Chimney caps · Carlisle, PA
Stainless mesh chimney caps, sized and fitted to your flue
Stainless caps with mesh screens that keep rain, leaves and animals out of the flue and sparks in.
What an uncapped flue lets in
A flue with no cap is an open pipe into the house. Rain runs down it and rusts the damper and firebox. Leaves and sticks pile up on the smoke shelf. Birds and squirrels move in, and a nest in the flue is a blockage that can send smoke back into the room.
The cap also works in the other direction. A screen over the opening typically keeps embers from drifting out onto shingles and dry leaves, which matters on a house with a wood stove or an open fireplace.
Red brick chimney with a stainless mesh chimney cap beside a dogwood in bloom
How a cap is chosen and fitted
We use stainless steel caps with a mesh screen, sized to the flue tile or liner and secured to the crown so wind does not lift them. The mesh is fine enough to stop animals and debris, and open enough that smoke and gases still leave freely. A second flue on the same chimney gets its own protection, such as a wire animal guard, so one cap is never left to cover two openings.
The cap sits on the crown, which is why Chimney Caps & Crown Repairs belong together. If the crown underneath is cracked or crumbling, we repair it before the cap goes down, so the stack is dry and the cap has a solid base. On one of our jobs the old black mesh cap was sitting on a crumbled crown, and the fix was both parts.
Caring for a cap and knowing when to call
Mesh collects soot and creosote, and a clogged screen restricts the draft. That is one reason the cap is checked at every annual sweep, along with the rust, bent wire and loose fasteners that wind and weather leave behind.
Call the office if a cap blows off in a storm, if you hear scratching or chirping in the flue, or if smoke smells stronger than it used to. We cover Carlisle and homes across Cumberland, Adams, Perry, Franklin and Dauphin Counties.
“They cleaned out heavy creosote buildup and repaired the chimney cap perfectly.” Cameron Powell, Google review