Animal removal · Carlisle, PA
Bird, squirrel and nest removal from the flue and smoke chamber, finished with a screened cap
Birds, squirrels and nests cleared out of the flue and smoke chamber, then the top screened so they cannot get back in.
What a nest does to a working flue
An open chimney top looks like a hollow tree to a bird or a squirrel. Twigs, leaves, insulation and straw pack into the flue, and a flue packed with debris cannot carry smoke and gas out of the house. The fireplace smokes back into the room, a furnace flue draws badly, and the nest itself is dry fuel sitting inside a hot chimney.
Blockages from nesting animals, debris and soot are one of the problems we find most often. Some announce themselves with scratching or chirping in the walls. Others sit silent until the first fire of the season, which is the wrong moment to learn the flue is closed.
Mesh animal guard and stainless cap on top of a brick chimney
How the removal goes, step by step
First we look. We find out what is in the flue and where it sits, from the cap down through the flue liner to the smoke chamber above the damper, where debris tends to pile up and where it is hardest to reach. Then we clear it out and carry the nesting material and soot away with us instead of leaving it on your hearth.
Once the passage is clear, we sweep the flue and look it over as part of the same visit, because a nest is usually a sign the top of the chimney was open. The last step is the one that keeps the job done: a stainless cap with a mesh screen, set over the flue so rain, leaves and animals stay out and sparks stay in.
We work the way we do on every sweep, courteous and dust-free, and we tell you what we found before we start on anything else.
Keeping animals out for good
A cleared flue with an uncovered top is only a vacancy. If your chimney has no cap, or the old one is bent, rusted or missing its screen, the animals can get straight back in. A new screened cap is the permanent half of this service.
Call if you hear movement in the fireplace, if smoke backs up, or if you see straw or twigs at the damper. Sometimes the fix is a small one. One customer's chimney access door had fallen off and she would be out when we came; we handled the visit without her home, and told her the chimney did not need to be cleaned. The office takes calls at 717-601-2595, and emergency service runs 24/7.
"These people are wonderful." Suzanne Eiben, Google review.