Chimney Cap Repair | Chimney Cap Replacement

High’s Chimney Service of Gaithersburg, MD, provides chimney cap repair and chimney cap replacement in Glenwood, MD, Poolesville, MD, Darnestown, MD, Travilah, MD, and other communities in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC.

Chimney caps are stainless steel or copper devices that sit atop a chimney and serve as a barrier against rain water and debris.  If your chimney has a damaged chimney cap – or doesn’t have a cap at all – you’re putting yourself at risk in several ways.

A chimney cap keeps whatever’s outside your home from getting into your chimney.  Never operate a chimney without a sturdy cap in place – and make sure the cap is part of your annual chimney sweep inspection.

Problems with your chimney cap mean problems inside your chimney.  Let’s look at three important reasons for making sure your chimney cap is in good working order.

Chimney Caps Block Rain and Snow

Water and moisture are destructive to chimneys.  When allowed into the flue, water will begin to erode mortar and work its way into bricks.  Water also can damage chimney liners.  In either of these cases, damaged areas will allow intense heat to come into contact with the home’s building materials and very possibly lead to a fire.

Even before a fire, chimney damage due to water infiltration can be extensive and require a lot of time and money to repair.  Chimney repair in these cases often revolves around replacing degraded sections of mortar and/or repairing or replacing the chimney liner.  A damaged chimney is a dangerous chimney, so if your chimney cap is compromised, have it fixed.  If you don’t have a chimney cap, have one installed.

Chimney Caps Block Debris

A properly fitted chimney cap does a fantastic job in keeping the chimney free of things you don’t want in there.  Obstructions such as leaves, twigs, small broken tree branches and swirling dust as well as small-animal nests and small animals who have died in the chimney will cause chimney drafting issues.

A chimney is designed and sized to provide optimal drafting of smoke and toxins rising from your fireplace.  The more narrow the flue becomes, the harder it is for all the smoke to move through it to the outside air.  When this happens, you may experience a backup of smoke inside the house.

Smoke is bad enough – nobody likes a smoky room – but the biggest concern here is the carbon monoxide that smoke contains.  Carbon monoxide is invisible and odorless, and it’s potentially deadly to humans and animals.  For a chimney to operate safely, it must be clean.  A proper chimney cap will help keep it that way.

Chimney Caps Block Sparks and Embers From Escaping the Flue and the Fireplace

The updraft of smoky air often pulls with it fiery sparks and embers.  With a damaged chimney cap or no cap at all, these little fire-starters can fly out of the chimney opening and land on the roof or areas of the property that could catch fire.  Many house fires begin this way every year.

A secure chimney cap also reduces the instances of downdrafts – when air from outside the home shoots down the chimney.  When a fire is burning and a downdraft happens, sparks and embers can be blown out of the firebox and into the room.  You can help to prevent this with a good chimney cap, and you can further protect yourself by installing glass safety doors on your fireplace.

High’s Chimney Service of Gaithersburg, MD, provides complete chimney cap repair, chimney cap replacement and complete chimney sweep services for our customers in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.  Call us today for fast service.