What’s protecting your chimney from above? If your chimney’s not fitted with a chimney cap, you’re putting your chimney, and even your home, in danger of damage from water, animals, high winds and more. Here’s why you should have a sturdy chimney cap atop your chimney flue.
Keep Animals Out
Your chimney provides the perfect environment for animals: It’s warm, it’s dark and it provides plenty of shelter from the elements. That’s why animals, from swifts and bats to squirrels and raccoons, will make their way into your chimney. Once inside, they’re happy to set up shop, building nests, bringing back food and even trying to gain entry into your home. And while some animals find shelter in your chimney, others find the chimney a hazard. They can find their way inside and become trapped, eventually dying, blocking your chimney and filling your home with a horrible smell. A chimney cap creates a barrier to animals entering your chimney flue. Installing a chimney cap is the best way to keep animals out.
Protect Your Chimney From Water Damage
Nothing can ruin your chimney and fireplace system like water. Without something to protect your chimney flue from rain, snow and sleet, water can run right down the walls of your chimney flue, damaging the chimney liner; rusting metal components of the fireplace, like the damper, fireplace grate and fireplace doors; and even entering and damaging your home’s structure. The Chimney Safety Institute of America recommends installing a chimney cap as the best way to protect your chimney and fireplace from water damage.
Block Downdrafts
A wind coming down your chimney can chill your home, making it feel drafty and cold. A sudden gust of wind that blows forcefully down your chimney can prove even more dangerous: It can blow smoke, embers and fireplace logs right out of your fireplace, burning anyone or anything that’s near your hearth and potentially sparking a home fire. A chimney cap can block drafts from coming down the chimney and chilling your home, and it can stop sudden downdrafts from creating a fireplace hazard.
Keep Your Rooftop Safe
The protection offered by a chimney cap goes both ways: A chimney cap outfitted with a mesh screen can keep embers in your chimney. When your fireplace burns hot enough, burning embers can pop up and out of your chimney. Those embers can ignite your rooftop, nearby trees or landscape features and neighboring structures. The right chimney cap can save your home from a rooftop fire hazard.
So, is your home protected from critters, moisture, downdrafts and burning embers with a chimney cap? If your chimney is missing a cap, or if your chimney cap is in disrepair, get your chimney protected as soon as possible! Call Total Chimney Care at 203-874-6772 or schedule an appointment online to have your chimney outfitted with a new chimney cap!