Chimney Caps Help Prevent Chimney & Yard Fires

Autumn is a beautiful time of year when the leaves change colors to brilliant yellows, oranges and reds. But those leaves eventually fall off the trees, piling up on roofs, yards and anywhere else they land.

Autumn also is the time of year when people start using their fireplaces for warmth and maintaining the right seasonal ambience. But if your chimney doesn’t have a cap, you potentially could develop a fire within your flue or in your yard if a spark catches dried leaves on fire. For example:

Leaves, twigs and trash floating in the air can go down an uncapped flue. This debris can build up in your chimney, causing a chimney fire if a spark flies up the flue and ignites the debris. Also leaves and debris can build up behind your fireplace damper, making it difficult to open. The metal mesh on the chimney cap will stop falling leaves and other debris from getting into your flue and clogging it.

Large sparks and burning ashes from fires in your fireplace can travel up the flue and out the chimney if it’s uncapped. These sparks or ashes can land on dry, fallen leaves, igniting them and causing a roof or yard fire. The wire mesh around the chimney cap, also called a spark arrestor or spark deflector, helps to keep these sparks contained within the cap until the flame dies out.

This is why it’s important to have chimney caps installed on all your home’s flues – furnaces, water heaters, boilers and especially fireplaces.

A chimney cap is a rectangular or round structure that features side screens and a flat or peaked metal roof on top of it. The cap mounts directly over the chimney or flue. Caps can be made of steel, stainless steel, copper or aluminum. However, stainless steel is preferable since it can withstand constant exposure to wind, rain, snow, smoke and other conditions. Also stainless steel doesn’t readily rust like other materials, so homeowners don’t have to worry about stains on their chimney and roof.

At T.J.’s Chimney Service, we specialize in chimney cap installation, and our high-quality stainless steel caps come with a lifetime warranty. A chimney cap can save you potentially thousands of dollars in fire damages. Let us give you peace of mind by installing a chimney cap on your home’s uncapped flue. Contact us today!