Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Flue relining
Masonry repair
Gas fireplace serviceLevel 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.
DuraFlex Chimney Cap Installation: The Marietta Owner’s Guide
We install DuraFlex-compatible chimney caps throughout Marietta, and most jobs run between $285 and $520 depending on the cap size, flue tile condition, and roof pitch. We keep common DuraFlex cap sizes on the truck, so in most cases we can finish the swap the same day we diagnose it. Most homeowners find out their cap has failed during a sweep or inspection, when we show them a photo of a rusted lid or missing rain shield and explain what was holding water back before it stopped holding anything.
What you’re paying for is a cap that actually matches your existing DuraFlex liner system, not a universal cap that sort of fits and rattles in the wind. If you’ve got a DuraFlex liner, the cap needs to sit securely on the termination of that specific setup, and the wrong size or style can fail inside a year. Nathan Corliss and our crew have been pulling rusted caps off Marietta chimneys for over two decades, and the ones that fail early are almost always the wrong fit, not the wrong brand.
Which DuraFlex Models This Applies To
DuraFlex is a flexible stainless steel chimney liner system, and the cap installation always involves the termination point at the top of the flue, where the liner meets the chimney crown or chase top. The main compatibility factor is liner diameter: DuraFlex runs in standard sizes from 4 inch up to 12 inch, and the cap has to match your liner’s inner diameter, not the clay tile’s. If you have a 6 inch DuraFlex liner inside a 13×13 clay tile, you need a 6 inch cap base, plus a top plate sized to cover the tile opening. That’s one of the most common mistakes we see in Marietta: someone installed a cap sized to the tile, and water ran down the gap between the liner and the tile for years undetected.
OEM DuraFlex caps are good parts. We install them regularly. But for some applications, a quality aftermarket equivalent from Olympia Chimney or Copperfield does the same job at a lower price with an equal or better warranty. What matters more than the name stamped on the lid is the gauge of stainless steel. Here in Georgia, our humidity and summer storms mean a 24 gauge cap at a minimum, and 22 gauge if you’re near a salt, industrial corridor, or if the top of your chimney gets heavy tree cover. Cheap 26 gauge caps from big box stores usually look serviceable after one year and like a colander after three. We quote both OEM and aftermarket options where it makes sense, and we tell you the price difference before any work starts.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your DuraFlex Chimney Cap Installation Is Failing
Here are the symptoms we most often see when a DuraFlex cap has reached the end of its useful life in Marietta:
- Water staining on the ceiling near the fireplace or chimney chase. This usually means the cap’s rain shield has rusted through or the top plate seal has broken down, letting water run down the outside of the liner or between the liner and tile.
- Visible rust streaks on the chimney chase or brick. The fasteners or the cap body itself are oxidizing, and that rust is washing down the masonry every time it rains. Once you can see it from the ground, the cap is already several years past its prime.
- Rust flakes in the firebox during summer. Water is pooling above the damper and carrying corrosion down the flue into the firebox. This is the cap failing from the inside out, and it’s often accompanied by a damp, musty smell when the fireplace isn’t in use.
- Birds or squirrel activity in the chimney. The mesh screen around the cap has torn or rusted out, and that’s an open door for animals. Most DuraFlex caps have a spark arrestor mesh, and once that’s compromised, an animal gets in, builds a nest, and you’re now dealing with a different and smellier problem.
- A cap that’s visibly tilted or loose from the ground. High winds in Cherokee and Cobb counties work fasteners loose on caps that were never properly secured to the flue tile or chase top. Once it shifts, water gets in around the base, and the next strong storm can take the whole assembly off the roof.
None of these are cosmetic problems. A chimney cap’s entire job is to keep water out and animals out. When it stops doing either, the repair bill only goes up the longer you wait.
See the difference
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After
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a standard DuraFlex-compatible chimney cap installation in Marietta, expect to pay between $285 and $520, with most homes landing in the $350 to $400 range. That price includes the cap, any top plate or adapter needed to seat it properly on your existing liner, stainless steel fasteners, and the labor to install it on the roof. The price goes toward the higher end when the cap is oversized, when the flue tile needs to be ground flush to accept the new top plate, or when the roof pitch is steep enough to require additional staging and safety equipment.
