Springville · Utah County
Keeping Springville Flues Clear, Dry and Covered
An uncapped chimney is an open pipe pointed at the sky, and in the older, well-treed parts of Springville it collects far more than rain.
Most of the blockages we pull out of chimneys in this city are not soot. They are organic: needles, leaves, seed heads, twig litter and nesting material, dropped in by wind and by animals moving along the creek corridor and the canyon mouth. All of it is dry, all of it is directly above a firebox, and a homeowner has no way of knowing it is there until the room fills with smoke.
What a cap does, ranked by what actually goes wrong
Keeps debris and animals out of the flue, which is the first-order problem here. Keeps rain and snowmelt off the damper and the smoke shelf, which is what stops the damper rusting into one solid piece. Contains sparks, which matters more than it used to now that summers finish dry. And on a well-designed cap, the hood also steadies the draft against gusts rolling off the slope.
Chase covers and standing water
Houses with factory-built fireplaces have a metal chase cover across the top of the framed chase rather than a masonry crown. The failure is predictable: a flat or shallow cover ponds water in the middle, the ponding sits there through freeze after freeze, and eventually it rusts through. Water then runs down inside the chase, into framing nobody inspects. The replacement worth buying is stainless with a cross-break stamped into it so water leaves rather than sits, and with the collar properly sealed to the flue with a storm collar rather than a ring of sealant.
Top-sealing dampers
A conventional throat damper is a cast flap resting on a cast seat, and it leaks air even when new. On a house that sits where cool air drains downhill in the evening, that leak is something you can feel from the sofa. A top-sealing damper closes off the top of the flue against a silicone gasket, which stops the loss and, incidentally, keeps everything described in the paragraphs above out of the chimney when it is shut.
Waterproofing masonry
A breathable siloxane repellent applied to sound brickwork stops liquid water soaking in while still letting the wall dry outward. It is preventive, not corrective. Applied over cracked masonry or a failed crown it does nothing except hide the fact that water is still getting in another way, so it is the last step of a repair rather than a substitute for one.
Questions
Caps & Dampers in Springville — common questions
There is scratching and rustling coming from inside the flue. What now?
We can clear nests and debris once the animals have gone, and cap the flue so it does not happen again. We are not wildlife trappers, and some species are legally protected during nesting season, so occasionally the honest answer is that removal has to wait and we cap it afterward.
Is a cap required, or is it optional?
It is not optional in any practical sense. Every chimney benefits from one, and an uncapped flue near mature trees will collect debris. The only real decision is what material and how it is fastened.
How long does a chase cover last?
A galvanized one often starts leaking within ten to fifteen years, sometimes sooner if it ponds water. Stainless with a proper cross-break lasts far longer and is the one we fit, because replacing a cover twice costs more than fitting the right one once.
Will a cap reduce my draft?
A properly sized cap will not. One with mesh that is too fine, or one that has partially blocked with soot and debris, absolutely will, and that is a common cause of a fireplace that used to work and now does not. It is one of the things we check on a sweep.
Also in Springville
Our other services here
Chimney Sweep Inspection Chimney Repair Fireplace Repair Installation Gas Fireplace Dryer Vents All Springville services
Nearby