Our Services

Fitting a chimney cap properly

Local pros, upfront written prices and a 10% discount on work confirmed inside 72 hours of the inspection.

Leave enough room under the lid

Set a lid too close to the tile and the flue is choked. For a rain cap on a masonry chimney, the Florida Building Code wants the open area beneath the lid to be at least four times the flue outlet's own open area, and spark arrestors carry the same four-to-one ratio.

We check that ratio for the cap and flue in front of us, especially on caps made to order or adjusted in the field. A generous opening lets the exhaust leave while the lid still turns rain away from the tile.

A cap that comes off for sweeping

A cap should never turn the chimney into something that cannot be cleaned. The Florida Building Code requires a spark arrestor to have access for cleaning, with the screen or cap removable so the flue can be swept. Caps that are welded or glued shut work against that.

We fit caps with lids or screens that come off with ordinary tools, and we show you where the fasteners are. When your flue is swept later, the sweep can open the top, clean through it and refit the cap without cutting anything.

Chimney swifts and your capping decision

Chimney swifts build their nests on the inside walls of chimneys while they breed. Federal law, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, makes it illegal to harass, injure or kill the birds or to disturb their eggs or nests, as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service points out. They reach the country in March or April and head south in August or September.

The same agency asks owners not to cap a chimney just to keep wildlife out, and it advises capping a flue with a metal lining so birds are not trapped inside. The decision is yours, and we never fit a cap over an active nest.

Mesh that keeps squirrels and raccoons out

Raccoons pull at loose mesh and squirrels chew at gaps along the lid, so the screen needs to be sound and fastened on every side. A cap with a bent corner or a missing panel invites the same animals back.

We fit caps with a screen that meets the code for the flue, fasten it to the frame and check the gaps where the cap meets the tile or crown. If animals have already damaged the old cap, we show you where they got in and what the new cap changes.