Chimney Cap Replacement in Palos Hills, IL

What chimney cap replacement involves in Palos Hills

The job starts on the roof, not the ground. We measure the flue tile outside dimensions, then the crown width. A single-flue brick chimney with a clay liner takes a cap that clamps to the tile. Two-flue chimneys usually need one larger multi-flue cap anchored into the crown instead. Old fasteners get drilled out. Rust stains on the crown tell us how long the last cap sat there failing. Then the new cap goes on, squared, with stainless screws or masonry anchors.

Prefab chimneys are a different job entirely. Those chase-framed Heatilator, Majestic and Superior systems have a sheet-metal chase cover, not a crown. Thirty-plus years of Illinois weather rusts galvanized covers through at the low spot. Water runs down the siding and leaves a brown streak. A cap alone will not fix that. The cover gets replaced, custom-bent to the chase, and the storm collar reseated on the Class A pipe.

Material matters more than style. Galvanized rusts here. Stainless and copper do not. Mesh sizing matters too, since birds and raccoons nest in open flues every spring.

We check the crown before mounting anything. Capping a cracked crown traps the real problem underneath.