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How to deal with a nasty smell coming down the chimney

HANDYMAN ON CALL

THIS STORY APPEARED IN

January 05, 2012|By Peter Hotton

Q. I am getting nasty smells down my chimney, like burned wood and creosote. I wonder if the downdraft is caused by the use of exhaust fans in the house. How can I stop that odor?

DONALD , from Belmont

A. You have a reverse chimney effect, where the air pressure in the house is lower than outside, so air plunges down the chimney, carrying the creosote and other goodies lining the chimney with it. Closing the damper won’t do it, and closing off the firebox opening won’t either. Here’s a sure-fire cure, which a reader told me about: He bought a kerosene lantern, like those used for signaling on a railroad train. Open the damper, light the lamp and put it on the firebox floor. Its heat will get the air moving up and out. It might even work with the damper closed. Or, with the damper open, put in a bank of votive candles. It will give a festive look to your fireplace.

Q. My unit is two stories above a smoker, and I can’t get the old tobacco smell out.

TIRED OF THE FIGHT

A. Don’t give up. There are more and more smoke odor killers available, and many work on what’s there, but none works to keep the smoke out, so you have to keep doing it, often on a daily basis. If both the odor in the room plus the odor killer do not appeal, then moving to a virgin area (one where there has never been a puff) may be necessary. And who knows how the various treatments are affecting us. At any rate, there are two new types: Fresh Wave (www.freshwaveworks.com) and Room Shocker (www.biocidesystems.com).

Those crazy birds!

When a caller wondered what to do about birds flying against the windows of a screened-in porch, the Handyman suggested using duct tape to sort of break up the look of the screens. Here is what Elizabeth Lawrence of Granville said she did: “I cut the plastic sleeves from the Globe and other newspapers into strips 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide and attached them to the screens with safety pins. The streamers flutter, diverting the birds away. It works on glass windows, too. Hang the streamers from above the windows with thumb tacks.’’ Any port in a storm, Elizabeth, and your idea goes right into the Handyman’s Hall of Fame.

Q. Several years ago I bought a gas log insert (natural gas) for my fireplace. I had it installed, and the guy said he had to take out the flue damper or put a bolt in it to keep it open. Naturally this causes a loss of heat when not using the fireplace unless I plug up my chimney. I am now reading that you can buy gas log inserts (natural gas) and not have any vent. New technology or was my gas guy wrong?

DICK , from Burlington