[[email protected]]

Have a curiosity question that I hope the gurus can help me with. My
house has the typical clay chimney surrounded by brick. It does not
have one of those aluminum caps. The house apparently went decades
with out one. On my street I say only 50% of the houses have chimney
caps.
How vital are these caps? Are they vital?
I'm not comfortable going up there myself, so I'll to pay someone, and
unfortunately they'll charge a pretty penny just for a small job.


Thank you

[Tony Hwang]

wrote:
Have a curiosity question that I hope the gurus can help me with. My
house has the typical clay chimney surrounded by brick. It does not
have one of those aluminum caps. The house apparently went decades
with out one. On my street I say only 50% of the houses have chimney
caps.
How vital are these caps? Are they vital?
I'm not comfortable going up there myself, so I'll to pay someone, and
unfortunately they'll charge a pretty penny just for a small job.


Thank you
Hi,
My first house as built in arly '70 which had a wood burning FP and hat
kinda chimney. Next house built in mid-70's had same FP and chimney
neither had cap. From then on 4 more house with direc vent NG FPs, no
more such chimneys.

[Reed]

wrote:
Have a curiosity question that I hope the gurus can help me with. My
house has the typical clay chimney surrounded by brick. It does not
have one of those aluminum caps. The house apparently went decades
with out one. On my street I say only 50% of the houses have chimney
caps.
How vital are these caps? Are they vital?
I'm not comfortable going up there myself, so I'll to pay someone, and
unfortunately they'll charge a pretty penny just for a small job.


Thank you

I installed one mainly to keep the raccoons and birds out.

[Ed Pawlowski]

wrote in message
...
Have a curiosity question that I hope the gurus can help me with. My
house has the typical clay chimney surrounded by brick. It does not
have one of those aluminum caps. The house apparently went decades
with out one. On my street I say only 50% of the houses have chimney
caps.
How vital are these caps? Are they vital?
I'm not comfortable going up there myself, so I'll to pay someone, and
unfortunately they'll charge a pretty penny just for a small job.


Thank you

It depends.

My house did not have one on the chimney for the woodstove. I had a bird
get in there, a year or two later a squirrel got stuck. Both animals had to
be taken out inside the house, a real PITA. After that, I put a stainless
steel cap on.

A cap keeps out the wildlife, but, I get condensation from the woodstove now
when the products of combustion hits the cold cap.

I don't have a cap on the chimney for the oil burner and never had a
problem.

[cjt]

Reed wrote:
wrote:
Have a curiosity question that I hope the gurus can help me with. My
house has the typical clay chimney surrounded by brick. It does not
have one of those aluminum caps. The house apparently went decades
with out one. On my street I say only 50% of the houses have chimney
caps.
How vital are these caps? Are they vital?
I'm not comfortable going up there myself, so I'll to pay someone, and
unfortunately they'll charge a pretty penny just for a small job.


Thank you

I installed one mainly to keep the raccoons and birds out.

Same here, except 'possums.

[aemeijers]

wrote:
Have a curiosity question that I hope the gurus can help me with. My
house has the typical clay chimney surrounded by brick. It does not
have one of those aluminum caps. The house apparently went decades
with out one. On my street I say only 50% of the houses have chimney
caps.
How vital are these caps? Are they vital?
I'm not comfortable going up there myself, so I'll to pay someone, and
unfortunately they'll charge a pretty penny just for a small job.


Thank you
Any problems with furnace or water heater blowing out? Any nasty drafts
from fireplace? Any water stains on ceiling, or problems with water
showing up in fireplace? Any birds or animals falling down chimney stack?

If not, I wouldn't worry about it until next time roof needs repair or
replacing, since flashing will need to be redone at the same time, and
that guy is probably also set up to do caps.

--
aem sends...

[ransley]

On Nov 14, 11:25*pm, " wrote:
Have a curiosity question that I hope the gurus can help me with. *My
house has *the typical clay chimney surrounded by brick. *It does not
have one of those aluminum caps. *The house apparently went decades
with out one. *On my street I say only 50% of the houses have chimney
caps.
How vital are these caps? *Are they vital?
I'm not comfortable going up there myself, so I'll to pay someone, and
unfortunately they'll charge a pretty penny just for a small job.

Thank you

After pulling alive out of the fireplace, 2 pigeons and one sparrow,
and having a Racoon live in the chimney that even went right back in
after I smoked him out with paper, I gota cap, it also keeps rain out
and maybe makes your liner last longer.

