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 Arlington Heights
A new chimney cap with proper crown repair in Arlington Heights typically costs $275-$650 for standard single-flue work, and $700-$1,400 when a multi-flue cap and full crown rebuild are needed for the older dual-flue ranches common here. Most jobs are finished the same day, and every price is written down before work starts. If you own a 1950s-1975 ranch or split-level in Arlington Heights, there’s a decent chance your chimney has a second flue you’ve never looked at. That flue is exactly where we spend half our time correcting problems in this village.
Call (980) 580-8641 for a free inspection and written estimate. We know Arlington Heights housing stock better than any crew coming in from outside the northwest suburbs.
Why Emberly Chimney Cleaners Is Arlington Heights’s Preferred Chimney Cap & Crown Company
Arlington Heights homeowners don’t call us because they want a new cap. They call us because something is wet, something is crumbling, or something is scratching inside the flue. What separates us from the dozen other companies that serve Arlington Heights is that we show you the problem on camera before we quote a cent to fix it. Every inspection is an NFPA 211 Level 2 camera scan, and you get the photo record whether we do the work or not. That’s been our practice since 2009, and it became Clause 4 of the Haven Standard, which governs every job we run.
Our crews drive Arlington Heights roads daily, from the Scarsdale subdivision up to Lake Arlington and over to the neighborhoods east of Route 53. We know that Dunton Avenue homes built right after the war have different crown failures than the split-levels on the northwest side near Green Slopes. Corrine Halstead leads our dispatch and scheduling out of our Chicago office, assigning a named, background-checked technician to every Arlington Heights job and sending a text when that tech is on the way. No voicemail loops. No guessing who’s coming to your door.
We don’t advertise “family owned since” anything. We’re independently owned and operated under the Haven Standard, and we’ve inspected and cleaned more than 38,000 chimneys since 2009. Every one had a written price before work started and a documented photo record when it was done. Arlington Heights residents get that same standard on every visit.
Our Chimney Cap & Crown Services in Arlington Heights
Cap Installation
Open flues are the quiet problem in Arlington Heights. A 1962 raised ranch on Eastman Street has the same fireplace flue everyone knows about, and then it has the furnace flue the original owner used for coal or oil heat. That second flue, left open after the gas conversion, invites rain, leaves, and raccoons straight down to the interior. We install stainless and copper caps sized specifically for both flues, using Famco or Copperfield caps matched to your flue tile dimensions. A standard single-flue cap installation in Arlington Heights runs $275-$425 including the cap and full sealant work.
Cap Replacement
Rusted-out caps are common here because the original caps installed in the 1970s were thin galvanized steel never meant for 50 years of Arlington Heights snow and freeze-thaw. We replace those with heavier stainless or custom copper caps that hold up to the village’s long heating season. Replacement work runs $350-$550 for a standard flue, and includes removing the old cap, cleaning the flue crown surface, and installing a properly sized cap with a pest screen. If your cap looks like it’s leaning after a storm, don’t wait. A tilted cap directs water right onto the crown.
Crown Repair
Chimney crowns in Arlington Heights’s 1950s-1975 housing stock were poured with common lime-based mortar, not the portland cement blends used today. Thirty years of freeze-thaw cycling turns that mortar into loose gravel at the crown’s edges. When we repair crowns, we remove the failed surface, form and pour a new crown with a drip edge that sheds water away from the brick, and seal the joint where the crown meets the flue tile. Crown repair in Arlington Heights runs $500-$900 depending on crown size and the amount of demolition required. This is the single highest-value repair for an older Arlington Heights chimney, because it stops water intrusion at the source.
Crown Coating
When the crown is structurally sound but showing hairline cracks and surface porosity, we apply a Gelco crown coat rather than a full replacement. Gelco is a flexible elastomeric sealant designed to bridge small cracks while letting the crown breathe, which matters in a climate where November and March temperatures swing above and below freezing every week. Crown coating in Arlington Heights runs $350-$550, and includes crack filling, surface prep, and the coating application. We only recommend coating when the camera scan confirms the underlying crown is still solid. If it’s not, we’ll tell you and show you the video.
BeforeAfterTrusted Brands We Service in Arlington Heights
We stock caps, crowns, and sealants from Famco, Copperfield, and Gelco for Arlington Heights customers, which means most standard cap and crown jobs are completed the same day without waiting on a parts shipment from out of state. Copperfield custom copper caps are fabricated to your flue dimensions and installed with a written warranty. When a multi-flue cap is needed for one of the village’s dual-flue ranches, we spec the cap based on actual flue measurements from the camera scan, not a guess from the ground. Those brands come through Haven’s buying network specifically to keep Arlington Heights pricing honest. You get the full written warranty from the manufacturer, plus our 365-Day Done Right Promise on the installation.
Common Chimney Cap & Crown Problems We See in Arlington Heights Homes
- The abandoned furnace flue. Homes built between 1950 and 1975 in Arlington Heights usually have two flues. The furnace flue, unused since gas conversion, was often left unlined or open. We find raccoon nests, squirrel entry, and rain damage in these flues constantly. A proper cap changes that in one visit.
