How do I keep birds and animals from nesting in my fireplace vent or chimney?
Flat Rock's homes go back to the 1800s, and their oversized open masonry fireplaces sit under wide, aging clay-lined flues — big enough that a missing cap invites not just birds but full-grown squirrels and the occasional raccoon. A generously sized stainless cap with mesh sides is the fix, measured to the historic flue rather than a standard opening.
Old flues are oversized in every dimension
The grand fireplaces in Historic Flat Rock and around Kanuga were built to a different scale, with tall, wide flues that draw beautifully and, uncapped, offer more room for an animal to move in than any modern chimney does. Aging clay liners crack and step-shift over the decades, giving swifts and squirrels ledges to build on well down the flue.
A cap for a chimney like this has to be measured to the actual flue, not pulled off a shelf — an undersized cap that chokes the draft is as bad as no cap on these draft-hungry old hearths. We fit it to protect the flue and keep the airflow the firebox was built around.
Sealed inserts, and the screen that comes with them
Many Flat Rock owners quiet these drafty old fireboxes with a sealed gas insert and a new liner, which trades the wide-open flue for a screened termination an animal simply can't den in. That liner and gas connection are licensed work, permitted through Henderson County and pressure-tested — not a job a showroom or a mason can legally finish.
Protecting the flue and the character
On a landmark-era home the cap should protect the flue without announcing itself, and a low-profile stainless cap does exactly that — far better than watching a swift colony or a nesting squirrel undo masonry you're paying to preserve. Spring nesting means a late-summer inspection is the smart cadence, and you should never burn a nest out of one of these flues: smoke backs up and swifts are federally protected. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Flat Rock
We install and service fireplaces throughout Flat Rock and the rest of Henderson County — just 30 minutes south from our Asheville-area showroom.
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