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That week I nearly burned down a house because of a hidden bird nest
Last October I had a routine cleaning over on Maple Street and pulled the cap off to find a nest jammed so tight it had dammed up all the smoke. The homeowners had been using their fireplace for two weeks with barely any draft and never thought to check. I had to use a shop vac from the top down and it took me three hours to clear it out. Anyone else ever had a nest sneak past a cap screen like that?
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jana_hill275mo ago
Did they have a screen on that cap at all, or was it just the standard metal cover that sits over the pipe? I've seen caps with mesh that birds can still push through if the holes are too wide, and that always gets me wondering if there's even a point to having them. I'd be curious if this was a case where the screen was supposed to be there but got knocked off by a storm or something. Seems like that's more common than people think.
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nathanburns5mo ago
You're talking about the screen getting knocked off by a storm like it's a common thing, but I really don't think that's the main issue here. Most of the time when I've seen birds get in, it's because someone threw a cheap cap on there with mesh that's way too wide, like half inch holes or bigger. A storm might rip a screen off if it's already rusted or cheap plastic, but a good metal screen with proper quarter inch mesh isn't going anywhere unless something hits it dead on. Lots of people just grab whatever cap is on sale and don't check the hole size, and that's why birds push through not because of weather.
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