Critters In My Chimney

Think its unlikely that critters can get in your chimney? Think again.

A friend of mine recently admitted that before he called us out for a chimney sweep for the first time, he felt obligated to clean out his ash pit.  He had a suspicion that since the previous owner had left the chimney cap off for a couple of years, there might be a dead bird or two that made it down the chimney. So he grabbed a bucket and a small shovel started cleaning out his ash pit.

With the first shovel, he pulled out a dead bird.  Then about 12 more as he cleared out the pit. And what appeared to be a bird’s nest. And finally a raccoon skeleton.  At least that is what he thought it was.

During the inspection, our video scanning found an issue with the joints of the clay flue liner.  The mortar in the joints had come out, most likely due to rain and snow entering the chimney while he had no chimney cap.

Needless to say, we took care of my friend and he is now in great shape.  If you have a chimney cap that needs to be repaired, replaced or one flew off in the last thunderstorm, give us a call and avoid costly repairs, and may even save a raccoon.

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