Why does my fireplace smell like a smoke house?

Question

when the weather is warm and humid, my fireplace smells like a smoke house. what can i do about it? does it need to be cleaned?

Answer 1

Your chimney needs to be cleaned.

Answer 2

If it is a wood burning fire place, the ashes will smell depending on what you burn.

Answer 3

It smells like that because it's had wood burning in it, like a smokehouse does. Cleaning away any old ashes will help. Scrubbing off the brick or concrete will help, but maybe not much since the smell gets kind of embedded after a while. If the weather is warm and humid, you aren't likely to be using the fireplace, so perhaps you could get something to cover the fireplace  when you're not using it. Also, check if your damper is open. If it is, maybe you're getting a downdraft which is pushing the smoky smell into the house. Closing the damper might help if that's the case.