An open or poorly capped chimney lets rain and snow soak straight into the brick and mortar. In Ottawa’s freeze-thaw climate that water freezes, expands, and breaks the masonry apart from the inside – the crumbling brick and spalling you see on old chimneys. A well-fitted custom cap keeps the water out, keeps birds and animals from nesting inside, and adds years to the life of the chimney for a fraction of the cost of rebuilding it.
Water stays off the brick and out of the flue, where it does the real damage.
No trapped water means no freeze-expansion cracking the masonry apart.
No nesting squirrels, raccoons, or birds in your chimney or flue.
Leaves and debris stay out, and a good cap helps with downdraft.
Made to your chimney's dimensions for a proper fit, not a loose stock cap.
The damage you see on old Ottawa chimneys – crumbling mortar, flaking brick faces, loose top courses – is almost always water plus freeze-thaw. Rain and melting snow soak into masonry that has no cap over it, then freeze and expand overnight, breaking the brick and mortar apart a little more each cycle. A cap stops the water getting in, which stops the cycle at its source.
We fabricate chimney caps to your chimney's actual dimensions so they fit snugly and look intentional, not like a loose stock lid perched on top. A proper fit is what makes a cap effective and durable, especially on the larger and older chimneys common on Ottawa homes.
Beyond the masonry, a cap keeps birds, squirrels, and raccoons from getting into the flue and nesting – a common and messy problem – and keeps leaves and debris from dropping in. It is a small piece of metal that quietly prevents several expensive headaches.
An uncapped chimney lets rain, snow, and animals straight in. Water is the big one – it soaks the brick and mortar, and Ottawa's freeze-thaw cycle then cracks the masonry from the inside. A cap is one of the cheapest ways to protect an expensive chimney.
A custom-fabricated cap is made to your chimney's exact dimensions, so it fits properly and looks right. Stock caps often fit loosely or not at all on older or larger chimneys. We fabricate to fit.
Yes. A properly fitted cap keeps birds, squirrels, and raccoons from nesting in the chimney and flue, which is both a nuisance and a fire and blockage risk.
Absolutely – it is efficient to fit or replace a chimney cap during roof work, since we are already safely set up on the roof.
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