Expert: James Ball - 11/17/2011

Question
HI,just bought a house in may, it was an estate sale.
The sellers claimed on the disclosure that the fireplace was operational. We took their word.
After the home purchase i went to get the chimeny cleaned and they said the chimney flue was blocked, it
was a dummy flue and that the fireplace is connected to the
gas heater flue. They also said the fireplace is not original to the home. The sellers swear it was used and it looks like it was,
is this safe? i did start a small fire and seen some smoke exit
the heater flue, but im wary of starting a real fire since the
experts say its not safe.

Answer
Hello Ed, I have seen this where they just "tap into" another flue and use it, it is not safe, 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