How do I keep birds and animals from nesting in my fireplace vent or chimney?
Leicester runs on propane and wood across its rural large-lot properties, and wood chimneys are the ones nesting animals target most — a warm, open masonry flue up Sandy Mush or Turkey Creek is prime real estate for swifts and squirrels. Those need a mesh-sided stainless cap; the propane fireplaces rely on their sealed vent termination's factory screen.
Wood heat draws the most nesting
Wood is popular out here, and an open wood-burning flue is the most attractive target of all — wide, warm, and often uncapped on older rural properties. A stainless cap with mesh sides keeps birds, squirrels, and raccoons out while doubling as a spark arrestor, which matters over a real wood fire on a wooded lot where a stray ember has somewhere to land.
The propane side of Leicester's mixed fuel picture carries a screened termination instead. Connecting or repairing that venting is licensed gas-contractor work permitted through Buncombe County — the routine part is just keeping the screen clear and intact between seasons.
Rural cold, and why a fire won't clear a nest
Cold-air drainage runs Leicester's valleys 5 to 8 degrees colder than Asheville on clear winter nights, so residents lean on these fireplaces hard — and a blocked flue costs heat exactly when it's coldest. On remote properties with limited electrical capacity, a non-electric wood or propane hearth is often the real backup, which makes a clear flue non-negotiable.
Don't try to smoke a nest out to reclaim it: it won't clear a packed nest, it can push carbon monoxide inside, and swifts are federally protected. We remove it by hand and cap it. Fifteen minutes west. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Leicester
We install and service fireplaces throughout Leicester and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes west from our Asheville-area showroom.
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