Level 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.
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AfterFast, Reliable Chimney Cap & Crown Across North Kensington
Chimney cap and crown work in North Kensington usually runs $350-$900 for a crown repair or coating, and $250-$650 for cap replacement, depending on flue count and masonry condition. We can typically get to your North Kensington home within a day or two of your call, and we’ll give you a firm price before any work starts. Call (240) 618-3233 and you’ll talk to a live person, not a call center.
Wendell Pike started Top Hat Chimney in 1999, and he still runs the crews that show up in North Kensington. He’s climbed more 1950s brick colonial chimneys off Knowles Avenue and Connecticut Avenue than he can count. When we come out to North Kensington, we already know what the housing stock looks like and what’s been failing on it for thirty years.
Why Top Hat Chimney Is North Kensington’s Preferred Chimney Cap & Crown Company
North Kensington homeowners call us because we publish our phone number, our license number, and Wendell’s name on every estimate. That matters in a neighborhood full of long-time owners who’ve dealt with outfits that quoted one price on the phone and another at the door. Ask anyone on your street. We’ve been working these Cap Cods and brick colonials since before half the teardown-rebuilds in Bethesda went up.
Every job gets our Chimney Repair in North Kensington 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If the crown we coated spalls again or the cap we installed isn’t seated right, one call brings Wendell back at no additional cost. No fine print. No argument. Around North Kensington, that promise has kept us busy for over two decades.
When you call Top Hat Chimney for Chimney Cap & Crown work, a real person answers. It may well be Wendell himself. He’ll talk you through what he thinks is wrong, give you a straight price, and show up on the day he says he will.
Our Chimney Cap & Crown Services in North Kensington
Here’s what we actually do when we’re called out to North Kensington for cap and crown work. Not a generic tour – the jobs we do most on the chimneys that dominate these streets.
Multi-Flue Cap Installation
North Kensington’s brick colonials frequently run two flues side by side, one original clay tile and one later add-on. A multi-flue cap covers both flues under one properly anchored hood, keeping rain, squirrels, and birds out while letting both appliances draft. We measure the full crown span, not just each flue opening, so the cap sits level on masonry that hasn’t been level since Eisenhower was in office. We install Famco and Copperfield multi-flue caps, with stainless bases fabricated to match the actual crown dimensions.
Cap Replacement
A rusted or missing cap on a North Kensington chimney is an open invitation to the freeze-thaw cycle, which is why our Chimney Cleaning & Sweep in North Kensington team sees this damage so often. Rain runs down the flue, freezes overnight, and pops clay tile sections before the next spring warm-up. Cap replacement in North Kensington runs $250-$650, and the price depends on whether you need a standard single-flue cap or a custom size for one of the older 8×12 flues that standard caps don’t fit. We stock common sizes on the truck and order custom Copperfield caps when your flue isn’t standard.
Crown Repair
The crown is the concrete or mortar slab that seals the top of the chimney around the flues. On North Kensington’s 1940s-1960s chimneys, the original crowns are now decades past their intended life. Hairline cracks become wider channels every winter as temperatures cross the 32°F line again and again. We cut out the failed sections, re-pour or re-mortar with the right mix for exterior chimney exposure, and slope the finished crown to shed water. A proper crown repair in North Kensington typically runs $450-$900 depending on how much of the original crown is salvageable.
Crown Coating
For crowns that are still structurally sound but showing cracking or surface spalling, we apply a flexible coating that moves with the masonry through freeze-thaw swings. Gelco is our usual go-to for North Kensington because it handles the repeated expansion and contraction these chimneys endure. Crown coating runs $350-$600 and adds years before a full rebuild becomes necessary. It’s the right call when the crown isn’t beyond saving but isn’t shedding rain the way it should.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in North Kensington
We install and service caps and crowns from Famco, Copperfield, DuraFlex, and Gelco. If you have a chimney cap or crown system that another company installed and it’s failed, we’ll look at it honestly and tell you whether it can be saved or needs replacement. We keep common Famco and Copperfield parts on hand so we’re not ordering something basic and making you wait two more weeks. That matters when a cracked crown is letting rain into your firebox during a North Kensington winter, and it’s why homeowners rely on our North Kensington Fireplace Services.
Common Chimney Cap & Crown Problems We See in North Kensington Homes
- Original clay tile liners oversized after oil-to-gas conversions. Your 1950s chimney was drafted for an oil-fired boiler. The gas insert now venting through that same 8×12 clay tile flue lets exhaust cool too fast, condensing creosote into a glaze a brush can’t remove. A new cap alone won’t fix this; the flue needs to be sized down with a liner.
