Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Masonry repairLevel 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.
HeatShield Chimney Cap Installation: The Yonkers Owner’s Guide
If you’ve got a HeatShield chimney cap that’s rusted through, blown off in a storm, or leaking around the base, we can replace it. An installed HeatShield-compatible cap in Yonkers typically runs $350 to $700 depending on flue size and roof access. Most homeowners discover the problem after a heavy rain, when water starts streaking down the firebox walls or pooling in the smoke shelf, or when a squirrel sets up camp in the flue because the old cap’s mesh finally gave out.
We stock HeatShield-modeled caps on the truck in the most common Yonkers flue sizes, so in a lot of cases we can do the swap the same day we show up. This page covers what fits, what fails first, what a replacement actually costs, and whether you should even think about doing it yourself.
Which HeatShield Models This Applies To
HeatShield builds caps to fit standard clay tile flue liners, and that’s the key measurement. The cap sits over the top flue tile and locks onto the liner with a pressure-fit or screw-down base. If your Yonkers chimney has a square or rectangular clay liner, the cap size is matched to the outside dimensions of that tile, not the inside opening. That’s the most common compatibility gotcha we run into: a homeowner orders a cap online based on the inner flue dimensions, then it doesn’t seat and the wind rattles it loose within a month.
HeatShield caps come in a range of standard sizes, roughly 8″x8″ up to 13″x17″ and round options for metal liners, with mesh sides and a solid hood. If your cap is missing or damaged, we match the replacement to the liner itself, not the old cap. Aftermarket equivalents, like the ones from Copperfield or Olympia, are solid options and usually run a little less than the OEM HeatShield-branded cap, but the fit has to be exact. We’ll show you the measurements before anything gets ordered, so there’s no guesswork. And to be clear: Hadley Chimney Yonkers is an independent service provider, not affiliated with HeatShield. We install their caps and quality equivalents, but we’re not the manufacturer.
Styles & brands we work with



Signs Your HeatShield Chimney Cap Installation Is Failing
- Water streaks or staining on the firebox wall. The cap’s job is keeping rain out of the flue. When the hood or base seal fails, water runs down the liner and shows up as dark streaks or damp spots inside the firebox, usually within a day or two of rain.
- Rust flakes or a collapsed hood. The metal hood takes the brunt of Yonkers weather: freezing rain, snow load, and thaw cycles. Once the galvanized coating fails, rust spreads fast, and a heavy snow can cave the hood in.
- Animal noise or nesting material in the flue. If the mesh sides have rusted out or pulled away from the frame, squirrels and birds treat your flue like a rent-free apartment. You’ll hear scratching, or you’ll see twigs and grass at the bottom of the firebox.
- The cap is visibly crooked or missing after a storm. Wind events in Westchester, especially up toward the Hudson River bluffs and Greystone, can knock a poorly seated cap clean off. If you can see it leaning from the ground, the pressure-fit has failed.
- Draft problems that appear suddenly. A partially collapsed hood or a cap shifted out of position changes the airflow through the flue. Smoke starts rolling back into the room on startup, even though the damper is open and the flue was swept recently.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
In Yonkers, you’re looking at roughly $350 on the low end for a standard square clay liner cap on a single-story roof with easy access, and closer to $700 when the flue is oversized, the roof is steep, or the old cap’s mounting hardware has to be cut off and re-anchored. The cap itself is usually $80 to $200 depending on size and whether you go HeatShield-branded or a quality aftermarket equivalent. The rest is labor, access, and disposal.
Every job we do includes a written price before we start, so there’s no surprise upcharge after the tech gets on the roof. We’ll show you a photo of the failed cap while we’re up there, and a photo of the new one seated and locked in place before we come down. The work carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing, and if something isn’t right, we come back on a free second visit.
DIY or Call Us?
You can absolutely diagnose this one from the ground. Look for a leaning cap, rust at the base, or visible debris in the mesh. If your chimney is a single-story with a shallow pitch and you’re comfortable on a roof with proper fall protection, swapping a cap is within reach for some homeowners, but the failure we get called out to fix most often is a cap that was set without the base properly centered on the flue tile. Wind finds the gap, and the cap walks loose.
The other thing worth saying plainly: working on a roof in Yonkers is a different animal in winter. Moss, ice, and a steeper pitch near some of the older neighborhoods can make this genuinely dangerous. We’re up there with harnesses and proper boots weekly, and we’d rather quote you honestly than see someone take a fall. If you want a second set of eyes on the cap before committing to a replacement, call (914) 233-3156 and we’ll take a look.
FAQs
In Yonkers weather, expect 8 to 15 years from a galvanized steel cap before the coating starts failing and rust takes over. Chimneys closer to the Hudson or in tree-heavy neighborhoods tend to fail faster because of constant moisture and falling debris.
Usually not. Once the hood or frame has rusted through, patching buys you one season at best, and the mesh can’t be reliably reattached. The lower-cost fix is replacement, and the cap itself is a small part of the total bill. Call (914) 233-3156 and we’ll give you a straight answer and a written price.
Forty-five minutes to an hour on a straightforward single-story chimney with standard flue dimensions. Add time for steep roofs, two-story access, or old mounting hardware that needs cutting off.
Yes, in the most common Yonkers flue sizes, along with equivalents from Copperfield and other trade brands like DuraFlex and Gelco. If your flue is an odd size, we order exact-match and come back within a few days.
Written by Cory Mitchell, Owner, Hadley Chimney Yonkers at Hadley Chimney Yonkers, serving Yonkers and nearby areas.