Kankakee fireplace that smoked on every start: the rough smoke chamber above the damper
A homeowner in one of Kankakee’s older river neighborhoods called about a fireplace that puffed smoke into the room on every cold start and never seemed to pull the way it should. The fire was fine. The trouble sat in the few feet of masonry nobody ever sees, right above the damper.
What the smoke chamber does, and why old ones are rough
The smoke chamber is the short transition between the firebox and the flue, sitting just above the damper. Its job is to gather smoke from the wide firebox and funnel it smoothly up into the narrower flue. In a lot of Kankakee homes built in the early 1900s through the 1920s, masons formed that chamber by corbelling the brick, stepping each course inward until the opening narrowed to the flue. That leaves a stair-stepped interior full of ledges.
Every one of those ledges is a place for airflow to stall and for creosote to land. The NFPA 211 standard that we work to calls for a smooth, straight smoke chamber so smoke accelerates cleanly upward. A rough, stepped one slows the draft and gives smoke an easy reason to roll back out into the room before it ever gets moving.
What we found in this one
We put a light and mirror up past the damper and the picture was clear. The corbelled steps were coated with hard, glazed creosote [Observed] on every horizontal ledge, exactly where the air stops moving. The left wall had a mortar joint opened up wide enough to fit a finger into, a direct path for heat and smoke into the surrounding masonry. The damper plate itself was sound and the flue above was in good shape.
So the fire, the firebox and the flue were all doing their part. The rough smoke chamber was the bottleneck, and the open joint was a safety problem on top of the draft problem.
Parging it smooth
First came a full sweep to clear the creosote off the ledges. Then we parge-coated the chamber, troweling a refractory mortar over the corbelled steps to fill the ledges and leave a smooth, angled surface that funnels smoke up instead of catching it. We repointed the open joint at the same time. Once it cured, the same fireplace lit clean and drew steadily from the first match.
Parging is one of those quiet repairs that pays for itself on every burn. Smoking and weak draft usually get blamed on chimney height or the damper, when the real choke point is this short, rough stretch most homeowners never knew was there. Our pricing for smoke-chamber work is published on our pricing page.
If this sounds like your house: we handle chimney repair across Kankakee County, and our Kankakee page covers what we usually find there. Call (815) 449-4264, 7am to 9pm, any day.
Quick questions
Is a rough smoke chamber dangerous, or just annoying?
Both. The ledges collect creosote, which is fuel for a chimney fire, and open mortar joints let heat reach the surrounding masonry and framing. Parging the chamber smooth addresses the safety side as well as the draft.
Can you parge the smoke chamber without rebuilding the fireplace?
In most cases, yes. We work from inside, reaching through the firebox and damper opening to trowel refractory mortar over the existing corbelled brick. A full rebuild is only needed when the masonry itself has failed, which is rare in these old Kankakee chimneys.
Will this fix a fireplace that smokes into the room?
It fixes smoking caused by a rough or oversized smoke chamber, which is common in older Kankakee homes. We confirm the cause with an inspection first, because smoking can also come from house pressure, a missing cap, or chimney height.
Do you work weekends, and are you insured?
Yes to both. We are open seven days a week, 7am to 9pm. Jacob Dove has 29 years in the trade, and Friendship Chimney Sweep is insured and bonded.
Published October 31, 2026 · By Jacob Dove, Friendship Chimney Sweep, Bourbonnais IL