Chimney rain caps save you money!
One of the best preventative maintenance actions you can take is to have a rain cap installed on your chimney. The obvious advantages are keeping water and animals out of the interior of your chimney system. Chimney rain caps can also help to prevent fires in the surrounding environment, so scroll down to learn all about this critical component of a chimney system.
Single-flue stainless steel chimney rain caps
Our standard, single-flue stainless steel rain cap. The heavy-duty stainless steel screening is a 3/4″ diamond pattern. The material is heavy gauge and extremely durable against heat and the elements. This cap fits over a single chimney flue. The chimney flue is the cavity that the smoke travels up.
Galvanized Steel Chimney Rain Caps – Black
Sometimes a black cap is called for simply because of aesthetic appearance. The cap above is constructed with heavy-gauge galvanized steel and is finished with a black powder coating.
Semi-custom multi-flue chimney rain caps
These caps are ordered from the factory, and are fastened to the top of the chimney with special masonry anchors. The lid of the cap is removable sot that the chimney flues can be cleaned. The cap above is made of heavy-gauge stainless steel. Several dimensions of these semi-custom rain caps are available from the factory (here in the U.S.) ; and this provides a lower cost alternative to a completely custom-made rain cap.
Custom-fabricated stainless steel rain cap. Covers the entire top of the chimney.
The damage that can occur due to lack of rain caps:
Animals In The Chimney
We have dealt with birds, ducks, squirrels and raccoons in the chimney. There are times when an animal will crawl into the safety of a chimney to die. Depending on where the chimney is located, it can be major surgery to get animals out of the chimney. The odor of a decomposing animal tends to be a bit unpleasant…
Rusted, Warped, Damaged fireplace damper
Dampers become inoperable, fall apart, rust through. Replacing dampers is costly.
Water Penetration Into House Walls
This can happen when the chimney has weak or missing mortar joints. Joints can wear from the inside out, and lack of a rain cap can cause water to damage interior walls.
Damaged Fireplace Firebox
Water can get in behind fireplace walls and cause damage.