We stock common DuraFlex cap sizes on the truck, along with matching top plates and storm collars. If your chimney needs something less common, we order it and schedule the install once it arrives. Every job gets a written price before we start, and a written guarantee when we’re done, through the Ashby Chimney Sweep 365-Day Done Right Promise. If the cap or our work fails inside that window, we come back and make it right at no charge.
Here’s the cost breakdown we typically quote in Marietta:
- Cap, DuraFlex-compatible, 5-6 inch: $90 to $180 depending on gauge and mesh
- Top plate or adapter (if needed): $60 to $125
- Stainless fasteners and sealant: $25 to $40
- Rooftop labor and roof access: $110 to $175 depending on pitch and height
That’s the full line item. No mystery line for “miscellaneous” or a surprise fuel surcharge at the bottom of the invoice. The number we quote at the door is the number on the invoice. That’s the Kingswell Way, and it’s how we’ve done repairs since 2002.
DIY or Call Us?
A chimney cap swap seems simple on paper. It’s a metal lid screwed to the top of the flue. But the part the YouTube videos don’t show is what the ladder is leaning against, and what the roof pitch looks like from up there. Most Marietta chimneys are accessed from a roof that’s walkable only in the best conditions, and once you’re up top, if the old cap is rust-welded to the flue tile, you’re not replacing it with a cordless drill and good intentions. We’ve had a few homeowners call us after trying this themselves, and the usual story is a torn boot, a bent cap, or a ladder that didn’t survive the experience.
What an owner can safely check from the ground is whether the cap appears straight, whether you can see daylight through the mesh, and whether there’s visible rust. If any of those are true, it’s worth a call. We’ll climb it, show you photos, and tell you honestly whether it needs replacement now or can wait another season. Tell you the price first, show you the work, put it in writing, that’s the whole job. Call (478) 796-8742 and we’ll get you scheduled.
FAQs
With our summer heat, spring storms, and humidity, most stainless steel caps in Marietta last 8 to 12 years before the mesh or rain shield starts to fail. Caps on shaded chimneys with heavy pine needle accumulation often fail faster because wet debris sits against the steel and accelerates pitting. Galvanized caps, which some local builders used, can look bad within 5 years. A 22 gauge stainless cap installed correctly on a properly sealed top plate should make it a decade without trouble.
In most cases, no. Once the mesh tears or the rain shield rusts through, welding a patch onto a thin stainless cap is not a cost-effective repair, and the finished product usually looks worse than a new cap. The exceptions are small fixes like tightened fasteners or resealing the top plate, which we do often. But if the cap itself shows rust through, replacement is typically the cheaper option inside two years. Call (478) 796-8742 and we can tell you over the phone whether a repair is worth pursuing.
A straightforward DuraFlex cap swap in Marietta takes about 45 to 90 minutes once we’re set up on the roof. If we need to grind flue tiles or replace a top plate, it can run closer to two hours. We give you a specific time window before the appointment and a written price after looking at the chimney, so there’s no waiting around wondering if we’re coming and no surprise when the work is done.
We stock common DuraFlex cap sizes on the truck, from 5 inch through 8 inch, along with top plates, storm collars, and stainless fasteners. We also maintain parts inventory from HeatShield and Gelco for liner and repair work. If your setup requires a size or style we don’t carry, we order directly from a chimney trade supplier and schedule the install once it lands. You don’t need to buy the part yourself, and we’d prefer you don’t, because half of the online caps we see are universal fit units that don’t seal correctly on a DuraFlex liner.
Water runs directly down the flue. It soaks into the clay tile, corrodes the metal liner if you have an unlined or partially lined flue, and eventually finds its way into the chimney breast and attic spaces. The cap is the cheapest part of the whole chimney assembly, and the repairs downstream can run into the thousands. If the cap is rusted through now, replacing it now is the cheapest point in the timeline to act. Call (478) 796-8742 for a free estimate, and we’ll show you exactly what’s happening up there.
Written by Nathan Corliss, Owner, Ashby Chimney Marietta at Ashby Chimney Marietta, serving Marietta and nearby areas.