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.
Famco Chimney Cap Installation: The Woodland Hills Owner’s Guide
If your Famco chimney cap is rusted through, dented from a tree branch, or missing entirely after a Santa Ana wind event, we stock Famco-compatible caps and install them throughout Woodland Hills, typically for $220 to $390 including parts and labor, with most jobs finished same-visit. You’ll usually notice the problem one of three ways: water staining on the ceiling near the fireplace, birds or squirrels making noise in the flue, or a visible cap gone missing after a big wind. Hadley Chimney Woodland Hills is an independent service provider, not affiliated with Famco, but we work with their caps regularly because they hold up well to southern California sun and the kind of wind we get through the Santa Monica Mountains.
Which Famco Models This Applies To
Famco makes three main chimney cap lines you’ll find on Woodland Hills homes: the stainless steel multi-flue caps, the galvanized single-flue caps, and the copper decorator series. The easiest way to identify yours is to look for the Famco stamp on the cap skirt or measure the flue tile. Single-flue caps are sized to the outside dimensions of your flue tile, so a 13″ x 13″ tile takes a cap with a skirt that slides over that. Multi-flue caps mount to the chimney crown and cover two or more flues at once. Here’s the gotcha we see regularly: a homeowner buys a cap sized to the inside of the flue tile instead of the outside, and it drops in. Always measure the outside edge. For replacement parts like the mesh screening or the mounting brackets, Famco’s stainless caps use a 3/4″ mesh screen on most models. If your cap is galvanized and over ten years old, we usually recommend going stainless on the replacement because the coastal air that drifts into the Valley accelerates galvanic corrosion, and you’ll get another fifteen to twenty years out of stainless versus maybe five more out of galvanized. We also stock quality aftermarket equivalents from Olympia Chimney when the Famco lead time is long or the model is discontinued, and those run slightly less.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Famco Chimney Cap Installation Is Failing
- Water dripping into the firebox during rain. This usually means the cap’s hood is rusted through or the caulk seal where the cap meets the crown has failed. Even a pinhole in a galvanized hood lets water straight down the flue.
- Debris in the fireplace: leaves, twigs, or nesting material. Your spark arrestor mesh is torn or pulled away from the frame. Squirrels and birds in Woodland Hills will find that hole within a week.
- A metallic banging sound on windy nights. One of the cap’s mounting brackets has corroded through or backed out, leaving the cap loose on the flue. Left alone, it will eventually lift off and become a projectile.
- Visible rust streaks running down the chimney chase. This is a galvanized cap in its final stage. The zinc coating is gone, and now the steel itself is oxidizing. Replacement is the fix, not resealing.
- Downdrafts or smoke entering the living room on gusty days. A properly sized Famco cap with intact mesh actually reduces downdrafts. If you’re suddenly getting back-puffing, the cap’s baffle or hood may be partially collapsed or the mesh is clogged with creosote buildup.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
In Woodland Hills, you’re looking at $220 to $390 installed for most single-flue Famco-compatible caps, and $380 to $650 for multi-flue caps that require drilling and anchoring into the crown. The spread comes down to three things: the cap size, whether you’re going stainless or copper, and whether the existing crown or flue tile needs any prep work before the new cap seats properly. Here’s what you get from us on every cap install: the cap itself, the mounting hardware, the labor to remove the old cap and set the new one, silicone caulk rated for continuous outdoor exposure, and the written guarantee on every repair we do, covered by our 365-Day Done Right Promise. If the installation fails within 365 days, we return and make it right, no charge. Your written price is set before we start work, and you’ll see photos of the old cap off and the new cap seated before you pay the invoice.
DIY or Call Us?
You can safely check a few things from the ground: can you see the cap still sitting square on the flue? Are there rust streaks or missing mesh? Take a photo from the street and compare it to what the cap looked like when it was new. What we’d rather you not do is climb onto a Woodland Hills roofline to swap this yourself. Most chimney caps are reached from a sloped section of roof, and a fall from even the single-story homes off Ventura Boulevard is a broken bone at minimum. There’s also a real skill to getting the mechanical fasteners to bite cleanly into the flue tile without cracking it, and to sealing the cap so water never finds a seam. If you’re reasonably handy and have a flat roof with safe access, a cap swap is possible as a DIY job, but our honest recommendation after two decades of looking at homeowner-installed caps across the Valley: call (559) 249-1347 and let us handle it. You’ll get a written price before work begins and photo proof when it’s done, which is more than you’ll get from a YouTube video.
FAQs
A stainless Famco cap should last 15 to 20 years in Woodland Hills’ climate, while galvanized versions typically make it 8 to 12 years before the rust compromises the hood or hardware. The biggest enemy here is actually the combination of morning marine-layer moisture that burns off to dry heat, which cycles metal through expansion and contraction and eventually cracks the protective coating. Call (559) 249-1347 if you’re unsure how old your cap is, and we’ll tell you what the photos show.
If the failure is limited to the mesh screen, yes; we can usually re-screen a cap for $90 to $140. But if the hood itself is rusted through, the mounting brackets are broken, or the cap has started to separate at the seams, repair is throwing money at a part that’s already compromised. The cost of a new cap is close enough to a involved repair that replacement almost always makes better long-term sense. Call (559) 249-1347 and we’ll give you our straight read on whether repair is realistic or a waste of your budget.
Most single-flue Famco cap installs take 45 to 60 minutes from setup to final photo, including removing the old cap, prepping the flue tile, and setting the new cap. Multi-flue caps run 90 minutes to two hours because they involve drilling anchoring holes into the crown. We’ll give you the written price before we begin, so you know exactly what the job entails and how long we’ll be on the roofline.
We stock the most common Famco single-flue stainless sizes on our trucks, along with Olympia Chimney equivalents for less common sizes and copper decorator caps for homeowners who want the look. If you have an unusual flue dimension or a discontinued Famco model, we can source it within a few days. Call (559) 249-1347 with the measurements or the model number, and we’ll confirm same-day availability before you book.
Written by Cory Mitchell, Owner & Lead Chimney Technician, Hadley Chimney Woodland Hills at Hadley Chimney Woodland Hills, serving Woodland Hills and nearby areas.