Removing Animals & Chimney Debris

Do you have animal problems in your chimney? If you do, you certainly won’t be the first. Small animals love to get inside chimney flues to shelter from the weather and to give birth to their young. Animals in your chimney can lead to some serious problems. Here’s how to solve them.

National Chimney Service is on call year-round for chimney animal removal, which is important in keeping your chimney clean and safe. Depending on where you live, animals that commonly turn chimneys into their homes include:

• Squirrels
• Birds
• Bats
• Rodents
• Raccoons
• Snakes

What Can Happen if Your Chimney Top Is Open

When animals get into your chimney flue, the three primary concerns are:

1. They may build nests. This material can hinder the smooth drafting of smoke from your fireplace and also serve as fuel for a chimney fire.
2. They may die. It’s hard to believe, but certain types of small animals often become trapped and die inside chimneys. This adds to the drafting obstruction and can send foul odors into your home.
3. They can come on in. Curious squirrels are especially likely to scurry down into the firebox (if the fireplace damper is open) and start exploring a home. Squirrels can carry disease, which can affect you and your family’s health. And nobody wants a squirrel in their home, anyway, healthy or sick.

A Secure Chimney Cap Is Your Solution

Chimneys operated without a chimney cap or at the very least a flue cover are asking for trouble. A lot of money has been spent by homeowners in Greenwich CT, Rockaway NJ, Bridgeport CT, Jefferson NJ, and other cities and towns throughout our service area in Morris and Fairfield counties to remedy an animal problem that could have been solved with a proper chimney covering.

For reasons beyond protection from animal invasions, National Chimney Service always recommends a full-width custom chimney cap installation for our customers. These devices cover the entire top of the chimney to:

• Keep animals and debris out of the flue
• Keep sparks and embers from flying out the top of the chimney
• Keep rain from pouring in and causing damage
• Protect the concrete chimney crown, as it’s job is to seal the top portion of the chimney to prevent leaks, and is prone to cracking and weather related damage.

A “flue cover” is a less-protective device that covers only flue openings – but it’s sufficient to prevent animals from getting in, so if you forego a chimney cap, at least consider having.

We Remove Animals from Chimneys

Our crew is ready to help with your animal problem. No matter what kind of animal (with exceptions, see below) has entered your chimney, we can get it out. This includes animals that have died inside your flue. It’s a job most homeowners want no part of, so we’re happy to offer it as part of our service.

Note that local animal control may need to be called in if the project is particularly dangerous to you or us. Also, note that the bird known as a “chimney swift” by law cannot be removed from flues during its nesting season. Call us or local fish and game for more information on this.

If you have animals in your chimney, National Chimney Service will solve the problem. Call us at (973) 270-9295 in NJ or at (203) 614-9765 in CT and speak with one of our professional chimney sweeps.