- Crowns cracked by freeze-thaw cycles, worsened by Rock Creek valley moisture. North Kensington sits in the mid-Atlantic freeze-thaw band, and the moisture that hangs around the Rock Creek valley keeps brick wet longer than it stays wet in dryer parts of Montgomery County. Every crossing above and below 32°F widens the crown cracks a little more.
- Downdrafts that persist even after a new cap goes on. On streets off Plyers Mill Road and Kensington Parkway, we regularly see chimneys where a cap was installed and the homeowner still gets smoke rollout on windy days. The cap isn’t the problem. The oversized, unlined flue is. You need a liner, not another cap.
- Real estate transaction inspections that stopped at the firebox. North Kensington turns over homes steadily into the DC commuter market. A “cleaning-only” report from another company often misses a cracked crown until after closing, when the new owner finds rain washing creosote into the firebox. If you’re under contract, ask for a Level 2 inspection that includes the cap and crown.
Pricing for Chimney Cap & Crown in North Kensington, MD
Here’s what we charge in North Kensington, straight up. A standard single-flue cap replacement runs $250-$450. A multi-flue cap installation for a two-flue colonial runs $400-$650, more if we need to fabricate a custom stainless base. Crown repair runs $450-$900 depending on how much of the original crown has to be cut out and re-poured. Crown coating runs $350-$600, and a full crown rebuild with proper overhang and drip edge is $850-$1,200.
What moves the price is flue count, crown condition, and whether the existing masonry can hold a mechanical anchor or needs repair first. You get the exact number before any tool comes off the truck. There’s no trip charge for calls inside the county, and standing offers include $40 off any repair over $200 and 10% off for seniors and veterans. Call (240) 618-3233 for a free estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near North Kensington
Top Hat Chimney handles cap and crown work across Chimney Cap & Crown in North Kensington and the surrounding Montgomery County communities, including Bethesda, Potomac, North Bethesda, and Chevy Chase. If you’re in one of those areas and need a straight answer about your chimney, call the same number: (240) 618-3233.
Serving North Kensington, MD - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the North Kensington area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs - Chimney Cap & Crown in North Kensington
Because the cap was never the problem. The original clay-tile flue in your 1950s chimney was sized for an oil-fired boiler, and when that was swapped for a gas insert, the flue area stayed the same or got larger. Exhaust gas lingers too long, cools, and can’t rise properly, so on windy days the chimney pulls air back down into the house. The fix is a properly sized stainless liner inside the old clay flue, not another cap. If you’re in North Kensington and a cap didn’t solve your draft problem, we’ll bring a camera and show you exactly what’s happening before recommending anything. Call (240) 618-3233.
Look for visible cracks wider than a dime, missing mortar along the flue edges, or any place where water pools on top of the crown after rain. If the crown surface looks flaky or pieces of it are landing in your yard or on the roof, it’s already spalling. North Kensington’s freeze-thaw pattern will make every crack worse this winter. We’ll inspect the crown, show you camera photos, and tell you whether a flexible Gelco coating will hold it or a full rebuild is the honest call.
You can physically install the cap, and it will keep rain and animals out. What it won’t do is fix the draft. Two oversized clay tile flues venting a gas insert will still cool exhaust too quickly and pull downdrafts. The cap is worth doing; so is the liner. We install Famco multi-flue caps over the top and then drop a DuraFlex liner into the flue that actually serves the insert. If you’re not sure what you need, call (240) 618-3233 and Wendell will tell you straight.
Yes, and around North Kensington that’s exactly the call we get most. A Level 2 inspection covers the accessible portions of the chimney interior and exterior, including the cap, crown, flue liner, and smoke chamber. We’ll give you a written report with camera footage of the flue and a plain-English verdict on what’s actually wrong. If the cap or crown is flagged, we’ll put a number on the repair so you and the buyer’s agent can settle it at closing. Call (240) 618-3233 to schedule the inspection.
Because someone recoated it without fixing what caused the cracking in the first place. A crown that’s still structurally unsound, or one with no proper slope and drip edge, will crack again under North Kensington’s freeze-thaw cycles no matter how many coats go on top. The Rock Creek valley moisture holds your brick wet longer, and water that can’t shed off the crown soaks in and expands when it freezes. We’ll tell you if the crown needs a rebuild instead of another coat. That’s the difference between a repair that lasts and one you pay for every three years.
Call Top Hat Chimney for Cap & Crown Work in North Kensington
If your chimney cap is rusted through, your crown is cracked, or you’re getting downdrafts that a new cap didn’t fix, call (240) 618-3233. We’ll answer the phone, give you a straight price, and show up on the day we say we will. Wendell’s name is on the work, and the 90-Day Done Right Promise is on the invoice. That’s how we’ve done it in North Kensington since 1999.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving North Kensington and surrounding Montgomery County communities since 1999.