Company Blog

Get an Animal Guard Installed Atop Your Chimney

Even if you love the sounds of birds chirping in the spring, you probably don’t want to hear it coming from your chimney. If your chimney is not protected with a chimney cap equipped with an animal guard, you are at risk of invasions from birds, squirrels, raccoons, and other wild animals. Recommended by both chimney experts like The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) and animal advocates like The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), this type of chimney cap will prevent critters from getting into your chimney. For over 25 years, All Seasons Chimney has provided quality professional chimney maintenance services, including chimney cap sales and installation, to residents of the Hudson Valley area. We would like to tell you more about the benefits of chimney caps with animal guards.

How do chimney caps keep birds and animals out of my chimney?

In order to prevent wild animals from getting inside your chimney, you need a chimney cap that is equipped with mesh metal sides. These serve as animal guards that will keep birds, raccoons, squirrels, and other animals out. Not only is it a nuisance to share your home with a family of wild animals, but there is also the risk of an animal becoming trapped and dying inside your chimney. Since some species of birds, such as chimney swifts, are protected by federal law from being removed from nesting spots, you might have to wait for them to leave on their own in the fall. Having a chimney cap with animal guards will help you avoid dealing with any wild animal moving into your chimney.

What are the other benefits of chimney caps with animal guards?

Not only does a chimney cap with animal guards keep birds, squirrels, raccoons, and other wild animals out of your chimney, it also prevents water from rain, ice, and snow from entering the flue. The CSIA recommends chimney caps as an economical way for homeowners to reduce water penetration damage. The animal guards also serve another purpose as spark arrestors because the mesh metal sides keep hot sparks and embers from jumping out of the chimney onto the roof. This greatly reduces the risk of an accidental house fire.

Make sure your chimney is protected from bird and wild animal invasions with a chimney cap with animal guards. Contact us today at All Seasons Chimney to schedule an appointment for our professional chimney cap installation services.

Prevent Animal Intrusion

Unfortunately, due to the increase in construction and development all across the country, many trees have been cut down, which makes it difficult for birds, squirrels, raccoons, and other wild animals to find a place to nest. Often, these critters will mistake a chimney for a tree and make their new home inside the flue. Not only can wild animals bring diseases into your home, but they also pose other hazards, including possible damage and a risk of fire. Preventing animal intrusion is essential when you have a chimney. All Seasons Chimney knows how to keep birds, squirrels, raccoons, and other wild animals from moving into your chimney, and we would like to tell you more about this topic.

The best way to protect your chimney against animal intrusion is a professionally installed chimney cap that is equipped with a metal mesh animal guard.

The Humane Society of the United States recommends chimney caps as the best product to keep wild animals out of your chimney. For the best protection, you need a chimney cap that has metal mesh sides that serve as an animal guard. If your existing chimney cap does not have this important feature, the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA)-certified chimney technicians at All Seasons Chimney can add metal meshing to the sides of your cap. Without this animal guard, it is very easy for birds, squirrels, and raccoons to be able to enter your chimney.

When wild animals invade your chimney, they create hazards in your home.

While birds, squirrels, or raccoons in your chimney can be very annoying because of their sounds and smells, they are also very hazardous. Because you should never build a fire to attempt to smoke out the animals, you will not be able to use your fireplace. Even after they leave on their own, your chimney can still be dangerous to use because of their nests they leave behind. Their nesting materials are extremely flammable and could cause a chimney fire. The straw, leaves, sticks, and other debris can also create a blockage of your flue, which may lead to a carbon monoxide leak into your home. You also have the chance of the worst-case scenario of an animal dying inside your chimney. A dead animal can cause horrific odors and an invasion of insects and parasites. To prevent all of these hazards from ever occurring, All Seasons Chimney strongly recommends a professional installation of a new chimney cap with metal mesh sides to keep animals from intruding into your chimney.
A good quality chimney cap not only keeps wild animals out of your chimney, but it also prevents water from penetrating your chimney, stops hot sparks from jumping out of the chimney, and improves chimney draft. Contact us at All Seasons Chimney to learn about the chimney cap options we have to protect your chimney from animal intrusion.