- Freeze-thaw crown failure. Arlington Heights averages 33 inches of snow annually with hard single-digit January lows. Water seeps into crown cracks, freezes, expands, and spalls the mortar at the edges. By the time you see chunks of crown on the ground, water has already been working behind the liner for at least a season.
- Rusted-out caps on secondary flues. The original 1970s rain caps were thin galvanized steel. In the tree-canopied blocks near downtown Arlington Heights, where silver maples drop leaf debris and give raccoons easy roof access, those caps fail faster than anywhere else in the village. A rusted-through cap is no better than no cap at all.
- Tree debris and animal entry. Mature oaks and silver maples in the older neighborhoods ringing downtown Arlington Heights dump leaf litter directly into open chimney tops. Raccoons use those same overhanging branches to get onto roofs. We find animal nesting or debris blockages in wood-burning flues here far more often than in younger subdivisions like those in Palatine or Rolling Meadows.
Pricing for Chimney Cap & Crown in Arlington Heights, IL
A typical cap installation in Arlington Heights runs $275-$425. Cap replacement is $350-$550. Crown repair is $500-$900, and crown coating is $350-$550. Multi-flue caps for the dual-flue ranches common in this village run $500-$850 including installation. Custom copper caps run $700-$1,400 depending on flue count and dimension.
What changes the price is flue count, ladder access, and how much crown demolition is needed. A two-flue raised ranch with a bad crown will cost more than a single-flue cap swap. Every estimate is written, line-itemed, and in your hands before any work starts. Never a “call for a quote” from us. You’ll know the exact number before you decide. Call (980) 580-8641 for a free inspection and written estimate in Arlington Heights.
We Also Serve Cities Near Arlington Heights
Our crews cover Chimney Cap & Crown in Arlington Heights and the surrounding northwest suburbs, including Schaumburg, Evanston, Cicero, and Chicago. Same written-price standard, same camera-scan inspection, same photo record on every job. If you’re outside Arlington Heights but within a 15-mile radius, call (980) 580-8641 and we’ll confirm coverage for your address.
Serving Arlington Heights, IL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Arlington Heights 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 Arlington Heights
Your home was built when Arlington Heights expanded rapidly between 1950 and 1975, and most chimneys from that era were designed with two flues: one for the fireplace, one for the original coal or oil furnace. When Arlington Heights homes converted to gas heat in the 1970s and 1980s, that furnace flue was frequently left open and unlined. An open flue admits rain, leaves, and animals directly into your chimney system. A cap installed on that flue stops all three. We’ll show you the second flue on camera during the inspection, so you’re never taking anyone’s word for it. Call (980) 580-8641 to schedule a free look.
Water enters cracks in the crown, freezes at night, expands, and widens the crack. Arlington Heights’s shoulder seasons in November and March repeat this cycle dozens of times, which is why crowns poured with 1960s lime mortar fail so badly here. Repair involves removing the deteriorated crown surface, forming a new crown with a drip edge, and sealing the flue joints. We coat with Gelco when the crown is salvageable; we replace when it’s not, and we show you the camera evidence either way. Expect $500-$900 for a full crown repair in Arlington Heights. Call (980) 580-8641 for a written price.
A multi-flue cap covers both flues in one unit, sealing the entire chimney top while allowing both flues to vent. You need one when your 1950s-1975 Arlington Heights chimney has both a fireplace flue and an abandoned furnace flue that has never been capped. We were called to a brick ranch in the Scarsdale neighborhood after a homeowner heard scratching in the wall by the fireplace. The camera scan found a rusted-through late-1970s rain cap on the secondary furnace flue had let a raccoon build a nest on broken clay tile. We cleared the nest, coated the crown with Gelco, and installed a custom multi-flue copper cap over both flues, recording video before and after so the homeowner could see exactly what was blocked. If your chimney has a second flue, you need a multi-flue cap or two single caps. Call (980) 580-8641 and we’ll tell you what you’re working with.
Yes. Raccoons climb silver maples and oaks that overhang roofs in the older Arlington Heights neighborhoods near downtown, drop onto the roof, and enter any open flue. The furnace flue, usually larger and more accessible than the fireplace flue, is the most common entry point. A properly fitted cap with a galvanized steel pest screen and secure mounting keeps raccoons, squirrels, and birds out while letting the flue draft normally. We install caps sized to your flue’s actual dimensions, not a generic one-size-fits-all. Call (980) 580-8641 for a free inspection and exact quote.
You don’t have to take anyone’s word for it. Our Level 2 camera scan shows you the crown from the top down, with close-up footage of every crack, divot, and area of spalling. If the crown is structurally intact and cracks are hairline, Gelco crown coating at $350-$550 is the right call. If the crown is crumbling, delaminating, or missing material at the edges, full repair at $500-$900 is what’s needed. We show you the video and the stills before quoting anything. You walk away with the photo record either way, under Clause 4 of the Haven Standard. If you have a written estimate from another company, bring it in. We’ll give you a free second opinion. Call (980) 580-8641 to schedule in Arlington Heights.
Written by Corrine Halstead, Owner at Emberly Chimney Cleaners, serving Arlington Heights under the Haven Standard since 2009.