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
AfterFamco Chimney Cap Installation: The Boston Owner’s Guide
Famco chimney cap installation in Boston typically runs $285-$520 for a standard single-flue stainless or galvanized cap, including the cap itself, mounting hardware, and labor. If your cap is missing, rusted through at the mesh, or the lid has torn away from the collar, we usually stock a direct Famco-compatible replacement on the truck and can complete the swap in a single visit. Most owners discover the failure after a rainstorm when water starts streaking the firebox walls, or when a bird gets into the flue and makes its presence known in the smoke chamber.
Which Famco Models This Applies To
Famco builds caps in two main series we see across Boston rooftops: their standard single-flue caps (SF series) and their multi-flue caps (MF series), which span two or more flue tiles with one continuous lid. The compatibility gotcha is the flue tile measurement. Famco’s SF caps grip the outside of a square or rectangular clay tile, so you need the outside dimensions of the tile, not the inside flue opening. A tile that measures 8″x8″ on the outside takes a different Famco cap than one with an 8″x8″ inside opening, and mixing those up means the cap rocks or fails to seat. Most Boston triple-deckers and single-family homes built between 1940 and 1985 run 8″x8″ or 8″x12″ outside-diameter tiles, but we verify with a tape measure on-site before anything gets mounted. Famco also makes round caps for metal flue pipe, sized to the pipe’s outer diameter in half-inch increments, and a copper series that ages to a patina over two or three Boston winters. We stock the SF and MF stainless and galvanized lines, plus the standard round caps. Copper Famco caps are special-order and typically add two to four business days.
Signs Your Famco Chimney Cap Installation Is Failing
- Rusted-through mesh sides. Galvanized mesh eventually fails, especially within two miles of the harbor where salt air accelerates corrosion. Once the mesh opens, birds, squirrels, and bats get in. The cap may look fine from the ground and still be functionally finished.
- Water in the firebox after rain. A failed cap lid or missing cap lets rain run straight down the flue. In Boston’s older masonry chimneys without a damper that seals fully, that water shows up as damp ash, a musty smell, or rust stains on the firebox floor.
- Lid separated from the collar. We see this most on Famco caps that were installed with sheet metal screws only, no tap-in anchors, and then caught a nor’easter. The collar stays on the tile and the lid ends up in the neighbor’s yard on the Fenway side of things.
- Chimney swifts or starlings nesting. Starlings will fight their way past a bent mesh corner. Once one nests, the flue is compromised for the season and must be cleaned before a new cap goes on. We use Chimney Saver and Famco-compatible guards with proper bird barriers in these cases.
- Visible spalling at the crown or missing crown wash. When the crown isn’t sloped properly, the cap’s clamping bolts over-tighten into crumbling concrete and the whole assembly starts to fail together. A call for “just a cap” is often a crown repair and cap install done in one visit.
BeforeAfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
In Boston, a Famco-style stainless single-flue cap installed by our crew runs $285-$420. Galvanized runs $210-$310. Multi-flue caps run $415-$520 on most Boston homes because the footprint is larger and the mounting needs more anchor points. A copper Famco cap runs $595-$720 installed, depending on flue size and whether the crown needs any smoothing first.
Every quote is written before work starts, per Clause 1 of the Haven Standard, and includes the cap, stainless mounting hardware, removal of the failed cap, and a photo record of the finished install. We don’t charge extra to haul the old cap off the roof, and we don’t bill a site visit fee. If the cap you have can be safely re-mounted because the lid is still sound but the anchors failed, we’ll say that and charge only the re-mounting, which usually falls under $140. The 365-Day Done Right Promise covers our work on every cap we install, so if the cap shifts or loosens within a year, we come back and fix it without a second invoice.
DIY or Call Us?
We’ll be plain about this: replacing a chimney cap means working on a roof with real fall risk, often on a ladder against a chimney stack where snow, moss, or spalling bricks make footing uncertain. Roof-height work is where we recommend a trained professional. What you can do safely from the ground is note which direction the cap leans, if the mesh is open, or if a cap is completely missing. You can also pull the damper and look up with a flashlight for daylight where there shouldn’t be any. The camera doesn’t guess. Neither do we. If you’re unsure whether the cap is actually the problem, call us at (857) 567-8887 and Corrine or one of our techs will help you decide whether a visit makes sense before you spend anything.
FAQs
A Famco stainless cap in Boston lasts 12 to 18 years, and a galvanized cap lasts 8 to 12 years before the mesh or lid shows meaningful corrosion. Homes within a few miles of the harbor tend to fall at the short end of that range because salt air eats galvanized mesh faster. A copper Famco cap can run 30 years or more. The weak point is almost always the screen mesh, not the lid or the collar. If you’re at year ten or beyond and the cap looks tired from the ground, it’s usually done.
Usually not in a way that makes sense. The mesh can’t be reliably patched once it’s rusted through, and a torn lid means the cap’s weatherproofing is gone. The one exception is a cap that’s structurally sound but has worked loose from its anchors. In that case we re-seat it, tighten with new stainless hardware, and you get more years out of it. The camera tells us which situation you’re in. Call (857) 567-8887 for a free estimate.
A single-flue Famco cap swap in Boston takes 45 minutes to an hour, including the roof setup, removing the failed cap, verifying the flue tile size, mounting the new cap, and photographing the finished work. Multi-flue installs run closer to 90 minutes. If the crown needs patching first, that can add an hour. We schedule the whole job as a single visit so you’re not waiting on a second appointment.
We stock Famco-compatible stainless and galvanized caps in the common Boston sizes, 8″x8″, 8″x12″, 12″x12″, and standard round pipe sizes for gas and pellet flues. Copper Famco caps are special order. If we arrive with the wrong size, we won’t mount it. That’s not how we work. We’ll measure on-site and get the correct one ordered before quoting you a written price, and you pay nothing for the visit if there’s no work performed.
If you’re looking at a failed Famco cap or just want a straight answer about what’s on your chimney, call us at (857) 567-8887. We’ll put a written price in front of you before anything gets touched, and we’ll leave you with photographs of exactly what was installed. That’s been the Level Two standard since 2009, and it holds across every chimney we service in Boston and nearby areas.
Written by Corrine Halstead, Owner, Level Two Chimney Boston at Level Two Chimney Boston, serving Boston and nearby areas.