Torrance chimneys and the draft question
Rows of near-identical tract houses share the same short brick chimney and a fireplace opening that is wide for its flue. The usual complaint is that the fire smokes only when the logs are stacked high or the screen doors are open. Fitting a smoke guard across the top of the opening, or a liner sized to the firebox, usually settles it. Whatever the stack looks like, the first job is the same: watch which way the smoke goes at the damper, then work out why.