[[email protected]]

On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:14:47 -0500, "Ed Pawlowski"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
Have a curiosity question that I hope the gurus can help me with. My
house has the typical clay chimney surrounded by brick. It does not
have one of those aluminum caps. The house apparently went decades
with out one. On my street I say only 50% of the houses have chimney
caps.
How vital are these caps? Are they vital?
I'm not comfortable going up there myself, so I'll to pay someone, and
unfortunately they'll charge a pretty penny just for a small job.


Thank you

It depends.

My house did not have one on the chimney for the woodstove. I had a bird
get in there, a year or two later a squirrel got stuck. Both animals had to
be taken out inside the house, a real PITA. After that, I put a stainless
steel cap on.

A cap keeps out the wildlife, but, I get condensation from the woodstove now
when the products of combustion hits the cold cap.

I don't have a cap on the chimney for the oil burner and never had a
problem.


A cap on the oil burner flue helps efficiency slightly. That's because
it helps the chiminey warm up faster, so you get better draft sooner.

[Red Green]

" wrote in :

Have a curiosity question that I hope the gurus can help me with. My
house has the typical clay chimney surrounded by brick. It does not
have one of those aluminum caps. The house apparently went decades
with out one. On my street I say only 50% of the houses have chimney
caps.
How vital are these caps? Are they vital?
I'm not comfortable going up there myself, so I'll to pay someone, and
unfortunately they'll charge a pretty penny just for a small job.


Thank you

Put one on. Basic ones (not stainless steel) are not that expensive,
maybe $35.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...13L&lpage=none

It will keep critters and their nests out, keep debris out if trees are
around and keep rain from continually going down and slowly damaging
brick and damper. Another slight advantage is it will reduce the amount
of rain the joint where the cement meets the flue sees. There's suppose
to be a gap there and it and it's suppose to be filled with flexible
caulk made for areas where movement occurs. Often, it doesn't happen or
was filled with improper material. That results in gaps and water
slowly damaging the brick/flue area out of sight.

Installing a basic cover takes 10 minutes but as you say, stay off he
roof if you're not comfortable. But this gives you an idea of the labor
they are charging. If they charge you a minimum hourly rate for like 1
hour, give them an hours work - inspect roof, check for exposed
nailheads, broken shingles, bad vent stack boots, caulk gap mentioned
above if needed, etc.

[Ed Pawlowski]

"Red Green" wrote in message
Put one on. Basic ones (not stainless steel) are not that expensive,
maybe $35.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...13L&lpage=none


IMO, the extra money for SS is well worth it. The basic cap rusted and I
still have rust stains on the brick after 10 years.

[cshenk]

wrote

have one of those aluminum caps. The house apparently went decades
with out one. On my street I say only 50% of the houses have chimney
caps.

Get one. Its not just for animals. It's also rain. Over time, rain coming
in damages the chimney just like eventually you get small mortar repair
needs on the outside. It can't be reached on the inside though very easily
so is $expensive$ to fix. For 35$, you won't have that problem.

There are 2 types. The 'tension' type that just holds ther with a sort of
'spring' which i do not advise, and the bolted sort (small bolts are used to
hold it firmly). Stainless Steel is best (mine is aluminium and we replace
it every 3 years or so).

As to putting one on, any handyman capable of getting on the roof, can do
this one. No special 'roofer' or 'chimney person' required.

[hr(bob) [email protected]]

On Nov 15, 9:59*am, "cshenk" wrote:
wrote

have one of those aluminum caps. *The house apparently went decades
with out one. *On my street I say only 50% of the houses have chimney
caps.

Get one. *Its not just for animals. *It's also rain. *Over time, rain coming
in damages the chimney just like eventually you get small mortar repair
needs on the outside. *It can't be reached on the inside though very easily
so is $expensive$ to fix. For 35$, you won't have that problem.

There are 2 types. *The 'tension' type that just holds ther with a sort of
'spring' which i do not advise, and the bolted sort (small bolts are used to
hold it firmly). *Stainless Steel is best (mine is aluminium and we replace
it every 3 years or so).

As to putting one on, any handyman capable of getting on the roof, can do
this one. *No special 'roofer' or 'chimney person' required.

I just use a square piece of hardware cloth to keep critters out, 3"
overlap on the sides bent down around the round flue pipe, never had
it blow off or any critters remove it altho I have a lot of squirrels
running around on the roof.

[benick[_2_]]

"cshenk" wrote in message
...
wrote

have one of those aluminum caps. The house apparently went decades
with out one. On my street I say only 50% of the houses have chimney
caps.

Get one. Its not just for animals. It's also rain. Over time, rain
coming in damages the chimney just like eventually you get small mortar
repair needs on the outside. It can't be reached on the inside though
very easily so is $expensive$ to fix. For 35$, you won't have that
problem.

