Olympia Chimney Chimney Cap Installation Nationwide

Olympia Chimney Chimney Cap Installation: The Taunton Owner’s Guide

We stock and install Olympia Chimney-compatible chimney caps for most standard flue sizes, with typical installed prices running $285-$520 in the Taunton market depending on cap style and whether your flue needs sizing adjustments. Most Olympia Chimney cap replacements we book are completed in a single visit, and we carry common stainless steel and galvanized sizes on our trucks. Homeowners usually discover the problem after a storm blows through Bristol County, when they spot the cap sitting in the yard, or when water starts dripping into the firebox during a March nor’easter - sometimes both.

Call (774) 310-4281

Which Olympia Chimney Models This Applies To

Olympia Chimney manufactures caps across several product lines, and matching the right one matters more than most homeowners expect. The 13-by-13 and 13-by-17 stainless models are the ones we see most often on Taunton homes built between 1985 and 2005, particularly the split-levels and raised ranches around Whittenton and East Taunton where Olympia liners were commonly spec’d. If you still have your original installation paperwork, look for model prefixes: OL for the standard galvanized line, OL-SS for stainless, and OL-C for the copper series that was discontinued around 2012.

Without paperwork, check the inside of the cap itself. Olympia stamps a small oval logo and nominal flue dimension on the underside of the lid, visible if you can safely access your roof. The critical measurement is the outside flue tile dimension, not the clay liner’s inside diameter - a 13-by-13 cap fits a flue tile that measures roughly 13 inches on the outside, which typically serves an 8-by-8 or 8-by-12 flue. Getting this wrong by even an inch means a cap that either won’t seat or leaves a gap that draws water straight in.

We source OEM Olympia caps where they’re available, though several lines have shifted to limited production runs. For those, we use equivalent-grade stainless from Gelco or Famco that matches Olympia’s 24-gauge minimum and mill-finish spec. We do not install the light-gauge big-box versions - they dent in hail and the mesh welds fail inside of three years on a Taunton roof.

Hearthstone Chimney Co. is an independent service provider. We are not affiliated with Olympia Chimney.

Signs Your Olympia Chimney Chimney Cap Installation Is Failing

• The cap is missing, tilted, or visibly damaged after wind. Olympia caps use a standard screw-tension mount with stainless bands, but the bands fatigue over time, especially if the original installer overtightened them. Once the seal breaks, the cap lifts like a kite in a strong southeasterly.
• Water staining on the firebox walls or damper rust. A cap that looks fine from the ground may have separated mesh sides or a cracked lid seam. Water enters gradually, and by the time you see rust on the damper plate, the damage has been ongoing for multiple seasons.
• Birds, squirrels, or nesting debris in the flue. The 5/8-inch mesh on Olympia caps is specifically sized to block starlings and gray squirrels common to Bristol County. If animals are getting in, either the mesh has corroded through or the cap has shifted enough to open a gap at the flue edge.
• Smoke backup on mild, windy days. A properly installed Olympia cap creates a slight venturi effect to draw smoke upward. When the lid warps or the mesh clogs with creosote buildup, that draft assist disappears and smoke spills into the room when the wind hits the facade just right.
• White efflorescence or spalling on exterior brick below the crown. This means water is running down the flue exterior, usually because the cap’s drip edge is cracked or the mounting flange has pulled away from the tile. In Taunton’s freeze-thaw cycle, this accelerates crown and brick damage every winter.

Replacement Cost & What’s Included

The price spread reflects three things: cap material grade, whether your flue tile is a standard dimension or an older non-standard size, and roof access difficulty. A straightforward walkable roof with a 13-by-13 flue sits at the low end. A steep pitch on a two-story colonial near Taunton Green with an oddball 11-by-15 tile runs higher. We photograph the condition before we quote, and the number we give is the number on the invoice. Our 90-Day Done Right Promise covers the installation in writing - if it’s not right, we come back, no arguing.

DIY or Call Us?

An owner can safely do two things from the ground: confirm the cap is actually missing or damaged, and check whether debris is visible at the flue top with binoculars. Everything else belongs on a roof with proper fall protection, which most homeowners do not own and should not buy for a single job.

The actual risk with chimney cap work is not dramatic - no high-tension springs or live gas lines - but a steep roof in November with morning frost is how emergency room visits happen. More commonly, we get called after a DIY install where the cap was seated crooked, the band was undertightened and blew off in the next storm, or the mesh size was wrong and a squirrel chewed through in February. The cap itself is not the hard part. Reading the flue condition, confirming draft flow, and documenting the crown and wash beneath it is the work. That’s what we do before we leave.

If you want a second opinion on a cap you’ve already priced elsewhere, we offer that free with written estimate in hand. Call (774) 310-4281.

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