What Makes Smoke Come out of the Bottom of My Buck Stove?

Chimney Back-Puffing

• Simply put, an unclean chimney or flue could be the reason behind the stove “back-puffing,” the instance when smoke funnels backward out from the fireplace and into the home. When your Buck brand stove back-puffs out from underneath the insert – essentially the decorative mantle facing that covers the fireplace – the chimney or flue needs a solid cleaning, and improperly sealed gaps between the insert and the wall need to be addressed.

How to Fix It

• The issue of cleaning should be addressed first. Purchase a flexible chimney brush and chimney brush rod, which are specifically manufactured to clean caked-on ash, soot and creosote from the interior of the chimney and flue. Don safety goggles, gloves and a dust mask, because this is certainly a dirty job. Close off the insert to keep debris from coming into the home as you clean, and lay an old heavy cloth across the bottom of the insert to seal off the gap temporarily. Obviously, you don’t want to have a fire going during this process.

Down and Dirty

• Start on your roof and attach the flexible brush to the end of the long extension brush rod. Brush downward from the inside top of the chimney, going as far as the rod allows, scraping the sides of the chimney’s interior and allowing the accumulated debris to fall freely downward into the fireplace. Adjust the length of the rod as you go until all four sides of the chimney are clean.

Almost Done

• Lay some drop cloths over the floor of the room, and open the insert. Shovel up all the spent debris using a small shovel or garden trowel, and deposit it into a bucket for disposal. Crouch next to the fireplace and again work from the top to the bottom, scraping and brushing all four sides of the interior. Once the chimney and flue are clean, it’s time to tackle the gap problem.

Close the Gap

• This last step depends largely on preference and the type of insert you have covering the fireplace. Wooden and metal slats exist that can be hammered directly into and around the gaps of the fireplace to effectively seal the insert against escaping smoke. Other chemical-based epoxies can be squirted into the gap that work very much like kitchen caulk.