Chimney services, Portland metro
Chimney caps installed and replaced, sized to the flue, against rain, swifts and raccoons
We fit stainless chimney caps across the Portland metro, measured to your flue tile and fastened down against the east wind. A cap keeps rain off the smoke shelf, keeps swifts and raccoons out, and its screen stops sparks.
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What you are seeing
Homeowners usually call about a chimney cap after one of these shows up, and often after a storm has moved the old one.
- Water in the firebox or a damp, sour smell after a rainy week, with no stain at the ceiling.
- Chirping, scratching or a rush of wings in the chimney at dusk from late August on.
- A cap lying in the yard or hanging off the flue after a windstorm or an ice storm.
- Orange rust streaks down the crown and brick from an old galvanized cap.
- Leaves, fir needles and twigs on the smoke shelf when the damper opens.
- A bare clay tile standing out of the crown with nothing on it.
What we do on a cap visit
A cap job is mostly measuring and fastening, and these steps decide whether the cap is still up there after the first east wind.
Read the roof from the ground
The visit starts at the curb: pitch, moss, wet shingles, where the ladder lands and whether roof hooks or a second person are needed. A steep gable or a third-story stack changes the plan, and a roof glazed with sleet may wait a week. We say so before anyone climbs.
Measure the tile, not the chimney
A single-flue cap clamps to the clay tile, so we measure the outside of the tile at its top, both directions, and how far it stands above the crown. A tile flush with the crown or a cracked top edge changes the cap style. For two or more flues we measure the crown, because a multi-flue cap bolts to the slab.
Check the crown and the top tile
The cap is only as good as what it sits on, so we photograph the crown for cracks, probe the tile for a broken top course and look down the flue with a light. A crumbling crown gets repaired before a multi-flue cap is anchored to it, and a loose tile top is reset in refractory mortar first.
Choose stainless, the right mesh and the right height
Every cap we fit is stainless steel, because galvanized caps rust through in Portland rain and streak the brick on their way out. The lid sits high enough above the tile that the flue breathes, and the spark arrestor mesh stops embers without choking the draft. A flue that vents a gas appliance gets a cap listed for that use.
Fasten it so the wind cannot have it
A single-flue cap is tightened to the tile with a stainless band or set screws, never friction alone. A multi-flue cap is drilled and anchored into the crown, and each anchor gets a bead of sealant so the holes do not become the next leak. A chase cover is screwed through its skirt into the chase framing, with the storm collar sealed around the pipe.
Photograph it and clear the smoke shelf
You get a photo of the finished cap from the roof and one straight down the flue, so you can see the screen is clear and the lid is level. If the flue stood open for years, we clear the leaves, needles and nest material off the smoke shelf from below, so the first fire does not light what the birds left.
Which chimney cap fits your flue
A single clay tile takes a single-flue cap, two or more tiles take a multi-flue cap, a metal chimney in a chase takes a chase cover and pipe cap, and a stainless liner takes a cap that locks to its top plate.
| What is on top | What we fit | How it fastens |
|---|---|---|
| One clay tile standing above the crown | Single-flue stainless cap with a spark screen | Band clamp or set screws on the tile |
| Two or three tiles, or a tile flush with the crown | Multi-flue cap over the whole crown | Stainless anchors into the crown, sealed |
| A metal pipe inside a sided or stucco chase | Chase cover with a storm collar and a listed pipe cap | Screws through the skirt into the chase framing |
| A round stainless liner through a top plate | Liner cap that locks to the top plate | Collar clamp on the liner, plate sealed to the crown |
What an uncapped flue lets into a Portland house
An open flue takes in rain on about 157 days a year here, and it lands on the smoke shelf and the damper, which is why a missing cap shows up as rust, smell and water in the firebox.
Raccoons climb brick as easily as a tree and raise young on the smoke shelf, starlings pack the throat with twigs, and fir needles rot into a wet mat that feeds the sour smell on warm afternoons. Each one is a blockage, and a blocked flue can push smoke and carbon monoxide back into the room.
