no cowl and unwanted birds any advice?

C

cara mc k

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We live in an apartment, and we have had unwanted birds appearing, including one poor little one who we found dead.

From observation the cowl on the chimney is missing, however roof access is very difficult, and the managment company agreed to put up a new one but the only safe way is with scaffolding, which is put up on an annual basis for checks.

As replacing the cowl is out for the moment, has anyone any suggestion for anything to put up the chimney to stop them getting in.

Also this may sound silly but if birds do come down the chimney and find it blocked can they fly out, as I don't want them stuck there to die.

Many thanks
Cara Mc K
 
If birds do fall down your chimney the last thing you want is them flying around your apartment, covered in soot and sh**ing everywhere. I've seen this happen before and it can be a headache to clean up. Could you not impress that upon the management company? They could probably access the chimneys using a cherry picker or other mobile hoist. These hoists/ cradles are frequently used for window cleaning and maintenance on high rise developments.
 
You don't need a cowl to stop birds comming in, they are for regulating the draft in poor performing chimneys etc adn cost about €100.

There are bird stops to be had for less than €20 in a hardware store, but you still need to have access to the roof to put it up.

You should be able to block the chimney with cardboard or some such material from the fireplace, the trick is to remember to remove it when lighting the fire.
 
How often does this happen? Often enough to worry about. I've got unprotected chimneys and have had maybe 2 unwanted bird episodes in 12 years. Easy enough to live with when you think about it.
 
I think we might have birds in the chimney - heard cheeping sounds that sounded much closer than outside. I only moved into this house a couple of months ago and at the time I asked the landlord if the open fires worked. He said he wouldn't chance it. If we arranged to get the chimney cleaned would this dislodge the birds? Is there any way to get rid of them without killing or hurting them?
 
We had the same problem and sealed up the base of the chimney with cardboard and finally with black bin liner - using the principle that if the birds can't see any light at the foot of the chimney they are less likely to venture down. That theory may be a load of codswallop for all we know but it does seem to have sorted the problem - until of course we ever want to light a fire there!
 
Had this problem with birds also so got a small flower pot (the ones you would get at any garden centre) and put it up the chimney (bottom of it going up first) it worked a treat
 
If you do this in an old house make sure to provide an alternative ventilation source as there may not be a vent in the wall or under the floor.
 
If you're going to block a chimney you should make sure you leave a gap of some form for ventilation. Otherwise condensation may form and cause problems down the line. If you're bricking it up, use an airbrick.
Leo
 
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