Neighbours smoke coming down my chimney?

antinori

Hi Everyone

I have a problem that I need advice on please.

I live in an older style semi property and share a chimney stack with the adjoining neighbour.
Recently they have had a new wood burning stove fitted and their part of the chimney properly lined. I have also just had my part of the chimney swept so all should be good....

The problem is that now they are using their wood burning stove my house is filling up with smoke fumes/smells etc.. approximately 1 x hour after they light their stove.

We have had the installer out to relook at the work and he is telling us the problem is one chimney is hot and the other is cold - this apparently draws all of my Neighbour's smoke in to my house?? Before this problem all was fine, even when only one of us was using our fires.

What do I do - Is there a solution and what is likely to be wrong?

alleycat`

There are a few possibilities.

The installation is leaking and the "feathers" between your chimneys have been damaged/breached during the installation which is allowing the "smoke/fumes" to transfer into your house.

Local weather phenomena / wind direction / still air allowing the fumes/smoke to be drawn down into a cold chimney (The house would in effect be drawing the air in).

Have they had a chimney modification such as a "ufo" anti-downdraft cowl fitted, etc?

Neighbour has had other remedial work done to the house including upgrading draught proofing/windows which has altered the balance / air flow between your two homes.

Are you using your chimney still?
If not you could get a top cap fitted. It will help keep out rain/birds/etc.

Personally i'd be looking to the the sweep to do a proper inspection on the chimney and telling the neighbour not to use the installation until that's confirmed as ok as they could end up making you ill / killing you.

The Hetas installer(?) should, in my opinion, be more concerned than they appear to be.

Cardew

IMO it is up to the installer to fix the problem. If he doesn't 'play ball' then insist that the wood burning stove is not used and get the Council Health and Safety department involved.

modsandmockers

Chimney flues are notoriously fickle and it’s sometimes necessary to do quite of lot trial and error in order to try to find out what is going on.

Q1 - How many open fireplaces are there in each house, and how many chimney pots at the top of the stack?
Q2 - How often do you use your own fireplace, and do you get the smoke problem when your own fire is alight? Did your neighbour have a woodburner before this one? How often did your neighbour light a fire in previous winters?
Q3 - Does your neighbour also have problems with smoke return? When the woodburner is alight, have you looked to see whether any smoke is coming from any chimney pot?
Q4 - Is your own house draught-proof? Do you have any extractor fans? Do you have a gas boiler inside the house? Have any of these things been improved, changed or moved since last winter? Have you added a porch or a conservatory?
Q5 - When the problem occurs, can you actually ‘see’ the smoke coming into your room from your fireplace? If so, can you make it stop by opening your windows/outside doors?

antinori

I agree there are lots of possibilities but nothing has changed on my side - They have installed a wood burning stove and had their chimney lined. The Installer has said he has never had a problem like this before which is now worrying me.

Mojisola

antinori wrote: »

The problem is that now they are using their wood burning stove my house is filling up with smoke fumes/smells etc.. approximately 1 x hour after they light their stove.

I hope you have some CO monitors in your house.

modsandmockers

antinori wrote: »

I agree there are lots of possibilities but nothing has changed on my side - They have installed a wood burning stove and had their chimney lined. The Installer has said he has never had a problem like this before which is now worrying me.

OK, lets keep it simple - how often do you use your own fireplace, and do you get the smoke problem when your own fire is alight? Did your neighbour have a woodburner before this one? How often did your neighbour light a fire in previous winters?

antinori

I only use my fire (Wood Burner) when it is really cold as I have central heating
My Neighbour uses their New Woodburner daily as they don't have central heating
The problem is not as bad for me when I light my fire only when mine is not in use
They had a woodburner before but not one that was as hot (Hence their need for a new liner)

Do really have to worry about Carbon Monoxide? Isn't this only Gas Fires?

Cardew

antinori wrote: »

Do really have to worry about Carbon Monoxide? Isn't this only Gas Fires?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/9688902/Wood-burning-stoves-can-cause-lethal-carbon-monoxide-poisoning-warns-HPA.html

kaya

I had exactly the same problem at my last house, turned out the neighbours flue liner was faulty and after a few hours noise from his side the problem disappeared , nothing to do with hot and old as we had an open fire that was never used and he had a woodburner and after his replacing the liner the problem was sorted

modsandmockers

antinori wrote: »

I only use my fire (Wood Burner) when it is really cold as I have central heating
My Neighbour uses their New Woodburner daily as they don't have central heating
The problem is not as bad for me when I light my fire only when mine is not in use
They had a woodburner before but not one that was as hot (Hence their need for a new liner)

How often did they use their previous woodburner?