Understanding Chimney Caps | Ask This Old House

[@paulct91]

I've needed to know this for at least 20 years, our caps been gone for a while... 😅

[@BiggMo]

The woodpeckers love my metal cap. They play the metal like bongos to attract mates. Drives me nuts

[@degenwow]

buy one for yourself and play along!

[@zztop8592]

LOL

[@Farmer-bh3cg]

I have the two separate flues with the problem of the caps overlapping. Problem solved by cutting one caps corners where it overlapped and bending it up to fit over the other cap. Has worked perfectly for 15 years and counting. PS: spend the extra for stainless - it won't be corroded by the stack gasses.

[@MaMa-qh4dy]

Much better to order a custom chimney cap that straps around the outside brick of the chimney. That way, a cracked cement chimney cap will not leak water because it will be covered by the metal cap like an umbrella.

[@degenwow]

Love the newest uploads!

[@Czechbound]

When I bought my new house, on day 2 there was a knock at the door. By the time I answered it, the itinerant seller was coming down off the roof. "Alright boss. I just put two chimney cowls on for you. That'll be 30 quid thanks". Haha, bloody cheeky git ! But I was happy to have them, so I paid him. I just wasn't happy that he'd rested his heavy ladder incorrectly against the plastic gutter, and not the brickwork/ wooden fascia. Luckily no harm done

[@johnroberts2444]

I have a little camping wood stove i just bought off Amazon, do you need a cap for something like that ? 🤔

[@carolhandy468]

Bought a house with a Kitchen Aid range hood vented out roof and when it rains it sounds like we have a tin roof. The noise of the rain hitting the metal chimney cap is soooo loud. Why is this? Did the installer forget some type of insulation? I mean it is really loud. I can’t find any info about this issue. Any recommendations?

[@Thebarterguy]

I have a chimney top without the concrete and flute. It was a chimney from the 30s and is all brick. The chimney cap would just go over that huh?

[@Its_crazyadamla]

Then how does Santa Claus come down the chimney....

[@dgrblue4162]

Hopefully you indeed have a chimney.

[@sirnatanielson]

Well with the custom cap, he just has to remove the four bolts and he's home free!

[@erikolsen2846]

Did you watch the video? He obviously loosens the screws, idiot.

[@johnroberts2444]

I wear a cap on my head to keep the critters from taking my eyeballs out of my socket thinking their nuts of some kind !!! 🧢👀😂

[@johnroberts2444]

@Navy1977 I'm a thinker & not a drinker ! 😂😂😂

[@johnroberts2444]

@Navy1977 😉🤣👌🙏

[@CHIMNEYSWEEPSERVICE]

I totally get the Santa Claus idea, but if you want to preserve your chimney flue & structure - call us to install a chimney cap ASAP!

[@zztop8592]

Why not cover all of the concrete edge with a cover, to prevent wear of the concrete?

[@citticat2]

I have this weird noise coming from my cap and my neighbor said that I need to oil my cap but I don't where were to oil it. I did have someone oil it 4 years ago and it needs re-oiling. Is there a part called a "GM"

[@elfuturomio]

Perhaps pne day that all apply pr Perhaps not

[@checkfoldcallraise]

Let the birds fly in. Free nuggies 😂

[@alexross367]

No cap 🧢

[@rerolley]

Not fun having a starling flapping around in your wood stove.

[@I-Teee]

They eventually stop.

[@bikeny]

Not long after I bought my first house I was sitting in the kitchen one weekend morning having breakfast and I heard some rustling sounds. Since it's just me, I was concerned as to what the noise was and where was it coming from. I could see nothing obvious and it wasn't continuous, but I stood in the living room and kept listening. I heard it, but couldn't see it. Finally, I honed in on it. Yep, behind the fireplace doors, I could see the bird flapping around. It seems the previous owners had left the flue open and with no cap at the top, this critter managed to make it all the way down. Eventually it found its way back out the top and I closed the flue. Around that time was when I learned about the concept of multiple flues in the chimney stack. I had called a company to come and clean out the chimney. When they asked about how many, I said one (all I was thinking about was the fireplace). The tech comes and tells my mom what the total bill is (she came over to let the guy in, as I was at work). It was double what I told her it was going to be. I called the company and told them you didn't tell me per flue. So in the spirit of compromise, we split the expense for the 2nd flue's cleaning so we both learned something. Yep, one chimney, 2 flues. The house I bought a few months ago is much simpler, just a wood stove. Radiant heat in the concrete floor slab (no basement). Oh, a few years after that bird incident, I did have both flues capped.

[@tygerstripes3752]

We don't have a chimney cap, but we do have chimney swifts and have had them for over 50 years. I've searched for 'bird friendly' chimney cap and can't find a thing. I would never want them shut out. They do leave in the fall and come back in the spring, so we can have winter fires.

[@DuffyGabi]

Years ago my wife kept insisting there was a bird in the duct trunk. I eventually cut it open even though I didn’t believe her. Nothing. Since then she has repeatedly told me about a raccoon in the attic. The undisturbed blown in insulation tells a different story.

[@patty109109]

😶

[@degenwow]

Jimmy the Racoon here, sorry for disturbances.

[@Czechbound]

I know nothing. But those screws look like the first gust of wind and those caps would go bye bye

[@u2sweetestallie]

Exactly. How to you secure a flag screw against something without anything to secure it to? Mike has a hole, but the screws are just floating around. My chimney didn’t come with instructions. Trying to figure this out

[@AB-nu5we]

My municipality requires caps.

[@jean-marcdumas-perrin5324]

👍⭐⭐⭐👏

[@donc-m4900]

Does it have feelings?

[@donc-m4900]

@Navy1977 The chimney cap. How else can you truly understand it,. Its hopes, its dreams. Its humor.

[@degenwow]

it comes with the package, yes.

[@ronaldwoofer5024]

just put a frying pan on top as a cap

[@donc-m4900]

Concrete cap? Flue liner? Not on This old house.

[@donc-m4900]

@Navy1977 Still original and good condition, only handles natural gas exhaust. And someone did add a cap.