Expert: James Ball - 8/16/2009

Question
I live in an old two storie wood frame house that has two fireplaces in seperate rooms that are in the corner of each room sharing the same chimney. When I moved in there was a wookstove in the basement that had a pipe that connected into one fireplace. The other was a working fireplace. About 8 yaras ago I got ride of the woodstove and put gas log inserts in both fireplaces. Occasionally the fireplace in the dining room (the one that the stovepipe was in) smells. Sometimes it may be damp or rainey weather or may be a beautiful day. Is there anything I can do to eleminate this smell. Also the chimner has been capped with and oen space to allow air in. Thank you for your help and time. Sincerely Amyelexd

Answer
Hello Amy, What you are describing is called "negative pressure" 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. It may need a good cleaning, it may be your house and not the chimneys
Hope this helps
James