Level 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
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Before
AfterCopperfield Chimney Cap Installation: The Yonkers Owner’s Guide
We stock and install Copperfield chimney caps and compatible replacements throughout Yonkers, with most installations running between $385 and $725 including the cap, fasteners, and labor. If your cap is rusted through, missing, or letting water into the flue, we can usually get it swapped the same week you call. Most owners discover the problem the same way: a rust stain running down the chimney chase, water in the firebox after a hard rain, or a cap that’s simply gone after a windstorm off the Hudson.
Which Copperfield Models This Applies To
Copperfield makes caps for standard flue tile sizes, multi-flue runs, and custom chase covers, and the compatibility gotcha is always the same: your cap must match the outside dimension of your flue tile, not the inside. We see owners order a cap for a 13×13 flue liner meaning the inner dimension, when the tile outside measures closer to 17×17. That’s a return and a reorder, and it’s the kind of mistake that’s easy to avoid if you measure before you buy.
Most Copperfield caps on Yonkers homes are either the single-flue style with a 5/8-inch mesh screen or the multi-flue style that spans two or three tiles on older colonials. If your cap has a label still readable, it’ll usually list the series (CFL for single-flue, CFM for multi-flue). No label? Measure the outside flue dimensions, then call us with the numbers. We keep the common Copperfield sizes on the truck: 13×13, 17×17, and the 8×13 that shows up on older row-house stacks near the Hudson River Museum corridor. For OEM Copperfield caps, the stainless is 304-grade with an electrostatically applied black finish, and the mesh is 5/8-inch expanded steel. Good quality aftermarket caps match those specs. Cheap aftermarket caps skip the 304 grade and use 430 stainless or galvanized, which starts pitting after two or three Westchester winters.
Signs Your Copperfield Chimney Cap Installation Is Failing
- Rust streaks down the chimney chase. This means the cap’s finish has failed and the steel underneath is oxidizing. On a Copperfield cap in Yonkers, the finish usually fails first at the screen-to-hood seam, where water pools.
- Water in the firebox after rain. The cap’s hood has either rusted through, or the cap has shifted and no longer sheds water over the flue opening. Worth checking the crown while you’re thinking about it. A cracked crown under a good cap still leaks.
- Animal noise in the chimney. Squirrels, raccoons, and birds get in when the screen mesh tears or rusts away. Copperfield’s 5/8-inch mesh keeps out birds, but raccoons can rip it if the cap is loose enough to pull up.
- Debris inside the fireplace or smoke chamber. Leaves, twigs, and nest material fall through an uncapped or damaged flue. We’ve pulled intact bird nests out of flues in Yonkers row houses where the cap had been gone for years.
- A cap that’s visibly crooked. The cap’s legs mount under the flue tile lip, and if one leg rusts through or pulls free, the cap tips. A tilted cap stops shedding water and starts channeling it into the flue instead.
BeforeAfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
Installed Copperfield cap replacement in Yonkers runs $385 to $725 for a standard single-flue or multi-flue cap, with the cap itself accounting for $180 to $380 depending on size and finish. The range is driven by three things: flue tile size, whether the cap is stainless or copper, and whether the old cap needs grinding to remove before we mount the new one. Copper caps run higher, and we’ll tell you plainly if the copper is worth it on your chimney or if stainless makes more sense.
Every quote is written before we start and includes the cap, mechanical fasteners (not the cheap sheet-metal screws that come in the box), removal of the old cap, installation, and a camera scan of the flue before we seal the dropcloth. The written warranty covers parts and labor for one year, and the 365-Day Done Right Promise means if it’s not right, we make it right. The camera doesn’t lie, and neither does the quote.
DIY or Call Us?
Replacing a chimney cap means working at roof height, and that’s where we’re going to stop and say this: ladder work near a roof edge is not a beginner job. We’ve seen too many Yonkers homeowners on a ladder in the wind off the Palisades with a drill in one hand and a cap in the other. The fasteners, the sealant, the leg adjustment under the tile lip: none of it is complicated, but all of it goes badly in the wrong conditions.
What you can safely do is check the firebox for water, look for rust streaks from the ground, and measure your flue tile if you can access it from the roof’s edge without leaving the ladder. If the cap is loose or the flue needs a camera look anyway, call us at (551) 212-3526. We’ll quote the cap and install in writing before any work starts.
FAQs
A Copperfield 304-grade stainless cap should run 12 to 18 years in Yonkers weather, but the finish will start to fade and show surface rust around year 8 or 10. The screen mesh fails first because it’s the thinnest steel on the cap and catches the most water. If you’re seeing rust streaks but no water inside, you’ve got time to plan the replacement, but don’t wait until the screen is gone and birds are moving in. Call (551) 212-3526 for a precise quote.
Sometimes. If the hood is solid but the mesh is torn, we can re-screen the cap using Copperfield-compatible expanded steel. If the legs are rusted or the hood seam has split, replacement is cheaper than repair. We’ll show you the camera footage and tell you which way the numbers go before you decide.
Most Copperfield cap installations in Yonkers run 45 to 90 minutes from ladder up to ladder down. That includes removing the old cap, prepping the flue tile, mounting the new cap, and taking the before and after photos we include in your written record. If we’re doing a camera scan at the same time, add about 20 minutes.
We stock the common Copperfield single-flue sizes (13×13, 17×17) and several multi-flue patterns on the truck, along with equivalent caps from DuraFlex, HeatShield, and Gelco for comparison. If your flue is a nonstandard size, we order the cap and schedule the install once it lands, usually within a week. Call (551) 212-3526 with your measurements and we’ll tell you what’s on the truck today.
Level Two Chimney Yonkers is an independent service provider and is not affiliated with Copperfield. We install Copperfield caps and equivalent-quality replacements under the same written price and written warranty as everything else we do.
Corrine Halstead grew up in the Bronx and picked up her first wire brush in a vocational program at Bronx Community College before spending the better part of two decades doing hands-on chimney work across Westchester County. She and her crew have cleaned and inspected fireplaces in homes along the Yonkers waterfront near the Hudson River Museum corridor, in older colonials, in narrow row houses. If you call, you’ll get a live person, and the quote will be on paper before anyone touches your chimney.
Written by Corrine Halstead, Owner, Level Two Chimney Yonkers at Level Two Chimney Yonkers, serving Yonkers and nearby areas.