Smoke blowing in to living-room from next door's fire

Adaline

My next door neighbours have started burning logs in their fireplace, just the other side of my living room wall, which backs onto my own fireplace. I don't use my fireplace, but it's open as a feature in the living-room. I've started to get a smell of smoke from their fire coming into my living room. I'm assuming they haven't thought to line the fireplace or chimney. As I get asthma, the smoke is not good for me. Unfortunately I've had lots of problems with these neighbours over noise and fly-tipping in my garden - they're really not pleasant people! This means that a quiet conversation isn't going to happen. But do I have any rights about this? I don't know if I can complain to the council or even if it's possible to take legal action. I could drop a note in to say that they're required to deal with it, if I know this is the case. Oh, and the noise they make scraping and banging with the logs is also really loud in my room as well! Thanks for any advice.

anotherbaldrick

You could try sealing your flue with a register plate at the throat just above your hearth, perhaps with a flap you can open in the summer to ventilate the flue and stop condensation. What date was house built ?

Adaline

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

You could try sealing your flue with a register plate at the throat just above your hearth, perhaps with a flap you can open in the summer to ventilate the flue and stop condensation. What date was house built ?

Thanks. I have one of those on already, but there are a couple of small gaps at the edges. I assumed these were for ventilation? The house was build in 1911.

rustyboy21

You shouldn't be getting any smell of fumes from next door into your house. Are you saying that it is definately coming through the wall into you room and not getting dragged in from , say an open window in your room?

It is very dangerous, it is not just smoke and the smell of burning coming in, it can also be carbon monoxide, fumes from treated wood ( arsenic etc).

I appreciate that next door are bad neighbours, but it needs bringing to their attention. I would suggest that you get your local , reputable chimney sweep out and get a detailed report from him on what is going on. If they are found at fault, you need to take it further, say environmental health etc as their choice of heating, shouldn't be affecting you.

If it was a gas fire in situ and this was found to be happening, then it would be cut off, can't see why this cannot happen to a wood burner.

I wouldn't just leave it, it needs sorting, for your own health.

Good luck.

anotherbaldrick

Methinks a call to the Environmental Health Officer at the Council, the flue is obviously faulty due to its age and plain unfit to be used for health reasons.
Neighbour needs to get his lined as a matter of urgency, lay it on, tell the council you are feeling giddy and sick

Adaline

Thanks to all. I'll call out the Environmental Health, as you suggest.

madjay

the smell could be coming down your the flue if both of yours and their chimney pots are are close toeghter.

muckybutt

Oh dear lots of incorrect info !

Right then, its not necessasairly a fault with either chimney for starters.

It is most likely to be because your chimney is A) Uncapped Cold and damp.

The effect is that their chimney is nice and warm so the smoke gets pulled up and out as it should do ( Chimney draught ), your chimney is unused and will therefore be cold, cold chimneys are a big problem in situations like this and are quite a common problem. Cold chimneys will not draw any air upwards in fact the reverse happens - they will often draw air into the house and in your case will also pull the smoke in from their fire as well.

As for whose problem it is to rectify it is upto you and or the council, yes there is a real possibility carbon monoxide could be pulled back down into your house. In the first place and until you have spoken to them or the council you need to seal the chimney off completely, it wont harm it in the short term.
Ideally and the cheapest option is get a sweep in or a roofer to fit chimney cap onto your chimney pot, then put in place a better board in the chimney to block it off or put a chimney balloon in the chimney, the cap will still allow the chimney to breath but you shouldnt get the fumes - smoke and smell from your next door neighbours fire.

Now providing their chimney is ok there is no requirement for them to reline or fit a liner into their chimney, liners cant be fitted to open fires anyhow. If your chimney is niknaked then that would be upto you to reline it if fumes were found to be coming through that way.
The only way to see if your chimney / their chimney is leaking would be to do a pressurised chimney smoke test, that entails blocking the pot off on lighting smoke bombs in the fire place, then introduce pressurised air into the chimney and look for leaks.

Hope that makes things a bit clearer.

muckybutt

madjay wrote: »

the smell could be coming down your the flue if both of yours and their chimney pots are are close toeghter.

LOL nothing to do with how close the pots are they could be 2" away from one another and not cause problems.

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

Methinks a call to the Environmental Health Officer at the Council, the flue is obviously faulty due to its age and plain unfit to be used for health reasons.
Neighbour needs to get his lined as a matter of urgency, lay it on, tell the council you are feeling giddy and sick

Completely incorrect advice there baldrick, how do you know their chimney is faulty for starters ? neighbours dont need to reline if their chimney is ok, I sweep chimneys 100's of years old that are as sound now as they were when they were built.
It may well be the op's chimney is jiggered ?, a chimney that is being used will normally be in better nick than a chimney that isnt being used and is damp / not drawing.

Adaline

Thanks Muckybutt. I've now got a carbon monoxide detector with a digital display on. They haven't lit the fire for the past few evenings, so I haven't been able to see if there's a difference. You're right about the chimneys not being capped, that's something I should do.

anotherbaldrick

muckybutt wrote: »

LOL nothing to do with how close the pots are they could be 2" away from one another and not cause problems.




Completely incorrect advice there baldrick, how do you know their chimney is faulty for starters ? neighbours dont need to reline if their chimney is ok, I sweep chimneys 100's of years old that are as sound now as they were when they were built.
It may well be the op's chimney is jiggered ?, a chimney that is being used will normally be in better nick than a chimney that isnt being used and is damp / not drawing.

Ever thought that for the smoke to pass from one flue to the other they have BOTH got to be jiggered ?