Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Your best course of action is to contact a fireplace company or a chimney sweep co. I'm sure both sale and install screen devices that will prevent unwanted guests from "dropping in"!
I am buying a house with a wood-burning fireplace and am TERRIFIED of any kind of animal getting in. I am going to have a "chimney cap" installed by a local roofing company. The cost is around $250, which may sound high, but for me it's definitely worth it!!
I'm not sure what I'm looking at in the photos? Looks like tumbled mass of feathers?
I recently bought an older house with a chimney and fireplace. The previous owners converted it to gas but I converted it back. So I needed to call in a chimney sweep to inspect, clean the chimney, etc. Plus the damper was stuck. He did a very thorough job checking everything, cleaning inside, etc. And gave me informative brochures on what type of woods to burn, fire safety, etc. One of his services is to cap chimneys but mine already had one. I think I'd freak out if I opened the damper one day and a squirrel or bird jumped on me . . . .
I actually heard birds up there the other day and didn't want them nesting even near the rim or atop my chimney. So I started a fire. No, I didn't cook anything -- just wanted to make sure they didn't stay.
Look on yelp for a well-reviewed chimney sweep and have them come install a cap.
Take it from me, a cap is the only way to go. Most of the caps at HD are sub par btw, we looked.
Our story:
We currently rent our home. We went on a week-long vacation in October. Returned to find the house unimaginably dirty and much of it in shambles. A squirrel got in through the chimney and tried to get out of our house for days... made everything flithy with dirt and blood, ate/peed on/ bled on numerous pieces of furniture, blinds, plants and died in our playroom. I'll resist posting the pics we took -- none of this is covered by homeowner's insurance by the way. Roughly $1200 in damage.
Before we could get the chimney sweep scheduled with the cap installation -- just 5 days after returning -- ANOTHER squirrel fell down and landed -- and lived -- on the flue for 6 days. We put a car jack in the fireplace up against the flue to make certain it would not open allowing squirrel #2 access into our home.
Chimney sweep came and had to get squirrel out before installing the cap. Damned thing was still fat after eating and drinking nothing for days and CLIMBED up a rope to get out.
Get a cap now. It'll be years before I'm able to laugh about this.
Chimney services state its illegal to remove the birds once they are nesting as they are federally protected.
Yeah, I am originally from NJ which has very strict laws about birds and nesting but wasn't sure about here in VA. That's why I lit a fire at the onset of bird-noise. Even though we have a chimney cap, I see birds (at my neighbors houses) clustering around the rim of the chimneys.
Quote:
Lowes does sell a sort of chimney cap, thats supposed to be easy to install.
Even if they did, how tall is your chimney? I have 9-10' ceilings on 2 floors + an attic so there's no way I would attempt getting up to my chimneys. Seriously, call around for estimates and get them as soon as you can. It's worth the money.
We currently rent our home. We went on a week-long vacation in October. Returned to find the house unimaginably dirty and much of it in shambles. A squirrel got in through the chimney and tried to get out of our house for days... made everything flithy with dirt and blood, ate/peed on/ bled on numerous pieces of furniture, blinds, plants and died in our playroom. I'll resist posting the pics we took -- none of this is covered by homeowner's insurance by the way. Roughly $1200 in damage.
OMG ! Poor guy . . . what a way to go . .. . .
I can't imagine a squirrel coming into our house. We have 3 cats anyway and 1 is a definite hunter (actually, kind of psycho about it) so any kind of little creature wouldn't last in our house.
I once worked in a place where the squirrels were very aggressive about trying to enter the building. One time, they did overnight and ate through a closed can of peanut butter near my desk. I couldn't believe that they ripped that thick plastic jar apart like that.
Quote:
ANOTHER squirrel fell down and landed -- and lived -- on the flue for 6 days.
Another horror scene which I was afraid would happen. Our squirrels are really outgoing here (sit on the fence and taunt the cats) that's why I called in the chimney sweep.
[/quote]
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
! Poor guy . . . what a way to go . .. . .
