Apart from our deteriorating chimney, we have always had the issue that when a fire is burning in the 1st floor fireplace, a strong smell of smoke is evident in the basement. Other companies tried to sell us a stainless steel liner for the 1st floor fireplace flue (at a cost of >$2,000) based upon the assumption that the smoke was transferring between flues within the chimney due to cracks between the flue tiles. This didn’t make sense to me, as only minor cracks were evident between a couple of flue tiles upon video inspection. Besides, behind the flue tiles and between the two flues is a layer of masonry which should prevent smoke transfer between flues.
Romen suggested another approach, which was to seal off the top of the basement flue, based upon the assumption that the smoke was being pulled back down the basement flue due to negative pressure created in the house as the fire burned in the 1st floor fireplace. This made sense to me. We did a test using a plastic bag over the top of the basement flue while a fire burned in the 1st floor fireplace. No smoke smell in the basement! The permanent solution was the installation of the energy top damper on the top of the basement flue, which was completed in October.
The scheduling was no problem, and the two workers that came out were professional and tidy. I will update my review when we have the remainder of the work done in the spring, but for now we are pleased and highly recommend Romen and his Coast to Coast team for their punctuality, knowledge, competitive pricing, and professionalism.
