Local chimney cap replacement for Neptune Beach homes

How a galvanized cap runs out of zinc

A galvanized cap is steel protected by a zinc layer that corrodes in the steel's place. The zinc wears away fastest where water lingers: along the screen wires, at folded seams, and around fastener holes.

Once it is gone in a spot, the steel beneath rusts, and rust takes up more room than the steel it came from, so the wires swell and break. Streaks of orange on the crown or the brick below are the visible sign of that stage. By then recoating is not practical, since the zinc cannot be put back on the roof, and the cap is replaced in a longer-lived metal with the old fasteners removed as well.

Clearing nest material before capping

Putting a cap on over an old nest traps the problem inside. Twigs, leaves and droppings on the smoke shelf block the draft and can catch fire from the first ember that reaches them. So the flue is cleared from the top and the shelf is cleaned from below before a new cap goes on.

If an animal is still inside, it has to come out first, and that is a separate job, priced on its own. The room below is covered while the debris comes down. The cap is the final step, the one that keeps the cleared flue clear, and it goes on as soon as the clearing is finished, the same day when the cap is already on hand.

Two caps or one cover for side-by-side flues

Two tiles standing next to each other can each take a single-flue cap, provided there is room for both hoods and both tiles stand clear of the crown. One outside-mount cover over both is the alternative. Separate caps keep each flue independent, so servicing one does not disturb the other, and they need less metal. One cover shields more of the crown and puts no fasteners into the tiles, but it needs sound concrete to anchor into. We measure the spacing between tiles and their heights before recommending either, and when both would work, you see the two priced side by side.