The Fireplace Smokes Every Time You Light It
A family in a 1960s brick home near Fielder Park lights the first fire of November and within a minute there is smoke curling out the top of the fireplace opening and into the den. Opening a window helps a little. Burning smaller fires helps a little. It never goes away, so they stop using the fireplace. That fireplace almost always has a problem in the smoke chamber, and smoke chamber repair in Arlington, TX is the fix nobody told them about.
Crownline Chimney Sweep repairs and parges smoke chambers in Arlington. It is a masonry repair done from inside the firebox, not from the roof. We clean the creosote out of the chamber, fill the cracks and gaps, parge the stepped brick into a smooth funnel, and fix the damper in the same visit. If the chamber is beyond parging, we rebuild it. The estimate is free and the price is in writing before we start.
What the Smoke Chamber Does
Open the damper and look up with a flashlight. The space above the damper, before the flue starts, is the smoke chamber. It is shaped like an upside-down funnel: as wide as the firebox at the bottom, narrowing to the size of the flue at the top. The flat ledge behind the damper is the smoke shelf, which catches rain and downdrafts so they do not fall into the fire.
The chamber’s job is to gather smoke from the whole firebox and send it up the flue in one smooth stream. When the inside of the chamber is smooth and the slope is right, the fireplace drafts. When it is rough, cracked or stepped, the smoke tumbles, slows down and some of it comes back out the front.
Why Arlington Smoke Chambers Fail
Most brick fireplaces built in Arlington from the 1950s through the 1980s have a corbelled smoke chamber. The mason stepped each course of brick inward like a staircase to narrow the chamber, and left the steps bare. That was normal practice for decades, and it causes three problems:
- Turbulence. Each step catches the rising smoke and breaks up the draft. The fireplace smokes, especially on a still day or a cold start.
- Creosote. The steps give creosote a place to collect, and a corbelled chamber cannot be swept clean. Heavy creosote in the chamber is a fire risk sitting right above the firebox.
- Cracks and gaps. The chamber walls are often one brick thick, inches from the house framing. Heat, North Texas soil movement and 50 years of fires open the joints, and heat and sparks reach the wood. These are the fire hazards that make a rough chamber more than a nuisance.
The NFPA 211 standard for chimneys and fireplaces calls for smoke chamber walls to be parged smooth. Almost no Arlington fireplace from those decades was built that way, which is why we find chamber problems on most of the older brick fireplaces we inspect around UTA, downtown, Dalworthington Gardens and East Arlington.
Why Smoke Comes Back Into the Room
A smoky fireplace is a ventilation problem, and it is one of the most common chimney needs we hear about in the fall, and the smoke chamber is only one of the causes. Smoke in the living space also means carbon monoxide risks in the living space, so this is a safety issue, not just a smell. On every smoky fireplace call in Arlington we check these in order:
- Damper. A throat damper that is rusted, warped or stuck half open chokes the draft before the smoke reaches the chamber. See damper repair.
- Smoke chamber. Rough, corbelled, cracked or packed with creosote.
- Blocked flue. A nest, a collapsed tile or heavy creosote narrows the flue. See creosote removal.
- Flue size. A flue that is too small for the firebox opening cannot move the smoke, a common problem on fireplaces that were remodeled with a bigger opening.
- Cold flue. On the first fire of the season, the air in the flue is heavy and cold and pushes down until it warms.
- Tight house. Newer or well-sealed homes starve the fire of air. A bathroom fan or the dryer running at the same time can pull smoke into the room.
We measure the firebox and the flue, test the draft, and photograph the chamber before we recommend anything. If the chamber is not the problem, we say so.
What Our Smoke Chamber Repair Includes
- Inspection with photos. Camera look at the smoke chamber, smoke shelf, damper and flue. You see the steps, the cracks and the creosote.
- Written price. A free itemized estimate for the cleaning, the parging and any damper work, each as its own line.
- Clean-out. Creosote and debris removed from the chamber and the smoke shelf. Heavy or glazed creosote is treated before parging so the mortar bonds to brick, not soot.
- Fill and repair. Cracks, open joints and missing mortar in the chamber walls filled.
- Parge. The corbelled steps are coated with refractory mortar and troweled into a smooth, even slope from the firebox to the flue opening.
- Damper. The throat damper is freed, reset, or replaced with a new throat or top-sealing damper.
