A chimney cap is the single cheapest preventative maintenance item on a chimney — and the most often neglected. It's a stainless steel or copper hood with a mesh screen that covers the top of your flue.
Without a cap, your chimney is an open water funnel collecting rain, snow, leaves, acorns, and occasional raccoons, squirrels, and birds. With one, you solve 80% of water damage problems and stop embers from landing on your roof.
What a good cap does
- Keeps rain out — water-in-flue causes rust, creosote activation, and masonry damage
- Keeps animals out — mesh blocks raccoons, squirrels, birds, and bats
- Blocks embers — required by some NY municipalities, strongly recommended everywhere wood is burned
- Reduces downdrafts — correctly designed caps improve draft, don't hurt it
- Prolongs masonry — water is the #1 killer of brick chimneys
Cap types we install
- Single-flue stainless steel — standard, fits most Long Island chimneys, $275-$475 installed
- Multi-flue stainless — for chimneys with 2+ flues under one crown, covers all at once
- Draft-correcting caps — Vacu-Stack or similar for chimneys with chronic draft problems
- Custom copper — decorative, high-end, 50+ year lifespan, premium pricing
- Lock-top dampers — dual-purpose: cap + energy-saving damper controlled from the fireplace
When to call us
- Missing cap (wind storm, never installed)
- Rusted cap (galvanized, after 5-10 years)
- Damaged mesh (animal break-in)
- Wrong size (too loose, vibrates in wind)
- Blocked mesh (creosote buildup, reducing draft)
Our process
- Measure. Flue opening, crown dimensions, count of flues. Custom caps require accurate measurements.
- Select cap. We bring options to the job and show you sizes/finishes before installing.
- Secure to flue. Most caps attach to the flue tile with stainless set screws. We seal threads with high-temp sealant.
- Test. Confirm proper draft isn't obstructed, mesh is intact, cap is level.
- Warranty registration. Manufacturer warranty registered in your name.
Typical install is 45-60 minutes.
Chimney Cap Installation in Islip, East Islip, West Islip, and Islip Terrace
The Islip area — including Islip hamlet, East Islip, West Islip, and Islip Terrace — has among the highest rates of missing or failed chimney caps of any zone we service on Long Island. The reason is a combination of age and location.
Most of the housing stock in these communities was built between 1948 and 1968. The original chimney caps on those homes were galvanized steel, which has a 10-to-15-year lifespan under normal conditions. On the South Shore — where salt air from the Great South Bay accelerates rust — galvanized caps fail in 8 to 12 years. Many of the homes we inspect in Islip Terrace and East Islip are running without a cap at all, or with a rusted-out cap that no longer seals properly against rain or animal entry.
A missing chimney cap in this area means your flue is collecting rainwater, bay fog moisture, and the occasional bird or squirrel from fall through spring. Water in the flue activates creosote, corrodes clay tile liners, and causes the interior water staining on ceilings that Islip-area homeowners often trace back to a chimney problem. A stainless steel cap with 3/8-inch spark arrestor mesh solves all of it — installed in under an hour, and it won't rust in salt air the way galvanized does.
Pricing for chimney cap installation in Islip Terrace, Islip, East Islip, and West Islip: single-flue stainless cap $275–$475 installed. Multi-flue caps (two flues under one crown) run $425–$650. Lock-top damper caps — which replace a failing throat damper and cap the chimney simultaneously — run $350–$550. All pricing includes installation, stainless set screws, high-temp sealant, and warranty registration. No hidden charges.
We service Islip Terrace (ZIP 11752), East Islip (ZIP 11730), West Islip (ZIP 11795), Islip (ZIP 11751), and all surrounding Town of Islip communities. Same-day cap installation is available when we carry your size in stock — call us after a storm or missing-cap discovery for fast turnaround.
