Something living up there in New Rochelle, NY
If you hear scratching, fluttering, chirping or scrabbling inside the chimney, an animal has gotten in. Usually it came down through an open flue top. Birds nest on the smoke shelf or part way down the flue. Squirrels and raccoons climb in and sometimes cannot climb back out. The noise often gets louder in the early morning and at dusk, and you may smell something as nesting material and droppings build up.
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An uncapped flue is almost always the whole cause. New Rochelle has a lot of 1920s–1950s colonials, Tudors and brick and stucco houses, and masonry chimneys on those homes are everywhere. Caps rust out over time, and along the Sound the salt-laden air and high humidity speed that up. Winter freeze-thaw cycles work on crowns and mortar joints too, so an old chimney can end up with an opening at the top and gaps lower down. Once that happens, the flue is just a tall hollow shaft that looks like a tree cavity to a nesting bird.
While you wait — please don't
- Do not light a fire. Burning an animal out is cruel, and burning dry nesting material is a common cause of chimney fires.
- Stop using the fireplace until it is checked. A nest sitting in the flue is a blockage, and a blocked flue can push smoke and combustion gases back into the room.
- If anyone feels dizzy, sick or headachy, get out and call 911. Those can be signs of carbon monoxide, and you need fresh air and help before anything else.
- Do not reach in or handle droppings. Droppings and nesting debris can carry disease, and a cornered animal will bite or scratch.
- Do not open the damper to look. You can drop debris, droppings or a frightened animal straight into your living room.
What the technician does
- The animal is identified firstNothing is done until the technician knows what is up there and roughly where it is sitting. Birds, squirrels and raccoons all call for different handling.
- Removal or humane evictionThe animal is removed or evicted humanely. Where the species calls for it, a wildlife specialist is brought in — in many places nesting birds are legally protected.
- Nesting material and debris come outTwigs, leaves, feathers, fur and droppings are cleared out of the flue and off the smoke shelf. That material is fuel, and it has to go.
- The flue is swept and inspectedAfter the clear-out, the flue is swept and inspected so you know whether anything was damaged or left behind. Ask to see the camera footage and ask for the findings in writing.
- A properly sized cap with mesh is fittedA cap sized to your flue, with mesh, is what stops the next one getting in. This is the part that makes the fix permanent.
Why this happens in New Rochelle, NY
Spring nesting is the peak season for this. Birds look for a sheltered vertical shaft, and an open clay flue on a pre-war New Rochelle house is exactly that. Homes in Rochelle Heights, Residence Park, Sutton Manor, Wykagyl and the North End tend to have the older masonry chimneys and clay liners that go with that era of building, and plenty of them have been there a long time.
Nearer the water — Davenport Neck, Premium Point, Echo Bay and the Glen Island area — salt air is hard on chimney caps and flashing. Metal corrodes, a cap loosens or disappears, and the flue is open again. Nor'easters and the remnants of tropical storms add wind and water intrusion on top of that. If you deal with the animal but not the cap, you are likely to hear scratching again next spring.
Questions people ask
- Can you just get it out today?
- We arrange the visit with an independent sweep or mason and cannot promise a particular day or time. Call and we will get it scheduled. In the meantime, keep the damper shut and do not light a fire.
- Do I need a permit in New Rochelle for this?
- Routine sweeping and inspection generally do not require a permit in New York. Permits are issued locally by the municipal building department, so call New Rochelle's building department if any structural masonry or appliance work comes out of the inspection.
- Is the company licensed?
- One Call Chimney is a referral and scheduling service, not the contractor, so licensing and credentials belong to the independent technician who comes out. New York has no statewide chimney-sweep license, and Westchester County runs its own home improvement contractor licensing program — you can verify current requirements with the county licensing office.
- Why does this keep happening to my chimney?
- Almost always because the flue is open at the top. New Rochelle's older brick and stucco homes often have aging crowns and caps, and shoreline salt air corrodes cap metal faster. A correctly sized cap with mesh is the fix.
- What does it cost?
- The estimate is free. The technician inspects the chimney and gives you the price before any work starts, and you approve it first.
One call
One call to (866) 576-7943 and we will arrange a sweep or mason to come out and look at your New Rochelle chimney, with a free estimate. You see the price before any work begins, and nothing happens until you approve it.
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Something else in this area
- Smoke comes back into the room
- Never been swept
- Water coming in
- Smells of smoke or damp
- Cracked crown or crumbling brick
- Damper stuck or broken
- Liner damaged or missing
- Rebuild or new chimney
One Call Chimney arranges the visit; the technician does the work and gives you the price.