Expert: James Ball - 3/1/2009

Question
We have a 20+ year problem of brown stains coming through our chimney breast from the inside of the chimney, continuously ruining decorations and causing fusty smells. After several initiatives - re-rendering the post and stack, renewing flashing, checking slates, opening up fireplace (we have an open, smokeless fuel fire) etc we have now been informed that we may need a sleeve. We live in a 3-storey house so the chimney breast stretches thro all three floors. How long (or deep) does a sleeve have to be and who are the best people to fit these?

Answer
Hello Michelle, I a not quite sure what you have from what you describe and I do not know what a "smokeless fuel fire" is, and it sounds like you may need a chimney liner (are you heating with natural gas?) 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 both with diagnosing and fixing the problem.
keep me posted
James