Smoky odor in adjacent rooms indicates leaking chimney flue

Q. We use the fireplace in our 100-yearold house maybe three times a week. We burn only hardwood, and we have the chimney swept every year.

In the last couple of years, we have noticed that when we have a fire, we must keep a towel on the floor of the second-floor guest room, or the room gets a bit smoky. It’s not bad, but there is an odor. Also, a built-in china cabinet on the first floor has a smoky odor.

I don’t know whether or not the chimney is suspect in the odor. Do you think I should be worried about a crack in the chimney? If so, could sparks may be getting into the walls?

Is a fix as simple as having a liner installed? I’d hate to have the walls torn apart to fix the chimney.

A. Get thee to a chimney specialist or chimney sweep as soon as possible! That chimney is leaking fumes.

The chimney in question probably does not have liners — and the chimney just provides flues, which are passages to allow

fumes to go up and out of the house. Cracks in the chimney are allowing some fumes to go into the upstairs bedroom and the china cabinet.

It might be possible for you to put in a stainless-steel liner for the fireplace, but any other chimneys in the house should have them too, because other flues are shared by gas-burning appliances. I think every appliance needs a flue liner.

I am not sure the cracks have to be repaired; that would be up to the specialist or the sweep. Contact someone as soon as possible.

Q. My basement ceiling joists are all unevenly spaced. When insulating, should I go with the pink stuff or the rigid foam board? Which would be easiest and quickest to install?

A. Go for the rigid Styrofoam insulation, which can be cut to fit snugly in the space between joists.

Q. The brick in front of my fireplace is ugly (so says my wife). I’d like to cover it with a slab of bluestone, cut to shape. Is that the right material to use?

A. Ugly is in the eye of the beholder. I suggest you get your wife to decide what she wants, then either do it or pay for it. Your idea of bluestone is perfect for a hearth.

Q. I have a bluestone patio that I put in a few years ago. Shallow pieces are flaking off the stone, and it looks terrible. Is there anything I can do to smooth it out to make it look normal?

A. I can’t quite see them as ugly; that is the nature of stone. To fix the problem, and if the stones are set in sand, simply turn them over. They should not be mortared.

Q. Last week my heat kicked on early, and I was told the batteries in my thermostat may need replacing. Does that sound right? For now, I just switched it off.

A. Your thermostat is one of those newfangled programmable units that have batteries — so, replace the batteries. My thermostat is old-fashioned and manual, with no batteries. And while I have to handle it manually, I think it is simpler and superior to programmable thermostats, which I think are gadgets.