Is a chimney cap necessary to stop leaks and animals?
Leaving a chimney uncovered lets rain pour straight down the flue, which leads to water damage, and allows birds or animals like starlings to enter the house. Installing a screened cap keeps both water and wildlife out before they can cause damage.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1putting a rain cap on the chimney
- 2buying and installing a chimney cap spark arrestor yourself from a hardware store
- 3hiring an HVAC company or professional to line and cap the chimney
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
r/homeowners2 people · September 2026
r/Roofing1 person · September 2026
“I learned that the hard way on my house kept having starlings come in the basement didn't know where they were coming from turns out they were coming down the chimney”source ↗
Intelligent_Bet_8727 · r/Roofing · 1 upvotes
Where this came up
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