The Chimney Sweeps
Spring is here
Now is the time to have a chimney cap installed on your chimney.
Chimney Swifts, birds of the Swallow family, return south each spring to breed, usually to the same area each year; a chimney seems to be the perfect hollow for them. If a chimney cap is installed, the birds will simply go to your neighbor’s chimney to build their nests. I have literally worked my way down a street installing chimney caps to keep the birds out.
The birds are very small and by judging from the way they turn and dive, are many times mistaken for bats. They are very fast and can turn very sharply and very quickly into a chimney; they are not bats! I have actually gotten bats out of chimneys but, they were already dead. Bats are mammals and have fur, but bats also carry rabies as well as mites. The Chimney Swifts also carry mites, but have feathers like any other bird, but the droppings from birds also give off an irreversible disease called Hystoplasmosis which attacks the respiratory system and can lead to death; I recently had a very good friend die from it. He raised beautiful Parrots; the inhalation of the bird droppings when cleaning the cage finally got the best of him.
When the wind blows down the chimney or when the birds fly down the chimney, they stir up the bird droppings; the wind carries the smell and/or dust from the droppings into the living space. It is not a pleasant smell when the soot and the bird droppings get wet from rain coming down the chimney. Also, the birds are Federally Protected Migratory birds and cannot be harmed. You have to install the chimney cap before the birds start nesting or after they have left for the year. If you have had the birds once, they will continue to return each year until the chimney is capped.
Chimney caps come in three different types of metal. Galvanized are the black caps seen on some homes. They keep the birds and rain out but they also rust and the exhaust from gas logs will ruin it fast, staining chimney and roof and undermining brick and mortar. Stainless Steel looks like a shiny nickel and will not rust and the gas exhaust doesn't harm it. The Copper looks like a new penny when installed but will later turn a nice green patina, like an old penny; it will not rust, but can leave streaks on shingles and brick, once it turns. Their price ranges depending on size; galvanized being the cheapest and copper the most expensive.
Sweeps Luck to You!
Joe
