Ready to close the door on wildlife for good? Browse custom chimney caps → — custom fabricated to cover your entire chimney top. Ships anywhere in the USA.
Wildlife removal is one of those expenses nobody budgets for — until you're on the phone with a removal service at 7am because something is definitely alive inside the wall near the fireplace.
A chimney cap — also called a chimney topper, chimney rain cap, or chimney cover — prevents it entirely. Here's why it's worth doing before spring nesting season peaks.
An Uncapped Flue Is an Open Invitation
From a raccoon's perspective, an uncapped chimney flue is a perfect den site. It's dry, protected from wind and rain, hidden from predators, and warm. A mother raccoon will climb down a chimney, give birth on the smoke shelf, and raise a litter there — all while you're going about your life one floor below.
Squirrels fall in accidentally and can't climb back out. Birds build nests directly in the flue, blocking airflow and creating a fire hazard from accumulated dry nesting material. Chimney swifts — federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act — will nest and you legally cannot remove them until the young have fledged.
Every one of these situations has the same prevention: a capped flue.
What Wildlife Removal Actually Costs
- Raccoon family removal: $300–$600+
- Squirrel removal: $200–$500
- Dead animal odor remediation: $150–$400
- Chimney Swift situation: free to remove — but 6–8 weeks of waiting and chirping while they're federally protected
And none of these prices include the cap you'll need afterward anyway to prevent it from happening again next year.
What a Proper Chimney Cap Does
Every cap I build at Archaic Metal includes a stainless steel spark screen that fully encloses the flue opening. The mesh is heavy gauge — not the thin stamped metal you find on store-bought caps that bends, rusts, and gaps within a few seasons.
The screen keeps animals out. It keeps sparks in. And because the caps cover the entire chimney crown — not just the flue tile — they solve the water damage problem at the same time.
One cap. Multiple problems solved. Built to last decades.
How to Order
Measure the outside length and width of your chimney crown — the flat masonry surface at the top of the chimney. Not sure how? Check my measuring guide → or text a photo to (609) 352-9840 and I'll help you figure it out before you order anything.
Lead time is 3–4 weeks. Every cap ships anywhere in the USA in a custom wooden crate via insured LTL freight.
Browse custom chimney caps → — custom fabricated to cover your entire chimney top. Ships anywhere in the USA.
Sean has 32 years of experience fabricating custom sheet metal components, copper roofing, and architectural metalwork — including historic preservation projects on schools, churches, and government buildings. Every cap that ships from Archaic Metal is built by hand in New Jersey.