What's the best fix for a wood-burning fireplace that smokes into the room?
In Brevard, look at water damage first: 80-plus inches of rain a year cracks chimney crowns, spalls brick, and rusts dampers — and a damper corroded half-shut pushes smoke into the room on every single burn. Cure the water problem first; then, if the fireplace has always smoked, seal it with an EPA insert and stainless liner.
Eighty inches of rain finds every weakness
Brevard's rainfall is a chimney's patient enemy. Water works into a cracked crown, freezes, and pries the masonry apart; brick faces spall off; and the damper — the steel plate that has to swing fully open for smoke to leave — rusts until it only half-moves. A damper stuck partway shut is one of the most common causes of smoke roll-out we find in Transylvania County, and it hides in plain sight because the handle still turns. The chases and crawl spaces under downtown homes and mountain cabins here hold moisture too, which shortens the life of everything metal in the system.
Wet county, wet wood
The other Brevard-specific culprit is fuel. Firewood stacked under a tarp through a March-to-June wet season never truly seasons, and wet wood smolders and smokes in even a healthy chimney while laying down creosote at double speed. If your fireplace smokes some nights and not others, check what you burned those nights before blaming the flue. Get the stack off the ground, covered on top and open on the sides — and give it a full year.
The permanent option in propane country
Brevard runs largely on propane, and some owners here end the whole battle by sealing the firebox: an EPA wood insert with a stainless liner if you love the wood fire, or a sealed propane insert if you're done with it — the regulator-and-piping connection is licensed gas work, and it's ours. We pull the Transylvania County permit and meet the inspector, 40 minutes southwest of our Asheville showroom. Call (828) 545-0525 to schedule an inspection.
Fireplace help in Brevard
We install and service fireplaces throughout Brevard and the rest of Transylvania County — just 40 minutes southwest from our Asheville-area showroom.