Expert: James Ball - 12/27/2009

Question
We rent a home and moved in 1 year ago, there is an open fireplace in the daylight basement and above it a fireplace with an insert. We used the insert when we first moved in and the house was so smokey I call the landlord and they had someone come in and install it properly. It was done without a liner and had several other things done wrong.  Supposedly it is installed properly now, they had a custom part made for the liner to attach it to the older Olympic insert.  If I even open the door to feed more wood into it I see the smoke spill out and after burning for several hours we have to try not to open the door because the house ends up being completely smoke filled.  I believe I have the draft completely open (it moves left/right) all the way left seems to give the fire more oxygen.  I've tried opening the nearby door and all the tricks I've read online. HELP!

Answer
Hello Dova, has it been cleaned? and inspected by a certified sweep? it might be negative pressure or improper installation (correctly it should be lined and insulated to the top)
I would have a local Certified Chimney Sweep www.csia.org, there you can look up by zip code to find one near you) take a first hand look at what you have they should be able to help.
Hope this helps
James