LenS wrote:

We live in a ranch style house with a gas furnace and forced air
heating/cooling. When we had our fall furnace inspection the HVAC
fellow pronouced our furnace in fine shape (not surprising since it's
only 5 years old) but said that he found some suspicious debris in the
chimney. Might have been the remains of a bird, he said, and also some
stuff that looked to him like toasted pine needles.

Anyway, he suggested that the chimney cap might be gone; eroded
perhaps, and recommended getting a new one. His company doesn't do
chimney caps and he had no suggestions for someone to do it.

It's a little odd that he inspected the chimney close enough to find
debris inside, but not know if there is a cap.


We've only owned our house for a little over 5 years, and I'm a babe
in the woods at home owning and maintenance.

I looked at my chimney from the backyard but couldn't see anything.
Then I talked to a couple of my neighbors who told me that the cap was
a sort of screen-like cover over the top of the chimney and most of
the time wasn't even visible from the ground. They also said the HVAC
fellow might have been right, but the only way to find out would be to
have someone actually look at the chimney from the roof.

What kind of companies do chimney caps? Roofers?

Is this an expensive thing?

What would happen if I did nothing? Is there some long-term damage
possible?

Any suggestions, comments or opinions will be welcome.

Have you tried a chimney sweep? Sounds like it might have been a while
since anyone did a thorough inspection of your chinmey. A good sweep
will clean it, inspect it, put a cap on it and let you know if there are
any problems which need to be repaired. This is especially important if
you actually use your fireplace. A simple cap should not be expensive,
and having it done by the sweep while he's there is the second most
economic way to do it. The most economic way is DIY, but since you
don't have much experience it would be best to have it done while a pro
is checking out the chimney.