Need a chase cover, a cap, or both? Browse our custom chimney caps and chase covers → — custom fabricated to your exact dimensions. Ships anywhere in the USA.
If your chimney is wood-framed — the kind built on new construction and rebuilds since the 1980s — there's something you need to know before you order a chimney cap: the cap doesn't come with a bottom. There's no flat base with pre-cut holes for your flue pipe. A chimney cap sits on top of a chase cover. Without the chase cover underneath it, there's nothing for the cap to sit on and your chase is completely exposed to weather.
This catches a lot of homeowners off guard. Here's how it all works — and why stainless steel is the right material for both.
Masonry Chimney vs. Wood Framed Chase — What's the Difference?
A traditional masonry chimney is built from brick or stone all the way up. The concrete crown at the top is the surface the cap sits on — it's structural, solid, and part of the chimney itself.
A wood-framed chimney chase is different. It's a framed enclosure — typically built from lumber and sheathing, finished with siding — that surrounds a metal flue pipe. The top of that enclosure is open. It needs a flat metal cover — a chase cover, also called a chimney pan or chase pan — to close it off and shed water away from the framing.
Without a chase cover, rain enters the top of the chase, soaks the framing, and causes rot, mold, and structural damage from the inside. It's one of the most common and most preventable sources of chimney damage on newer homes.
Why Chimney Caps Don't Come With a Chase Cover
A chimney cap — also called a chimney topper, chimney rain cap, or chimney cover — is designed to sit on top of a chase cover and cover the flue pipe opening. It has an open bottom with a spark screen. It is not a flat-bottomed cover with pre-cut holes for the flue.
The chase cover is a separate piece entirely. It lays flat across the top of the chase, with the flue pipe passing through a collar in the center. The cap then mounts on top of the chase cover over the flue pipe.
If you have a wood-framed chase and you're shopping for a chimney cap, you likely need both — a chase cover first, then a cap on top of it.
Why Stainless Steel Is the Right Material for Chase Covers
The top of a wood-framed chase is one of the most exposed surfaces on your roof. It's flat — which means water sits on it rather than running off immediately. It's subject to the same freeze-thaw cycles, UV exposure, and temperature swings as any other roofing material. And because it's protecting wood framing underneath, failure has serious consequences.
Stainless steel is the right material for this application for a straightforward reason: it doesn't corrode. We use 2B 304 24 gauge stainless — the same spec used in commercial and architectural applications. It goes on looking clean, handles salt air and coastal environments without issue, and will outlast the framing it's protecting.
Galvanized chase covers — the kind that often come standard on prefab chase installations — rust. The coating fails at the seams and fastener points first, then the rust spreads. By the time the staining is visible on the siding below, water has usually been getting into the framing for a season or more.
Stainless doesn't have that problem. It's the upgrade that pays for itself the first time you don't have to replace a rotted chase.
How a Side Mount Cap Finishes the Job
Once the stainless chase cover is in place, the chimney cap mounts on top of it over the flue pipe. A side mount cap — with a vertical skirt that wraps down around the outside of the chase cover perimeter — covers the chase cover completely. From the ground, you see the cap. The stainless chase cover underneath is hidden behind the skirt.
The result is a clean, finished installation. The chase cover does its job protecting the framing and shedding water. The cap covers the flue and provides the spark screen, animal protection, and weather cap for the pipe itself. And the side mount skirt ties it all together visually so it looks like one unified piece sitting on the chase.
Stainless Steel Chimney Caps for Masonry Chimneys
If your chimney is masonry — brick or stone all the way up with a concrete crown — you don't need a chase cover. But stainless steel is still one of the best cap materials available, particularly for coastal environments, high-humidity climates, or any application where long-term performance matters more than aesthetics.
A stainless steel chimney cap on a masonry chimney delivers the same corrosion resistance and 50–100+ year lifespan as on a chase application. We use the same 2B 304 24 gauge spec across all stainless work. Every cap includes a stainless steel spark screen standard.
How to Order
For a chase cover, we need the outside dimensions of the chase top — full length and width — and the outside diameter or dimensions of your flue pipe. We cut the flue collar to your exact dimensions and solder a 3" waterproof standing collar around each penetration as standard. Pricing is by quote — contact us before ordering.
For a chimney cap to go on top, check our measuring guide → for dimensions, or text a photo of your chase top to (609)352-9840 and we'll walk you through both pieces before you order anything.
Lead time is 3–4 weeks. Every order ships anywhere in the USA in a custom wooden crate via insured LTL freight.
Browse our custom chimney caps → — custom fabricated to cover your entire chimney top. Ships anywhere in the USA.
Sean has 32 years of experience fabricating and installing sheet metal components, copper roofing, and custom 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.