Please help! Burnt varnished or stained furniture wood in wood stove..toxic fumes!

[chaossonar]

Hi wondering if anyone has any solutions for a wood stove that has burnt some varnished or stained (don't know which) furniture in it and now every time I start a fire the whole house stinks strongly of toxic fumes and chemicals. I have had multiple fires with normal firewood since the treated furniture fire thinking that with enough repetitive heat that the chemicals would burn off and go away.. however this is not the case.
Is the inside of the wood stove itself coated in a film of toxic chemicals? or is it the chimney? I can't tell. Either way I have to immediately open all the windows to avoid getting poisoned every time I start a fire (which is counter productive to heating the house).
I don't know what to do, any suggestions?

 

[begreen]

Nothing should be escaping the stove unless the flue is plugged. I would check the entire flue system for plugging, starting with the chimney cap screen.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

New stove by any chance? You could be curing the finish.

 

[chaossonar]

Nothing should be escaping the stove unless the flue is plugged. I would check the entire flue system for plugging, starting with the chimney cap screen.

Hmm it is a very old set up, I hadn't thought of that. It's just odd that the house doesn't fill with any smoke, just this extremely noxious fume that only started after the burning of old stained table.
Thanks I will investigate the ventilation of the flue and see if I can figure out when it was last cleaned - if ever.

 

[chaossonar]

New stove by any chance? You could be curing the finish.

No, very old pot belly wood stove

 

[bholler]

Hmm it is a very old set up, I hadn't thought of that. It's just odd that the house doesn't fill with any smoke, just this extremely noxious fume that only started after the burning of old stained table.
Thanks I will investigate the ventilation of the flue and see if I can figure out when it was last cleaned - if ever.

So you are burning in a stove but have absolutely no clue what the condition of the chimney is???

 

[bholler]

No, very old pot belly wood stove

When was the last time the stove was torn down and resealed?

 

[chaossonar]

When was the last time the stove was torn down and resealed?

Um I think never. The cabin the stove is in at least 50 years old and the stove has been in here since it was built

 

[chaossonar]

Um I think never. The cabin the stove is in at least 50 years old and the stove has been in here since it was built

but the filling of the building with toxic noxious chemical fumes never occurred prior to the burning of an old stained table

 

[EatenByLimestone]

If the chimney was pulling as it should, air should be getting sucked into any gaps. Nothing should be leaking out.

 

[stoveliker]

Are there nooks and crannies on the outside of the stove where some plastic (toy?) might have hidden?

 

[begreen]

but the filling of the building with toxic noxious chemical fumes never occurred prior to the burning of an old stained table

Don't burn anything else before having the whole system inspected. At 50 yrs old there are likely to be multiple problems. Including holes in the flue system or pyrolysis occuring in close-by wood that is starting to smolder. The smell indicates something is very wrong. The burning of old furniture and the smell may be just a coincidence.