My entire house smells like the fireplace, how can I get this strong smell to go away.?

Question

We just moved into the house 3 months ago, but the house was empty for almost a year, so there hasn't been a fire in quite some time.

Answer 1

Close the flue. Its a gizmo inside the fireplace at the top. Usually has a handle of some sort that you can use to close it. Take a flashlight to see how the flu door works.

And... Get a fireplace door that you can close up.

Meanwhile your wasting energy while the flue is open with no fire.

Answer 2

I would do a couple things.

1) Clean and air out the house. This includes washing the walls with mild soap and water, sweep/mop/vacuum floors and use something that deodorizes. If you are going to repaint, go out and buy some KILZ primer. It is the best. We moved into a home that sat empty for over a year. Apparently there were ALOT of animals. It took about 4 months to get the animal odor under control. You may even run the heating and see if the smell is also in the ducts. I had that happen.

2) Check on the history of the house to make sure there were no reported fires.

3) Have a qualified professional come in and inspect the fireplace and chimney. I have a neighbor who used their fireplace this past winter and their house still smells like smoke. It is poorly vented and they refuse to pay someone to look at it. Don't be silly when it comes to personal safety.

Answer 3

I would have the fireplace looked at by a professional cleaner. It the house smells, maybe at one point the previous owners had a fire lit and the smoke went through the house. This could be because of a blockage in the chimney. My friends also had this happen. It could be a fire risk so I would definately look into that. Good luck

Answer 4

Common problem with wood burning fireplaces. Hire a chimney sweep. He can clean it real good for you ad give you a real recommendation on a good solution. The others here are good ideas too!

Problem is air is falling through the chimney and spilling into the house and bringing the smell in with it. Take care of the chimney issue first before washing curtains and stuff or you will be doing it all over again.

Answer 5

I bet the smell is comming from the fireplace chimney mostly. Creosote can be pretty stinky especially if real sappy wet wood is burned. You could use a chimney balloon to create an seal from your chimney to the living area. They normally are used to stop fireplace air drafts from coming through a worn damper, but I bet it would work on this. They are about $40.

http://www.chimneyballoon.us/sizing.html

Answer 6

First close the damper on the fire place, keep it closed when not in use. Have the chimney cleaned and inspected. after doing this, Air out the home for several days. be sure to change any filters in the heating system (hot air type) or any air filtering system the home may have including Air conditioners. Good luck in resolving your problem.

Answer 7

you will need to remove any curtains.wash them
remove any absorbing thing like curtains/ rugs hold lots of odor too.
remove or have them professionally cleaned as well as the walls and cielings.
everything will need cleaned including windows and just about every thing in the house..may take mmore than once?
use the new product for odor removing
O odor remover

Answer 8

air out the house leaving windows open
clean the walls, ceiling, floors
clean all cloth furniture and deodorize

Answer 9

Air it out
That's the best way
Have the carpets washed

Answer 10

all you could do is just leave all the windows open for a few days and light candles, use febreeze.