Chimney animal removal by local pros in Pineloch

What happens when swifts are nesting

When swifts are raising young in your chimney, the work waits. Keep the damper closed so no bird drops into the room, and keep the fireplace off. After the birds have left for the season, we remove the nest material, clean the flue and fit a screened cap so the chimney is closed before they would return. The written plan gives you both steps so nothing is forgotten in between. If a young bird falls into the firebox in the meantime, keep the doors closed and ask us or a wildlife rehabilitator for advice.

Enough open area for the flue to work

A screened cap must still let the chimney breathe. The same code section sizes the screen's open area, its net free area, at four times or more that of the flue outlet below it, and it calls for screen material with heat and corrosion resistance equal to set gauges of galvanized or stainless steel. A cap that is too small or too fine chokes the flue. We size each cap to the flue it covers. A screen that meets the area rule still needs cleaning, since soot can close it down over time.

The order the work follows

Chimney animal jobs go wrong when steps are skipped, so we follow a set order. Each step waits for the one before it, and the estimate shows where your chimney stands in the sequence. Skipping to the cap is the one shortcut we refuse, because it is how animals end up trapped.

• Identify the animal and whether it is nesting
• Lawful removal, departure or exclusion
• Cleanup of nest material and droppings, then a sweep
• Flue and damper inspection
• A screened cap or other exclusion to keep it empty

How animals get into factory-built chimneys

Factory-built chimneys have a metal pipe with a listed cap on top, running inside a framed chase. Animals get in through a damaged cap into the pipe, or through gaps at the chase cover into the chase itself. Each route needs a different fix. We identify which one the animal used and quote the listed cap, the chase cover work or both. Closing only one of the two routes leaves the other open for the next animal. The cap for the pipe must be the listed one, while the chase cover is made to the chase's own measurements.