Fireplaces, Heating Stoves, Flues and Chimneys - Smoke problems from fireplace

We have a problem with smoke entering the house from our fireplace (bad enough to set off smoke detectors upstairs and downstairs) It generally happens when the fire is burning well, with a bed of glowing embers beneath. The particulars of the house and fireplace:

House built in '55 with most of the windows replaced in the past ten years (not too "tight" compared to a new house)
Brick fireplace with opening 37" w and 27" high and firebox is 17" deep from face of brick
Replaced glass doors with screen two years ago and put in a cast iron fireback this year
Chimney is approximately 30' high and about 1 1/2 ' above roof peak on outside wall of house, with 6" x 8" flue cleaned this fall

The frequency and severity of the draft problem is the worst it's ever been. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
:confused:

JD15, Welcome to the DIY Forums.
When I installed a Franklin stove up North I was told that the chimney had to be a minimum of 3 foot above the highest point on the roof. This prevents wind from causing a down draft. Good luck.

Id for sure go back to the glass doors there. I dont like to let a fire burn down and go to bed with just a screen. Have had them pop out and burn the rug.
with 6" x 8" flue cleaned this fall[/list]
What is this a cleanout door in the wall for a ash dump?

The frequency and severity of the draft problem is the worst it's ever been.
Have you also looked at the trees around the home. Have had this with fireplace and oil burners over the years. where they worked alright for years and then just stopped. Some times it has been a tree got a lot bigger there around the home or flue.

ED ;)

Thanks for the info folks.

In reading some of the other threads with similar problems, would a chimney cap and some from of air intake help too? I have an ash dump at the back of the fireplace and I believe it was suggested that you could install an intake through the base of the chimney (with pipes, I think) into the ash pit below. Would it significantly compromise the chimney to drill into or remove a brick? I don't want my chimney to end up in my neighbor's yard.

On a bizarre note, after using the ash dump several times, I opened a cleanout door in the basement below to find there was nothing there. I have not discovered any other doors or access to the ash pit. Does any one else find this strange or highly unusual? When I looked up with a mirror and flashlight, all I could see was the concrete blocks of the foundation.

On a bizarre note, after using the ash dump several times, I opened a cleanout door in the basement below to find there was nothing there. I have not discovered any other doors or access to the ash pit. Does any one else find this strange or highly unusual?

Yes for sure. Id look into this. Can you find out how far down it goes from the floor of the fireplace. Then cut in from the outside of the chimney and put a door there out side????

ED ;)

Ed,

The ash pit is 5 or 6 feet down from the floor of the fireplace (kind of tough to tell when you hit actual bottom with all the stuff in there). That kind of corresponds to the cleanout door in the basement, that is around six feet below. The base of the chimney outside is a little over 2 feet below the floor of the fireplace.

So it sounds like you could put a new clean out door out side below the fireplace floor put holes in it and let air in also clean it out out side the home.

ED ;)

The last question would be, can I cut into the base of the chimney without causing any major structural problems?

Thanks for all your help :)

For one of the clean out doors Id say yes. Go buy the door and you will see they arent very big and also just what you have to cut out. To put it in.

ED ;)