If you have not had the chimney cleaned for a year or more, now is the time to do it, and to ask the chimney-sweep what's causing the smoke. I agree that lighting a newspaper in the firebox before igniting the wood, to create an updraft, is a good idea. You might also want to make sure you do not have any exhaust fans on when you burn a fire because that could interfere with the updraft. If your house is very tightly insulated, You might also want to open a nearby window just a crack to help the updraft. Also, make sure you use well seasoned dry hard wood. If, after trying all these things, the problem persists, then the only corrective measures left are pricey. You may need to make the chimney higher so it does not pump smoke into your neightbor's place. Of you may want to consider installing a gas fired direct vent insert. They are terrific but costly.

It's cute. Does it sing "Rockin' Robin" when there's a fire? I just wish someone would invent a smoke and CO alarm that could be painted!!! They are such ugly little pimples on the ceiling.

I agree with Accent, my estimate from the desk chair was about 15k for a full replacement. The liners having a crack from top to bottom means they are not functional. During a hot fire the cracks expand and allow smoke and creosote to get behind the liner. This is how a chimney fire becomes a house fire. The liner needs repair, and it might be possible to add a Stainless Steel liner to the flue depending on the dimensions. The parging in the throat area is less of a concern to me, and I am completely confident that any attempt to reparge will fall off again. If the fireplace is big enough, then a complete inspection of the throat area may be possible, esp. since there is no damper. This inspection would reveal if additional cracks and damage are located in the throat which need to be repaired. The parging itself is not critical, but the integrity of the brick work is essential. I agree that the firebox can be repaired without demo. I suspect that the contractor who completed the inspection did not offer a reline option because the dimensions were too small, or they didn't know how to do it. I would recommend a second opinion from a certified chimney sweep so you know what exactly is going on. A list of Certified Chimney Sweeps can be found on the Chimney Safety Institute of America website. All 50 states are listed.

Thanks for posting that section, Fred! I've been having trouble finding the right section in the codes, most of the things I've come across have been from secondary sources writing about the codes. Always loses some detail in the translation. I think exception 3 should apply to my situation, but with a twist (there's always a twist). I looked through the permit documents the city has available online, and it looks like there were two separate permits for downstairs work. The first permit related to the portion of the downstairs where the alarms are actually located, and was described as "Remodel existing space behind garage, no enlarge of existing habitable space." I'm assuming if walls had been removed, that would have been indicated in the description (no idea if that's a safe assumption or not). The second permit was a issued a year later, and relates to the other end of the downstairs area, i.e., away from the alarms. That permit was described as "Remove bearing wall next to stair on ground floor." So there was a wall taken out downstairs at some point. Did removing that wall negate the code exception for the entire downstairs, such that removal triggered the need to install wired alarms throughout the downstairs area? Such an outcome would seem pretty draconian, since it would require a significant tear down of areas that are nowhere near the permitted work area. I'm really impressed by the responses on here as a whole. My wife and I had used Houzz in the past primarily to get ideas for decorating/remodeling, had no idea there was such a great user community.