Water does the slower damage: it soaks the firebrick, rusts the damper plate until it will not seat, and in a furnace flue it mixes with acidic condensate and eats the mortar from the inside.
Why a chimney cap waits until the swifts have left
Vaux's swifts roost in Portland chimneys from mid-August into October, federal law protects them, and a flue with birds inside is not capped, swept or smoked until the last one has flown south.
The Chapman Elementary roost emptied in 2024 after roughly four decades, and the flocks now move among school and church chimneys around the city. If you hear them at dusk, keep the damper closed and ask us for a date after they leave.
The cap we fit afterward is the fix that lasts, because a screened lid over the tile means next year's flock picks a different roost and the chimney stays yours.
What moves a chimney cap's price
The posted price is a stainless single-flue cap with a spark screen on a standard tile, and anything on this list adds to it.
- A multi-flue cap built to the crown's measurements rather than pulled off a shelf.
- A custom chase cover for a factory-built chimney, measured on one visit and fitted on the next.
- A tall or steep roof that needs roof hooks, a second ladder or a second person.
- A cracked top tile or a crumbling crown that has to be made sound before the cap has anything to hold.
A top-sealing damper instead of a cap
For a fireplace that burns a handful of times a year, a top-sealing damper does the work of a cap and a damper at once, closing the flue at the tile with a gasketed lid.
It opens by a cable and handle mounted in the firebox, and when it is shut the flue holds no cold column of air, so the draft you feel on the hearth during a January east wind stops. Open, its lid still sheds rain and its frame still screens the opening.
When a repair stops making sense
A cap is replaced rather than repaired when the mesh is rusted through, the lid is bent so water runs inward, or a galvanized cap has begun streaking the crown.
A cap stops being the answer when the crown under it is broken up or the top tiles are loose. Crown repair or a new top course of tile comes first, and the cap goes on last, otherwise you are bolting a good lid onto a slab that is leaving.
Cap: common questions
Will a chimney cap make my fireplace draft worse?
Not when the lid sits at the right height and the screen is clean. A cap set too low or a screen packed with soot can slow the draft, which is why we size the cap to the flue and brush the mesh at every sweep. A fireplace that smoked before the cap went on has a different problem.
What size chimney cap do I need for a clay flue tile?
The cap is sized to the outside of the tile where it stands above the crown, measured both ways, plus how high the tile sits. Tile dimensions vary by maker and era, so we measure on the roof rather than guess from the ground. A tile flush with the crown gets a multi-flue style instead.
Can you put a chimney cap on while Vaux's swifts are using the flue?
No, the cap waits until the birds have left, which in Portland is usually by mid-October. Capping a flue with swifts inside would trap them, and federal law protects the birds. Keep the damper shut while they are there, and we book the cap for the first dry week after the roost empties.
Will a stainless chimney cap rust in Portland rain?
Stainless steel stands up to wet Portland winters far better than galvanized steel, which is why it is the only metal we fit. Galvanized caps rust from the mesh inward and leave orange streaks on the crown and brick. Stainless can pick up light discoloration above a wood flue, which wipes off and does not weaken it.
Do I need a chimney cap on a furnace or water heater flue?
Yes, a gas or oil flue wants a cap as much as a fireplace flue does. Rain down a furnace flue mixes with acidic flue gases and eats the tile and mortar from the inside. The cap has to be one listed for that appliance, with an open design that does not restrict the vent, so we check the flue and the appliance first.
What is the difference between a chimney cap and a chase cover?
A cap covers one flue opening, while a chase cover is the metal lid over the whole top of a framed chase on a factory-built fireplace. Galvanized chase covers rust through at the low spots and leak into the chase, so we replace them with a stainless cover crowned to shed water, with the pipe cap above it.
Related pages
Where we do this
We fit and replace chimney caps on roofs in all of the places below, from Sellwood's bungalows to the chase-topped chimneys of Happy Valley.
Ready to book a sweep?
Call with what the fireplace is doing, or text a photo of the opening and one of the chimney top, and we will name the service and its posted price before we come out.