There are 2 types. The 'tension' type that just holds ther with a sort of
'spring' which i do not advise, and the bolted sort (small bolts are used
to hold it firmly). Stainless Steel is best (mine is aluminium and we
replace it every 3 years or so).

As to putting one on, any handyman capable of getting on the roof, can do
this one. No special 'roofer' or 'chimney person' required.

How about a double flue chimney ?? Is there a single cap for both or does
each has it's own cap ???? I have a double flue and have never had a
cap...Never thought much about it till I read this thread.....

[cshenk]

"benick" wrote
"cshenk" wrote

Over time, rain coming in damages the chimney just like eventually you
get small mortar repair needs on the outside. It can't be reached on the
inside though very easily so is $expensive$ to fix. For 35$, you won't
have that problem.

How about a double flue chimney ?? Is there a single cap for both or does
each has it's own cap ???? I have a double flue and have never had a
cap...Never thought much about it till I read this thread.....

That if i understand the design right, would need one even more because you
have a better path for small leaks to hit freeze/thaw between them.

You should be able to get 1 cap that fits over both. It's essentially a
small rain roof with a critter guard ;-)

[Red Green]

"benick" wrote in
:


"cshenk" wrote in message
...
wrote

have one of those aluminum caps. The house apparently went decades
with out one. On my street I say only 50% of the houses have
chimney caps.

Get one. Its not just for animals. It's also rain. Over time, rain
coming in damages the chimney just like eventually you get small
mortar repair needs on the outside. It can't be reached on the
inside though very easily so is $expensive$ to fix. For 35$, you
won't have that problem.

There are 2 types. The 'tension' type that just holds ther with a
sort of 'spring' which i do not advise, and the bolted sort (small
bolts are used to hold it firmly). Stainless Steel is best (mine is
aluminium and we replace it every 3 years or so).

As to putting one on, any handyman capable of getting on the roof,
can do this one. No special 'roofer' or 'chimney person' required.

How about a double flue chimney ?? Is there a single cap for both or
does each has it's own cap ???? I have a double flue and have never
had a cap...Never thought much about it till I read this thread.....


Just Google: chimney cap double

[Jules[_2_]]

On Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:25:12 -0800, wrote:

Have a curiosity question that I hope the gurus can help me with. My
house has the typical clay chimney surrounded by brick. It does not
have one of those aluminum caps. The house apparently went decades
with out one. On my street I say only 50% of the houses have chimney
caps.
How vital are these caps? Are they vital?

When we first moved in last year, we ended up with a nice puddle of
black water in the basement whenever it rained (there's a little hinged
inspection cover right at the base of the chimney and water would
collect behind it and then seep through).

The day it didn't rain but we ended up with a duck at the bottom of the
chimney was the day I decided it needed to be capped.

I had some spare metal plate laying around, so I just hopped up there and
measured the chimney, then made my own cap - I wasn't too hopeful of a
generic one fitting right (1940's place, no building regs, so everything
tends to be a bit non-standard). I say "just", but I hate ladders... :-)

cheers

Jules

[Jules[_2_]]

On Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:31:06 +0000, Marina wrote:
The day it didn't rain but we ended up with a duck at the bottom of the
chimney was the day I decided it needed to be capped.

Another year our gas furnace was not working. That was when we first
bought the house and we didn't know too much. We called the furnace guy
and he found a lifeless bird. He placed the bird in a basket and I took it
outside, to be disposed of later. When the guy left he said the bird was
gone from the basket. It was only outside for 10 to 15 minutes. He
speculated the bird "came to" and flew away.

Interesting. With our duck, it was definitely alive when I first found it.
By the time I'd grabbed some gloves so I could grab it without getting
covered in soot, it gave all signs of being dead. I put it in the woods
and it was gone a half hour later - I'd always figured it got picked up by
some woodland critter (lots of 'em up here, and bears not unheard of) but
maybe it really was just playing dead...

I'm not sure how you check a duck's pulse

[[email protected]]

On Nov 15, 5:19*am, aemeijers wrote:

Any problems with furnace or water heater blowing out? Any nasty drafts
from fireplace? Any water stains on ceiling, or problems with water
showing up in fireplace? Any birds or animals falling downchimneystack?

If not, I wouldn't worry about it until next time roof needs repair or
replacing, since flashing will need to be redone at the same time, and
that guy is probably also set up to do caps.


Cool, thanks. Don't have a fireplace. It's for a natural gas
furnace. never had a problem with animals, or black water puddles in
the basement, or drafts. Can't determine internal motor damage. The
info advice on this thread was good, thank you. Next time one of my
neighbors is fixing his roof, maybe I'll negotiate with the contractor
to come over for an hour, if the price is reasonable.