There is an Animal in Your Chimney
Scratching, chirping or rustling above the damper means something has got into an uncapped flue. It happens constantly in the wooded parts of New Jersey.
on site
included
If it is urgent
Smoke coming back into the room, a burning smell after a fire, an animal in the flue, or water running down the chimney breast — stop using the fireplace and call us.
Do not light a fire
It is the first thing people try and it is the worst option. A nest is a full blockage sitting directly above your firebox, so lighting a fire fills the house with smoke and carbon monoxide, and the nest itself is dry tinder inside your flue. Whatever is up there, do not try to smoke it out.
Keep the damper closed so nothing gets into the room, and keep pets away from the fireplace.
What tends to get in
Chimney swifts nest in flues through the summer and are federally protected while nesting — the nest legally cannot be removed until the birds have fledged. Squirrels fall in and often cannot climb back out of a smooth flue. Raccoons deliberately den in chimneys to have their young, usually in spring, and a mother raccoon above your damper is not a do-it-yourself situation.
Clearing it and closing it off
Once the flue is clear, the fix is trivial and permanent: a stainless cap with mesh sides. It is the cheapest part on the whole chimney and it ends this problem for good, along with keeping the rain out. We fit one after clearing and sweeping so you are not doing this again next spring.
Common questions
Straight answers
Can you just remove the nest?
Once the flue is clear of live animals, yes - it comes out with the sweep. If there is an active protected nest we will tell you honestly that it has to wait, rather than taking your money to do something we cannot legally do.
How did it get in if I have a cap?
Usually the cap mesh has rusted through or the cap has come loose. It is one of the first things we check from the roof.
What happens on the visit
- We protect your floor and hearth before anything else
- A camera goes in the flue, bottom to top — not a flashlight
- We check the firebox, damper, smoke shelf and the crown above the roofline
- We confirm which appliances vent into which flue
- You get a written report with photographs the same day
Get it looked at
Inspection $49 · Cleaning $99