Chimney Help

My house was built in '77 and has a fireplace with brick chimney. After moving in, it was found to have a damaged liner and I had it replaced with stainless, recapped, and had the old flue removed in favor of a top-mounted damper with pull chain. Before and after the repairs, I have the same problem: about a day or two after having a fire in the fireplace, the entire house begins to smell like smoke and ash and the smell last for up to a week. This happens even if I clean the ashes out immediately and shop-vac the fireplace spotless. It happens if I leave the damper open and when I leave it closed. It happens if I burn a candle in the fireplace to keep a small updraft going. It's bad enough that I don't ever want to use the fireplace because the smell irritates the eyes and throat. I have glass fireplace doors installed, but they are nowhere near airtight as there are gaps between the panes. 

Any thoughts on what is causing this issue and how to deal with it?

Have another professional come out and inspect it? 

Is it possible the previous contractor didn't perform the work correctly and that's why you're having a problem? 

I have no idea, I know I had mine inspected last week and it needs $1800 in repairs to be tip top. So it's going to wait, not being used for awhile longer. 

How do you remove a masonry flue?

@z32maniac: Yea, the total bill for the repairs were about $2000 when I bought the house :( It's entirely possible the work wasn't performed correctly but I don't even know what could be the cause of the problem. I've had the chimney cleaned multiple times to no avail so I don't even know the origin of the smell. If the Internet doesn't help, I may have to refer the problem to a pro.

@SVreX: Hrm, I'm not an expert in the terminology so I am probably mistaken about what the thing is called. I was talking about the cast iron sort of actuator lever and flapper situation mounted right above the fireplace. The bezel of the unit remains in place but the lever and flapper were removed. 

In reply to Armitage :

Ok. That’s the flue damper. 

The flue is the masonry “pipe” (tile) that lines the masonry chimney.

I’m willing to bet if you stick your head in the firebox and look up with a flashlight, that the new metal flue pipe is inside the old masonry flue tile, and that it is not sealed to the old flue. This would enable the smoke to draft up the chimney both inside AND outside your new metal flue pipe.  

Which would mean your old leaky masonry flue is still functioning just poorly as it was before. 

You shouldn’t smell smoke in the house.  It’s a fire hazard.

I’m with z31maniac. The new metal flue liner was poorly done. 

Stop using it and get it professionally inspected. 

Just for giggles, here are the inspection items I'm told we need. He provided about 25-30 pictures of his inspection, I've been up on the roof so I know the flashing isn't perfect, very, very well rated company, so I don't think he's yanking my chain. But once I have the repairs done and gas logs installed..........it's not really worth $2400ish to have the ambiance this winter. 

$400 Base Custom Chimney Cap #1 
https://mastersservices.com/shop/chimney-cap-1/ 
$125 Mortar Crown Overlay 
https://mastersservices.com/chimney-repair-and-fireplace-repair/ 
$150 Crown Coat 
http://chimneysaver.com/products/crown-repair-products/crowncoat/ 
$200 Chimney Saver Waterproofing 
http://chimneysaver.com/products/water-repellents/chimneysaver-solvent-base-water-repellent/ 
$300 Chimney Saver FlashSeal 
http://chimneysaver.com/products/chimney-flashing-repair/flashseal/

Lintel Packing

Seal the space in between the hearth/mantle and fireplace

Smoke Shelf Lining

Above the damper going up to the flue (smoke chamber) needs to be lined due to cracks and missing mortar. This is for an already parged smoke chamber.

That alone would be $1725.....I was kind of shocked to see how expensive nice gas logs are. 

Fireplaces are inefficient heating devices. Install an insert with a insulated stainless liner attached directly to the insert. Problem solved

Argh, I paid a lot of money for those repairs. It was over 10 years ago so I doubt there's much I can do if the work was done poorly. I very rarely use the fireplace (sometimes not at all in a given year) so I haven't prioritized this issue. I'll take a look with a flashlight tonight and see if I can spot an obvious problem. I guess I'll be paying even more $$ or just not using it anymore. Thanks guys!

rustybugkiller said:

Fireplaces are inefficient heating devices. Install an insert with a insulated stainless liner attached directly to the insert. Problem solved

Hrm, I just googled "fireplace insert". That looks like a good solution, but they seem to start around $2000 and go up from there. Will definitely consider that as an option depending on what repair quotes look like.

In reply to Armitage :

Don’t lose hope yet. If your visual inspection shows some obvious gaps, it might be rather inexpensive to fix. Perhaps even DIY-able. 

...and you can get greatly improved performance from a fireplace by adding doors. Not as good as an insert, but significantly better. 

I know.... doors kill the ambiance.  I feel the same way. But I have doors now. 

If you get a smokey smell a couple of days after the fire, I would imagine you are drawing air in through the chimney.  Is there a gas furnace running normally, and if so, do you have a fresh air feed to the firebox in it? If not, the furnace has to find air to burn and send up its chimney somewhere.  Maybe its pulling it down the fireplace chimney.

I'd put a gas insert with a millivolt control in it, myself.  That eliminates the wood, and still allows heat during power outages.

I am reminded of a fun experience many years ago, when a young lady I may have lived with may have been upstairs smoking something that may or may not have been legal.  I had lit a nice fire in the downstairs fireplace, and got it going with a couple nice logs on it.  Unbeknownst to me, she turned on a large attic exhaust fan to "clear the air" upstairs.    As I walked into the room with the fireplace, I was greeted by volumes of smoke rolling out of the fireplace into the room.  Baffled, I checked the damper, and found it to be open as I contemplated why my chimney had suddenly stopped working.  The smoke continued, filling the room and burning my eyes.  Sticking my head out of the ground floor entry door near the chimney, I looked up.  That was when I heard the attic fan whirring away with the discharge louvers blown open.   The light bulb went off in my head and I bounded up a couple flights of stairs and may have rather impolitely told her to turn off the fan. 

So, negative pressure?  Maybe you are running a bathroom exhaust fan or kitchen hood fan when you notice the odor?

Unfortunately I don't have gas in my neighborhood. My heat is all electric (heatpump + coil). There's only me and Mrsitage at home and we weren't running exhaust fans when the issue occurred recently. I am wondering if on windy days or something, air from inside the house is being drawn out of my ridge vents or something causing a slight vacuum.

Anyway, I will get up in there with a flashlight this weekend and see what I can see. Thanks for the suggestions!