- Cure and test. The mortar cures for a few days, then we test the draft and send you photos of the smooth chamber.
Most smoke chamber repairs take one day plus curing time. The fireplace is ready for the first cold front if we do the work in early fall. We lay drop cloths and run a HEPA vacuum while the chamber is cleaned, because knocking creosote out of a corbelled chamber makes a mess, and we leave the hearth and the room the way we found them. If the inspection also turns up cracked flue tiles above the chamber, we tell you then, not after the parging is done, so you can decide on both at once.
What Smoke Chamber Repair Costs in Arlington
No Arlington chimney company we found publishes a smoke chamber price. The typical range from national cost guides: Bob Vila lists smoke chamber repair at $500 to $2,000 and parging at $1,000 to $2,000. DFW prices fall in that range.
What moves the price on your fireplace:
| Factor | Lower cost | Higher cost |
|---|---|---|
| Chamber condition | Rough but intact | Cracked, gaps, missing brick |
| Creosote | Light, brushes out | Heavy or glazed, treated first |
| Chamber size | Small firebox | Large or double-sided fireplace |
| Damper | Freed and reset | Replaced |
| Firebox | Sound | Refractory or firebrick repair needed too |
Crownline inspects first and quotes in writing after. Estimates are free, seniors, veterans and first responders get 10% off, and we match a written quote from an insured company for the same work. One discount per job.
Smoke Chamber, Firebox and Damper: One Visit
The smoke chamber sits between two parts that fail at the same age. Below it, the firebox brick and mortar crack from the heat. At its base, the throat damper rusts from the water that comes down the flue. On a 50-year-old Arlington fireplace it is common for all three to need work, and it is cheaper to do them together while the fireplace is open and the crew is there. Our firebox repair and damper repair pages cover the other two. The written estimate lists each one separately so you can choose what to do now and what can wait.
Why Arlington Homeowners Call Crownline for Smoke Chamber Repair
Crownline Chimney Sweep is a local company offering complete chimney and fireplace services in Arlington from 700 Highlander Blvd near the Parks Mall and I-20. Our crew has worked on Arlington fireplaces for more than 20 years, and corbelled smoke chambers on the 1950s to 1980s brick fireplaces around the city are something we see almost every week in the fall. We are insured and bonded.
On a smoke chamber job with us you get a camera inspection with photos, the real cause of the smoking found before anything is sold, a free estimate and a written price that reflects the complexity of the project, parging to the NFPA 211 standard, the damper handled in the same visit, a draft test when the work has cured, and photos of the workmanship. The goal is simple: keep your home safe and protect your home from a chamber fire, and give you back a fireplace you can use. That is the proof behind calling ourselves the best chimney company in Arlington, and why we are becoming the local chimney company Arlington homeowners trust.
Our Service Area for Smoke Chamber Repair Near Arlington
Crownline repairs smoke chambers throughout Arlington TX: ZIP codes 76001, 76006, 76010, 76012, 76013, 76016, 76017 and 76018, from the brick fireplaces of Central Arlington near UTA and East Arlington near AT&T Stadium to South Arlington, Lake Arlington, North Arlington, Viridian, Pantego and Dalworthington Gardens, and the Fort Worth side of the DFW metroplex. Tarrant County has a lot of wood burning fireplaces from the 1950s to the 1980s, and most of them have never had the chamber looked at.
Factory-built fireplaces are different: they have no masonry smoke chamber. Smoke passes through a metal firebox lined with refractory panels straight into a metal pipe. On those units, cracked refractory panels are the fireplace repair we see most, and the fix is a panel install, not parging. Masonry fireplaces being remodeled are another place smoke chamber problems show up; see fireplace remodeling if you are changing the opening, because a bigger opening on the same flue is a common cause of smoking.
Smoke chamber work is one of the chimney repair services Crownline provides in Arlington, TX. It pairs with our chimney sweep services, starting with a yearly chimney cleaning, and while the technician is at the house we can add dryer vent cleaning to the same visit. If your fireplace smokes and you are not sure why, start with a chimney inspection and we will find it. Call (817) 505-4222 or request a free estimate below, and get the fireplace working before the first cold front.
Below are the frequently asked questions Arlington homeowners send us about smoke chamber repair and smoky fireplaces. If yours is not here, call and a real person at our Arlington office will answer it.