Maintaining your fireplace routinely is critical for safety. The cleaning process doesn't replace the service provided by a professional chimney sweep, but it is great for regular upkeep. “Dirty ...

A smoky fireplace is not only unpleasant; it can also be a fire hazard. Whether your fireplace is regularly smoky or only occasionally so, one or more of these procedures may remedy the situation.

Let’s hope it’s not fireplace weather for a very long time. Sure, it’s spring now, but the Grieves family went through a fall and winter with a newly converted, but absolutely unusable, gas fireplace.

Q:My husband and I have been frustrated by a problem since we moved into our circa-1965 house two years ago. The double-sided fireplace spews so much smoke that it's unusable. Two chimney sweeps have ...

Q: We own an older house in Los Gatos. It was built in 1930s. The fireplace was built without a damper. There is also a glass-door fire screen that can be closed. We get an odor of ashes even when the ...

What is a damper, and where is it on the engine? It is the barbell-looking “weight” on the front of the crankshaft near the front of the engine. There is a free-floating ring of steel (inertia ring) ...

Q: For several years, we have not been able to enjoy a cheery fire on a cold day. About eight years ago, we enclosed our back porch and made it into a TV room. What used to be the outside of the ...

So the wife and I were cuddled up on the couch last night with a nice fire in the fireplace. Then we heard a crash and looked over to see that one of the glass panes in the little door that blocks ...