Chimney and fireplace symptoms
My fire keeps going out and the chimney will not draw
Wet wood is often why a fire keeps dying in a Portland fireplace, with a cold or blocked flue next. If dry wood on a primed flue still dies, or smoke enters the room, stop lighting fires until the flue is checked.
Updated
What to do right now
Let the fire go out on its own rather than feeding it more paper, and open a window a few inches to see whether the draft picks up. If smoke drifted into the room while it struggled, leave the fireplace unlit until the cause is known. Set aside a piece of the wood you were burning; checking it is the first thing we do.
Likely causes, most common first
In rough order of how often each one is why a fire dies, with the tell that points at it.
- Most common
The wood is wet or unseasoned
The sign: Hissing and bubbling at the cut ends, glass that blackens in an evening, and a fire that needs kindling added every few minutes to stay alive.
The fix: Burn wood dried below 20 percent moisture, six months or more in a covered, open-sided stack, and book a sweep to clear the tar those wet fires left behind. Chimney Sweep, from $249
- Common
The flue is cold and was never primed
The sign: The fire catches, smolders and dies within minutes, on an exterior chimney, in the first fires of the fall.
The fix: Prime the flue before lighting and build the fire top down; if a primed flue on dry wood still fails, we run a draft test to find out why. Chimney Inspection, from $129
- Common
A nest, a dead animal or a fallen tile is blocking the flue
The sign: Smoke in the room as well as a dying fire, a sour smell, twigs or chunks of clay tile in the firebox, or scratching before the fire was lit.
The fix: The blockage comes out, the flue is cleared and checked by camera, and a screened cap goes on so it does not refill. Chimney Animal Removal, from $249
- Common
An insert was pushed into the fireplace without a liner
The sign: A metal insert in an old masonry fireplace, a fire that only draws with the door open, and tar dripping into the firebox behind it.
The fix: A stainless liner fitted to the insert, insulated where needed, runs from the insert collar to the chimney top and gives the small firebox a flue it can warm. Chimney Liner Installation, from $1999
- Less common
Fans and appliances are winning the fight for air
The sign: The fire dies when the furnace, the dryer or a kitchen fan starts, and picks up the moment a window is opened.
The fix: A draft test with each fan running shows which one is stronger than the flue, and the fix is air for the house rather than a bigger fire. Chimney Inspection, from $129
- Less common
Wind is turning the draft over at the top
The sign: The fire draws on calm days and sulks on windy ones, especially where the chimney top sits below the roof ridge or under taller trees.
The fix: A lidded cap deflects the gusts, and a wind-directional cap suits a chimney that sits in the lee of something taller. Chimney Cap Installation, from $299
Two minutes of safe checks
Before you blame the chimney, run these checks on the wood, the house and the top of the flue.
- Split one of your logs and press the fresh face to your cheek: cool and damp means wet wood, and a moisture meter reading over 20 percent confirms it.
- Look at the log ends: deep cracks radiating from the center and bark that falls away point to seasoned wood, while tight bark and bright, uncracked ends mean it was cut this year.
- Notice whether the fire dies when the dryer, the furnace or a kitchen fan comes on, or recovers when you crack a window; if so, the house is the problem.
- From the yard, look at where the chimney top sits: below the ridge, hemmed in by trees, or without a cap, each of which lets wind push back down it.
- Look in the cold firebox for black flakes, twigs or pieces of clay tile; each one is a flue that needs a camera before more fires.
How to light a fire in a cold flue so it draws
Prime the flue and build the fire top down, because a cold exterior flue holds a plug of chilled air that the first smoke cannot lift.
Prime the flue
Open the damper fully, roll a sheet of newspaper into a torch, light the end and hold it up toward the damper for half a minute. When the flame leans up the flue instead of toward the room, the plug has moved and the flue is ready.
Build the fire top down
Lay the largest splits on the grate, smaller splits across them and kindling on top, then light the kindling. The fire burns downward and the flue warms before the big wood catches, so no heap of cold logs smothers the flame.
The insert that went in without a liner
An insert pushed into an old fireplace and left to vent into the open flue above it rarely draws well. The insert's small firebox cannot warm a flue built for an open fireplace.
Smoke that cannot warm the flue cools and condenses on its way up, so the flue narrows with creosote while the fire starves for draft.
The fix is a stainless liner cut to the insert's collar size, insulated where the installation calls for it, run from the insert to a new cap at the top. The same small fire that sulked in the open flue pulls hard in a flue its own size.
When to stop trying and call
Call when one of these fits, and leave the fireplace unlit in the meantime.
- Dry wood, a primed flue and an open damper still give you a fire that dies.
- Smoke came into the room while the fire struggled.
- There are black flakes, twigs or pieces of tile in the firebox, or there was scratching in the flue before you lit it.
- The fire only draws with a window open or an insert door cracked.
- The trouble started after an insert, a new furnace or a kitchen remodel with a large range hood.
Fire will not stay lit: common questions
Why does my fire keep going out even though the damper is open?
Because an open damper only removes one obstacle. Wet wood will not hold a flame however good the draft, a cold exterior flue has to be primed before it pulls, and a flue that is blocked or far too big for the fireplace never develops the pull a fire needs. Check the wood first, then prime the flue; if it still dies, the flue gets a camera.
How can I tell if the wood or the chimney is why my fire will not stay lit?
Burn a few sticks of wood you know is dry, such as kiln-dried kindling from the store, on a primed flue. If that burns clean and holds, your firewood is the problem. If dry kindling smolders and dies too, or smoke comes into the room, the flue is the problem and the fireplace waits unlit until someone has looked at it.
Why will my fireplace only draw when I open a window?
Because the house is tight enough that the fire cannot get air any other way. Every fire pulls air out of the room and up the flue, and when the furnace, the dryer and the bath fans are pulling too, the chimney loses. The window gives the house its air back; a draft test tells us what the permanent version looks like.
Why does my fireplace not draw since we put in an insert?
Often because the insert vents into the old open flue without a liner. The small firebox of an insert cannot warm a flue sized for an open fireplace, so smoke cools, creosote builds, and the fire only burns with the door cracked. A stainless liner built for the insert collar is the fix.
Can a chimney cap make a fire draw better?
When wind is the problem, yes. A cap with a lid stops gusts from pushing down the flue, which is why a fire that draws on calm days and dies on windy ones usually improves with one. A cap does nothing for wet wood, a cold flue or an oversized one, and a cap with a clogged screen makes the draw worse.
Related pages
Areas we cover for this
Calls about fire will not stay lit come in from Irvington, Northwest District and Nob Hill, Sandy and every other part of the metro we serve.
Ready to book a sweep?
Call with what the fireplace is doing, or text a photo of the opening and one of the chimney top, and we will name the service and its posted price before we come out.