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.
Olympia Chimney Chimney Cap Installation: The Atlanta Owner’s Guide
We stock and install Olympia Chimney-compatible chimney caps across Atlanta, with most installations running $385 to $740 depending on the cap size, material, and roof access. If your cap is rusted through, missing entirely, or the mesh sides have pulled away from the frame, we can usually get the new one on within a few days of your call. Most homeowners discover the problem the same way: either water staining appears on the ceiling near the fireplace, or a bird, squirrel, or wasp makes it clear that the top of the flue is no longer protected.
The Olympia Chimney cap is the metal lid and mesh screen assembly that sits on top of your flue tile or chimney chase. It does three jobs: keeps rain out of the flue, keeps animals out of the house, and acts as a spark arrestor so embers don’t land on your roof or your neighbor’s. When that part fails, the damage compounds fast because Atlanta’s summer thunderstorms push water straight down an uncapped flue, and damp Georgia air accelerates rust on whatever metal is left. Cory Mitchell and the Hadley crew have replaced Olympia caps on everything from 1920s bungalows in Grant Park to 2010s builds in Roswell, and the failure pattern is pretty consistent – we’ll get into that below.
Which Olympia Chimney Models This Applies To
Olympia Chimney makes caps for both masonry chimneys with clay flue tiles and prefab air-cooled chimney systems like their V Series and Omni Series. The cap style you need depends on which system you have, and that’s the first compatibility gotcha: a masonry cap will not fit a prefab chimney, and a prefab cap won’t sit right on a clay tile. The second gotcha is sizing. Olympia caps are built to specific flue dimensions, so the inside measurement of your flue tile or the outside diameter of your prefab pipe determines the part number, not the brand name alone.
Here’s how to identify what you have before you call. If your chimney is brick all the way up and has a clay or pumice liner visible at the top, you need an Olympia masonry cap sized to the outside dimensions of that flue tile. If you have a metal pipe sticking out of a chase cover or a factory-built chimney enclosure, you’re looking at a prefab cap that clamps or fastens to the pipe itself. The model plate for prefab systems is usually inside the chase, on the pipe, or in the attic near the chimney chase. If you can’t find it, measure the pipe diameter and we’ll match it from there. For OEM versus aftermarket, we’ll be straight with you: Olympia makes a solid cap, and for prefab systems we generally recommend staying with OEM because the fit tolerances matter. For standard masonry flues, a quality galvanized or stainless aftermarket cap that matches the flue dimensions will perform just as well and can save you $80 to $150. We carry both options on the truck and we’ll show you the price difference before anything gets ordered.
Styles & brands we work with





Signs Your Olympia Chimney Chimney Cap Installation Is Failing
- Water stains on the ceiling or wall near the fireplace. When the cap’s lid or seams rust through, rain runs straight down the flue and into the firebox. In Atlanta’s storm season, this shows up fast. The fix is rarely just the cap – we’ll check the flue liner for water damage and give you a straight answer on what actually needs to happen.
- You hear animals in the chimney. Squirrels, birds, and raccoons treat an uncapped flue like a move-in-ready condo. If the mesh sides are torn or the cap blew off in a storm, you’ll hear scratching or chirping. The animal has to be removed humanely before the new cap goes on, and we’ll tell you exactly what that involves before we start.
- Rust streaks running down the chimney chase or brick. A failing galvanized cap sheds rust that stains masonry and chase covers. Once the mesh starts flaking, the structural integrity of the cap is done, and it’s a matter of when, not if, the lid separates from the base.
- The cap is visibly tilted, loose, or gone. High winds from spring and fall storm fronts in Atlanta regularly rip older caps off masonry flues. If you can see daylight where the cap should be seated, or the cap is hanging off one side, water is getting in right now. We’ve seen this most often on homes in East Atlanta Village and Decatur where the chimneys are taller and more exposed.
- Smoke backs up into the room more than it used to. A cap clogged with creosote, leaves, or a bird’s nest restricts draft. If your fires are suddenly smokier, the cap mesh may be so packed that exhaust can’t escape properly. This is a fire hazard and worth a same-week visit, not a next-season visit.
