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Fireplace Built in the 1930's -- refaced in the late 1980''s Didn't fix the smoke problem
So my Brother went to town--- not a mason


Rumfordized it



Work Of Art---- Count Rumford would be proud of him----- Web

Did he build in a smoke shelf? Dad built a wood burner out of a big oil drum and more smoke came out the front than up the chimney. That was all before he went to the library to learn about the flue pipe opening size verses the front opening size. It went on to tell about the need for a smoke shelf which he didn't have either. Then the height of the chimney above the roof line so that you get the proper daft is important as well.

Good Question Windfall--- when he opened up the old one he found the old smoke shelf being in lets say very very rough shape. He cut out the rough ends of the field stones and reshaped the entire smoke chamber. Wire meshed the entire inside and parged the smoke chamber with sand , cement,and clay mixture from smoke shelf to the flue opening. Looked like looking into a huge funnel when he was done. --------- He has had a few small paper test fires that are OK. But all that parging in the chamber and on the Rumford curve we will need at least another month of curing before a real fire can be built. Besides it was about 100 F here today. Thanks Web

Does it smoke when you first build a fire or all the time?

How high above the roof line is the chimney? Does the cabin have cathedral ceilings?

Hanco and Kingston--- Yes the old fireplace smoked all the time--- the original built in 1930's was built with very little research done in proper dimensions for a fireplace . The mason in the 1980's added to the problem by moving the entire firebox forward away from the poorly made smoke chamber and flue ( I think I right in saying this as this ---is my understanding of what my brother said ) ----- No cathedral --- 8ft ceiling. ---- My brother was able to add 2ft to the flue which is still below the roof line that is ( maybe 10 ft. away )--- Good question- Web

Adding on to the chimney has been the first and hopefully last fix needed for me. Some different types of vent caps can help. Most prevent down drafts some increase pull.

If you can' get above the roof you are supposed to be at least 10 feet horizontally away from the roof measured from top of chimney horizontally to roof. That sounds like you are about right.

Well we had a small Barbie-Q for the 4th up there today and with a closer inspection---- the extension of the flue raises it well above the ridge line. I think we're going to be OK.

Is the flue masonry, or pipe?

huntsman -- All the original flue and field stone chimney built in the 1930's was left as is. The flue is a clay flue. Web

finished product looks really nice. Nice job. Looks like something I'd try even never having done masonry either.

Proof will be in the pudding as they say.

If you are over the ridge, they claim 3 feet, its ok. But since you are at least 10 off the roof horizontally any additional should just help.

rost495--- even though he is not a mason- he also built this one from start to finish in our other hunting camp


Ya got to go along ways to find one better than this one in my opinion ---- thanks for the complement --- Web

How air tite is your camp? Fireplaces need a lot of air coming in to get a proper draft going up the chimney, when i use the fireplace in my camp I have to crack open the closest window to give it enough air or it smokes pretty good.

It certainly looks good.

I heat our home in Maine with wood. Use about 6 full cords/ year.

Key elements for a smoke-free indoors, is to have a clean flue ( no brainer), but to have a house that is not “ air tight.” For flue gases ( volume) to EXIT the chimney, the same volume of air needs to supply the fire. Next time yo get a fire going, open a window or door a bit to see if that cures it.

You can do the same thing by another method. You can enclosed the hearth with a transparent heat-resistant “window.”, near the lower part of the transparent hearth window, create a hole ( 4-6” diameter). You can assemble a pipe ( like an aluminum hot air vent pipe), that goes from a hole through the house ( with a screen on the outside to keep critters out of the tube), TO the hole in the hearth cover hole. This way you get outside air/ volume to feed the fire without freezing the rest of the house. It is about positive and negative air pressure inside the house and outside the house. Gases will flow to the negative pressure [ up the flue) If there is enough exchangeable air feeding the fire. Taking the air from the outside, in a controlled manner ( your air feed duct), you allow the flue to “suck air” freely from the outside. A “ tight house” essentially becomes a vacuum when the fireplace is on, and flue gases can’t excape.

It’s like sucking a milkshake through a straw. You suck the straw ( flue gases trying to excape through the chimney), but the negative pressure created in the straw causes collapse, as the milk shake is too thick ( it did not enter the straw), similar to a tight house.

A longer chimney my help, to create more draft/ straw sucking.

There is also an issue of flue gas temperature. The hotter the flue gas, the more rapid the rise in the chimney. When flue gas stays hot, it does not form creosote. A chimney liner that is 6” diameter will have higher velocity flue gas than an 8” diameter liner. The longer the flue gas is in the chimney, the more they cool, and risk creosote formation. Hotter gases mean more chimney velocity, and more suction.

There are insulated chimney liners called “ metalbestos” (sp?), that are designed to keep flue gases hot, and fast moving for exit.

If your dwelling is not “air tight”, you could mount a hearth cover of perhaps the upper 3/4 of the opening, allowing air to enter from a smaller entrance from “house air”, and the cover will keep flue gases/ smoke at bay.

The primary drawback of having a non-air tight home home that CAN feed a fire, is that you are bringing in cold air- that offsets the heat of the fire. Kind of circle logic of a negative spin.

Try to get supply air from the outside, to a controlled entry port to a covered hearth. The best of all heating worlds. Good luck.

That's some good advice--- nope neither camp is air tight. leaks around the doors and windows are left for that purpose . Plus over the course of two or three days in the camp an upstairs window is always open to avoid 100 degree temp. in the upstairs sleeping quarters. Thanks Web

Feeding outside combustion air is the best way.
Fireplaces are terribly inefficient, using indoor air to feed the fire causes even more heated air to
escape up the flue.


Walk around a firplace heated room with an incense stick sometime.
Even worse, do it if the fireplace is not your heats source at that time,
but it's warmer inside than out. That's your expensive heat going out that cool hole in the wall.


Rumsford fireplaces seem to be the best heaters.
But the ones I have seen bring the fire out in the room
more than your brothers design. That allows more of the heat
to get in the room, not up in smoke.

Sorry to be a wet blanket, and your fireplace is nice, but most people I have know
who seriously wanted heat, ended up with a stove in the fireplace.

DillionBuck--- I think you are missing the point of a nice fire place in a hunting camp that will be used to heat a 22 ft. x 17 ft hunting camp for a week or two during November Deer Hunting--or May's turkey season
2 -3 chord of cut split stacked oak or maple will be enough. Weekends may also be included. An yes we do have a wood stove addition or backup.
If you have enjoyed the old fire place as much as I have ---that he built ---sticking an insert in a fireplace like that would never cross anyone mind that spent anytime in front of it.
That sit in the center of a 20 ft x 30 ft camp. ---- 270 acres of hardwoods for firewood------- Web

No I get it. That's why is stated "seriously". I figured this was a place used a few days at a time, a few times a year.
And an open fire is something to be enjoyed.

We lived in a house with a fireplacee as a kid, and used it for heat. For real, not for fun.
It sucked, until we got a stove.


Different deal, sorry.

Oh Yea --In a large house and heated with fireplaces-- I can imagine nights sitting very very close to the hearth and chords and chords to get in. ---Web