A chimney cap is the small, low-cost piece that earns far more than its size, and a flue standing open at the top is a flue asking for trouble. Delgado Chimney Squad fits chimney caps across Lansdowne, PA that are measured to the flue they cover, anchored to ride out a Delaware County storm, and screened to shut out wildlife while leaving the draft free to climb. We treat the cap as a working part of the chimney, because in a climate of heavy rain, hard freeze-thaw, and the squirrels and birds that move into any open shaft, that is exactly what it is.
- Cap measured to the actual flue rather than bought to roughly fit
- Stainless or galvanized build to outlast the weather
- Screen mesh sized to stop animals while leaving the draft open
- Anchored firmly against wind and storm
- Spark-arrestor screen to catch embers leaving the flue
- Free measure-up and a plain written estimate
Four problems that pour straight down an open flue
An uncapped flue is an open hole at the top of your house, and four separate troubles fall right through it. The first is water. Rain and snow dropping straight down an open flue soak the liner, the smoke shelf, and the firebox, rusting the damper and speeding the freeze-thaw damage that breaks the masonry down from within. The second is wildlife. Squirrels, raccoons, and birds find an open flue a sheltered shaft made to order for a nest, and a nest is both a blockage that drives smoke and carbon monoxide back into the room and a fire hazard in its own right. A proper cap, screened correctly, locks both of those out.
The third job a cap does is catch embers. A cap with a spark-arrestor screen stops the burning flecks riding up the flue from settling onto the roof, which carries real weight in a borough where so many of the homes sit close together and a roof fire does not stay put on one house. The fourth is guarding the draft itself, because a cap with the right mesh and clearance keeps rain and animals out without strangling the airflow the fire depends on. Get the cap wrong and you swap one problem for another. Get it right and it quietly handles all four for years.
Fit and fastening are the whole game
A cap is only as good as its fit, and one that is too small or carelessly fastened is barely better than no cap at all. We measure the actual flue opening, whether the chimney carries one or several, and set a cap that covers it fully, with a screen mesh that blocks animals without choking the draft the appliance needs. The material matters as much as the measurement. We use caps built to stand up to the weather rather than the thin ones that rust through in a few seasons and have to be replaced again, because a cap that fails is a cap that quietly lets the water and the wildlife back in long before anyone notices the damage.
Fastening is the corner a cheap install cuts. A cap that is not properly secured will lift or shift in the kind of wind a Delaware County storm delivers, and a displaced cap stops doing its job the instant it moves. We anchor the cap to hold through the weather these chimneys actually see. If your chimney has no cap, a rusted-out one, or a cap an animal has already shoved aside, the fix is usually quick and inexpensive, and it is one of the highest-value small jobs a chimney can have done. We will measure the flue at no charge and put exactly what your chimney needs in writing.
More than one flue, and the crown underneath the cap
Plenty of chimneys around Lansdowne carry more than one flue on a single masonry stack, a fireplace alongside a heating appliance, or two fireplaces, each needing its own guard at the top. When we cap a chimney we account for every flue on it, not only the obvious one, because a flue left open is a flue letting in all the water, animals, and weather a cap is meant to keep out. Whether that means an individual cap on each flue or a single larger one built to span them all, the point is that nothing up top is left bare to quietly cause the very damage the rest of the cap is preventing.
The cap also works in concert with the crown beneath it, and fitting a cap is a natural moment to look at both. The crown sheds water off the top of the masonry while the cap keeps it out of the flue mouth, and a weakness in either one leaves the top of the chimney open to the weather. When we set a cap, we tell you honestly what the crown underneath looks like, so you are protecting the whole top of the chimney rather than only one piece of it. Often a cap and a crown repair make sense together, and we will lay out what the top of your chimney actually needs in writing, with no push to do more than the chimney warrants.
One crew, the entire chimney
A chimney is a system, so chimney cap installation rarely stands alone, it connects to fireplace sweep, chimney inspection, flashing repair, chimney relining, tuckpointing, and our crew handles all of it under one roof. We bring the same service to East Lansdowne chimney cap installation, Upper Darby chimney cap installation, Chimney Cap Installation in Aldan, Morton chimney cap installation and everywhere else across the Lansdowne area.
If you searched for chimney sweep near me, you have reached a local crew, call 267-302-0896 any time. For background, read Before the First Fire of the Season: A Lansdowne, PA Homeowner's Chimney Checklist on our blog, or head back to our Lansdowne home page to see everything we do.