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Dangerous chimney cover?

scott w.
scott w. Member Posts: 211
This person had birds coming down through the chimney. This was their solution. Dangerous or not?

Comments

  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 16,477
    I guess that is one way but not the right fix.
  • psb75
    psb75 Member Posts: 906
    Dangerous +.
  • pedmec
    pedmec Member Posts: 1,066
    They just die at the top of the chimney instead of at the bottom. Hope he has a CO detector in the boiler room to catch the flues spilling when enough of birds die on top. I'm sure they sell a proper chimney cap for that or can fabricate one. i believe that's Bob Harpers area.
  • Bob Harper
    Bob Harper Member Posts: 1,091
    edited December 2022
    NFPA 211 requires screening or a spark arrestor to have a minimum permanent net free area equal to 4x the cross-sectional area of the flue. If a bird nested on this mesh, it would block the flue. A more traditional rain cap with mesh would be the best repair. Any decent chimney contractor can measure this up and have a custom cap, made of copper or stainless steel with an overhanging rain cap and 3/4" diamond mesh 18ga. to protect against animal intrusion and meet 211. You can check out many generic cap styles at chimneycaps.net then tell your contractor which model number you like. No pricing-just styles. Most can easily be removed for inspection or service. Most carry a transferrable forever warranty.
    HTH,
  • scott w.
    scott w. Member Posts: 211
    Not my house......This was on a facebook page. I warned the poster this was very dangerous to no avail.