Replacement Cost & What’s Included
For Atlanta homeowners, a complete Olympia Chimney cap installation typically runs $385 to $740 installed. The lower end covers a standard galvanized masonry cap on a flue with easy roof access. The upper end typically means a stainless cap for a prefab system, a large or odd-sized flue, or a roof that requires extra safety rigging. Your written price includes the cap itself, the mounting hardware, the labor to remove the old cap, and the labor to secure and seal the new one. There is no surprise line item added after the tech gets on the roof.
What drives the range: material choice (galvanized runs $50 to $120 cheaper than stainless), flue size, roof pitch and height, and whether the old cap has corroded to the flue and needs cutting off, which adds labor. You’ll see the full breakdown before we start, because Hadley Chimney Atlanta writes the price first. Every cap installation carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise: if the install fails within a year, we come back and make it right at no charge. That’s a written guarantee on every repair, and it’s not an upsell.
See the difference
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After
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After
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AfterDIY or Call Us?
Here’s the honest split. You can absolutely identify the problem from the ground: look for a missing or tilted cap, rust streaks, or animals going in and out. Take a photo, check the flue dimensions if you can safely reach the top, and call us with what you have. What most Atlanta homeowners should not do is get on a wet, steep roof with a $40 big-box cap that doesn’t match the flue dimensions. We have seen a lot of “universal” caps that clamp on wrong, leak within a season, and then the water damage costs more than the proper install would have in the first place.
If your chimney is a prefab Olympia system, we’ll say it plainly: don’t DIY this. Prefab caps need to match the pipe exactly, and a poorly fitted cap on a factory-built chimney can cause draft problems and carbon monoxide risk. That’s not a scare tactic; it’s the physics of how those systems move exhaust. If you’re not sure what you have, call (762) 320-6525 and describe what you see. We’ll tell you over the phone whether it’s a quick swap or something we need to put eyes on.
FAQs
A galvanized cap in Atlanta’s humidity and storm cycles typically lasts 5 to 8 years before the mesh or seams start to fail. A stainless cap usually holds up 12 to 15 years or more, which is why we recommend stainless for prefab systems and taller chimneys. Call (762) 320-6525 if you want us to check yours and tell you what’s left in it.
In most cases, no – once the mesh pulls away from the frame or the lid rusts through, patching it is a temporary fix that fails within a season, and it costs nearly as much in labor as a new cap. The exception is a loose cap that’s still structurally intact, which we can often resecure in under an hour. We’ll tell you which situation you’re in before quoting anything.
A standard cap replacement takes 45 minutes to 90 minutes on site, including removing the old cap, cleaning the flue rim, mounting the new one, and sealing it. You’ll get before-and-after photos of everything we touch, so you can see the work was actually done. Book your visit by calling (762) 320-6525.
We stock common Olympia-compatible masonry cap sizes and standard prefab cap sizes on the truck, along with parts for DuraFlex, HeatShield, and Gelco systems. If your flue is an unusual size, we order the exact part and schedule the install once it arrives. Either way, you get a written price before we begin, and a live person answers the phone around the clock.
Call Hadley Chimney Atlanta for Olympia Chimney Cap Installation
If your Olympia cap is rusted, missing, or letting water and animals in, call (762) 320-6525 and talk to a real person, any hour of the day. We’ll ask what you’re seeing, give you a straight answer on whether it’s an emergency or can wait, and book you a tracked arrival window. When the tech shows up, you’ll get a written price before anything comes off the roof, and photos after the job so you can see exactly what was installed. Cory Mitchell has been doing this long enough to know that the cap is rarely the whole story – so if there’s liner damage, creosote buildup, or a moisture problem above the firebox, you’ll hear about it in plain language with the evidence in your hands. I’d rather show you a photo of the problem than talk around it.
Written by Cory Mitchell, Owner, Hadley Chimney Atlanta at Hadley Chimney Atlanta, serving Atlanta and nearby areas.