You can buy chimney caps at Home Depot and Lowes. They cost between $20
and $50 depending on size and material. If you are able to safely climb to
the top of your chimney twice, first to measure the size of the opening
and again to install the cap after you buy the right size, you can DIY the
job

If not almost any contractor who can get up there should be able to put a
cap on for you, it's not rocket science. Chimneysweeps,brickmasons,
roofers or even a cooperative house painter should be able to.

I put one on our chimney when the second bird (a Grackle) fell down it and
gave us a merry time trying to chase it out of the house. Our chimney was
only about 6 feet higher than the roof it abutted and that roof was
reachable out the window of a room on a higher floor, so all it took was a
little stepladder. The cap I bought went into the chimney like a bottle
cork with a few bolts to tighten and push clamps out th lock it in the
chimney so a hurricane or a persistant squirrel wouldn't lift it out.

Happy Holidays,

Jeff

--

Jeff Wisnia (W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"If you can smile when things are going wrong, you've thought of someone
to blame it on."



LenS wrote:



snipped



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.

Thanks,

-Len