Fire in Fireplace, now room smells like a campfire....

[Anonymous]

We built a fire in our wood burning fireplace (with a grate) for the first time on Tuesday (after living in the house for 6 years). Fire was great. No smoke came in while the fire was burning. We left the damper open all night, closed it the next morning. Ever since, the living room smells of campfire. I cleaned out the ashes yesterday morning, but still smells. WHY?

Is it because the fireplace wasn't used for so long so old odor blew into the house? Does it need to be cleaned (we had it inspected last month)? If we use it again this weekend will the smell clear out?
What should we do?

[Anonymous]

If you've never had it cleaned, definitely have it cleaned.

[Anonymous]

Is the damper completely closed? Can you feel any cold air coming down the flue?

[Anonymous]

Had it been cleaned during those 6 years? You need to clean it.

[Anonymous]

Me too, almost the same situation, except lived in house for 1 year and left damper open a couple days to help. We also have a Coway air purifier we’ve run intermittently but can still smell the fireplace a bit. Maybe cleaning out the ashes stirred things up?

[Anonymous]

This is why we don't burn wood inside.

[Anonymous]

You have a downdraft in your chimney bringing the smell in. Yes, have the chimney cleaned, but you might continue to get the smell for a while depending on the weather.

[Anonymous]

You may want to get it professionally cleaned and inspected- $125-$150. Thing happen over a few years- lining decay, the mortar becomes lose, resin buildup, etc.

[Anonymous]

I just bought a house that smelled like this. The chimney looked like it had never been cleaned. I got it cleaned and most of the smell went away. Not just the fire box but the whole chimney.

The chimney guy also told me my chimney wasn't high enough past the roof line. They stuck a metal pipe up there, but it's not as good. THat can affect the upward draft in the chimney, and if it's not strong enough, that smoke smell lingers.

[Anonymous]

OP here. No - we haven't gotten it cleaned since we never used it. Looks like that is the way to go...

[Anonymous]

If you still have the issue after getting it cleaned, you could consider using Duraflame logs. They are pricey, but they don’t leave any campfire smells. I am very sensitive to smoke and that’s what we use.

[Anonymous]

open a window a crack. near the fireplace so that the smoke (even if you don’t see it goes out. This helped a lot for us.

[Anonymous]

Where did you get the wood? If it's not really well dried out wood, it will smell like that. We started using Duraflames to avoid that smell.

[Anonymous]

The wood is seasoned and completely dry? Where you store your wood matters too. Damp wood = more smoke.

[Anonymous]

I have the same problem with a brand new chimney. As pp mentioned you probably have backdraft.

I would recommend lighting a candle in the firebox, that should create enough suction (?) for smoke smell to go up the chimney.

Next time you have a fire, crack a nearby window, turn off hvac, don’t run any bathroom/kitchen exhaust fans.

This is also a great “smoke eating” spray available at most hardware stores.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Zep-Smoke-Odor-Eliminator-Spray-Air-Freshener/3621322?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-lwn-_-ggl-_-LIA_LWN_127_Cleaning-_-3621322-_-local-_-0-_-0&ds_rl=1286981&gbraid=0AAAAAD2B2W-_4S8lfEGw6STtGuuTRtF4y&gclid=CjwKCAiA24SPBhB0EiwAjBgkhiBSucJo1Rc7BeoIHiP0vMtnhJk1ke-sblIyKmxUfNYvIIHUayXmHxoCO0wQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds