our side of the chimneys are capped. Our very bottom room (in the basement) now has a electric fire in the hole previously occupied by the fireplace - so not much room for any sweep to get into our spaces. However, I'd agree with the suggestion that this might be more trouble than it's worth.

Our houses are circa 1960 so there is a distinct possibility of seepage. I've never used my fires (and I've been here 16 years) but next door started to use theirs a couple of years ago. Not sure if their chimneys are lined, as obviously none of them would have been originally....

[boxtops]

^ Doh - the houses were built in 1860, not 1960...

[TonyV]

box not an expert but you should not cap a chimney without providing some form of ventilation if flue is still "live". my experience tells me that you should have vents in your old fireplaces and somewhere for the hot air to get out

[TWR]

Tony, you can get a cap for the Chimney that's vented, it's an alloy cap & just slips into the pot it also stop crows making a nest within.

[boxtops]

I guess you would describe our fireplaces as vented - the old hearths are still there on 2 floors, with the case iron fire baskets etc - they're not airtight. . Although our chimney tops are sealed, I'd hazard a guess that the brickwork is pretty porous too, up the top end :-(

I spoke to the neighbour and he's not lighting the stove again until the sweep has been to his house on Monday, and they plan to put in a full-height liner too (no mean feat across a 4-storey house).

[boxtops]

TWR - perhaps that's what I need. The top of the chimney is sealed with a slab at the moment. It's not crows here, it's seagulls, and pigeons shouting down the chimney before it was sealed off....

[The Builder]

One thing is slightly confusing, Boxers. Do you mean smell of soot or smoke?

Smoke would suggest a porous flue (especially in an 1860 house.) Quite common. I was called to a house recently where the roofspace was full of smoke from next door's fire.

Smell of soot would suggest a lack of ventilation. No disused fireplace should be sealed as you know. Small vents are all that's needed. Chimney caps should also be ventilated. The general movement of air up through a flue is usually enough to keep it sweet-smelling.

Anyway, next door, thankfully, are going to re-line. In houses of that type and age, it's an essential job... for everyone's sake.

[boxtops]

Smell of soot, TB - I remember it well from my childhood. There was no smoky small.

Our fireplaces are still in situ, just the little shutter at the back of the fireplaces closed on floors 2 and 3. The chimney's still there in our basement but a smaller hole made to inset an electric fire. No fireplace in the bedroom in the attic.

The neighbour's stove is in the basement fireplace (not sure if he's planning a live fire on the first floor where our living rooms are).

It sounds as if it's our sealed chimney which might be an issue - but it's been like than for the past 15 years or so.....

[boxtops]

^smoky smell

[TonyV]

so your house is telling you something - I have covers on all my chimneys but still get some water down when windy