" 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.