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.
Famco Chimney Cap & Crown in New York City: What to Know First
We install, repair, and replace Famco chimney caps and crowns across New York City as an independent Famco service provider. Most Famco cap and crown jobs in the five boroughs are completed in a single visit, with a written price in your hand before any work starts. A standard Famco cap replacement typically runs $285 to $540, while crown repair or recoating lands between $450 and $1,200 depending on damage and access.
If you own a Famco cap that’s pulling away from the flue or a crown that’s spalling (the concrete surface flaking off in chunks), this page covers what we actually find on New York City rooftops, what it costs to fix, and when it can safely wait. Call (980) 580-8641 and you’ll get a live person, not a voicemail.
How Famco Products Fail - and How We Fix Them
- Famco multi-flue caps with wind-bent mounting brackets. We see this most on Famco’s standard galvanized and stainless multi-flue caps on attached brownstones and older co-ops in Washington Heights and the Upper West Side. Northeast winter wind loads work the bracket screws loose over three to five years, and the cap starts to rock against the flue tile. The fix is a bracket replacement and re-secure with stainless hardware, not a full cap replacement, unless the cap body itself has stress cracks at the weld points.
- Crown spalling on Famco pre-cast crowns from the 1990s and early 2000s. If your crown surface is shedding gritty concrete into the gutter, that’s freeze-thaw spalling. New York City gets enough snow-melt and refreeze cycles that a crown poured with the wrong mix or a missing drip edge fails early. We grind back the loose material, apply a bonded crown coat, and cut a proper drip edge so water stops running down the brick face.
- Famco cap mesh clogging on properties near Riverside Park and Prospect Park. Leaves, seed pods, and nesting material pack the mesh screens on Famco caps faster than most owners expect. The symptom is smoke backing into the room on startup or a musty draft when the fireplace isn’t in use. We clean the mesh and, where the cap design allows, upgrade to a coarser outer screen that still meets spark-arrest requirements for New York City code.
- Condensation rot at the Famco cap base on gas fireplace flues. Gas appliances produce water vapor that condenses on the underside of cold metal caps. On Famco caps with unsealed seams, that moisture drips back down and corrodes the cap base and the top flue tile. We see it on gas inserts in converted pre-war apartments from the East Village to Riverdale. The repair is seam sealing and, where the base is already perforated, a replacement cap with a proper condensate drip ledge.
- Rust-through on original Famco galvanized caps installed before 2010. Galvanized steel has a service life of roughly 12 to 18 years on a New York City rooftop, shorter if the cap sits within ten blocks of salt air off the East River or Upper New York Bay. When rust has eaten through the cap body, patching is false economy. We replace with a Famco stainless or a quality aftermarket equivalent, and we hand you the old cap so you can see the failure yourself.
Our Famco Chimney Cap & Crown Process

- 1
You call, we answer. A live person picks up 24/7. We ask about your Famco cap or crown, your building type, and any symptoms you’ve noticed. We book a visit that fits your schedule.
- 2
Camera inspection of the flue and rooftop assessment. Every visit includes a Level 2 camera-scan inspection under NFPA 211, as Clause 4 of the Haven Standard requires. We record footage of the flue interior and document the cap and crown condition in photos you’ll see yourself.
- 3
We show you what the camera found. Before any price conversation, you see the footage. Corrine Halstead, our owner, is known for walking customers through the camera feed personally, pointing out exactly what the flue walls, crown, and cap look like.
- 4
Written scope and written price. You get a line-item price for the Famco cap or crown work, a written scope of what we’ll do, and a written warranty. No work starts until you approve it in writing. No “call for a quote” games.
- 5
The repair or replacement. We decide with you on OEM Famco parts versus quality aftermarket equivalents. Where Famco OEM is the right call for warranty continuity, we use it. Where an aftermarket part meets or exceeds spec and saves you money, we tell you plainly.
- 6
Documented record and the 365-Day Done Right Promise. You get a photo record of the completed work. If it’s not done right within a year, we make it right. That’s stamped on every job under the Haven Standard, and we’ve backed it since 2009 across more than 38,000 inspections and cleanings.
Before
AfterWhat Famco Chimney Cap & Crown Costs in New York City
Here are the ranges we quote most often for Famco work in the five boroughs:
- Famco single-flue cap replacement (galvanized): $285 to $410
- Famco single-flue cap replacement (stainless): $380 to $540
- Famco multi-flue cap replacement: $520 to $980 depending on span and custom sizing
- Crown repair with bonded coating (standard flue): $450 to $780
- Full crown replacement, poured and cured: $900 to $1,200
- Custom Famco cap fabrication for unusual flue layouts: $700 to $1,400
What moves the price: height and roof pitch (a fifth-floor walk-up with a steep mansard roof costs more in labor than a two-story flat roof), the number of flues the cap spans, and whether the crown needs full replacement or just re-coating. Call (980) 580-8641 for a written estimate. It’s free, and it’s delivered before anyone starts work.
Why New York City Homeowners Call Emberly Chimney Cleaners for Famco Work

We’re not a Famco dealer, and we won’t pretend to be. We’re an independent Famco service provider that works on their caps and crowns every season across New York City. What that means for you: we can tell you when an OEM Famco part is worth the money and when a DuraFlex or Gelco equivalent does the same job for less. We also carry HeatShield materials for crown and flue resurfacing, so a damaged crown doesn’t automatically mean a full tear-out.
Every technician who comes to your roof is background-checked, uniformed, and has their license number on the page before they arrive. You’ll get a text when they’re on the way. And if you bring us a competitor’s written estimate, we’ll give you a free second opinion on it, no strings. The camera doesn’t soften what it finds. Neither do we.
FAQs
No. Replacing a Famco cap yourself or through an independent service provider does not void the warranty on the chimney structure or liner. If your Famco cap itself is still under warranty, we’ll help you document the defect with photos and measurements so you can file the claim directly with Famco.
Standard Famco single-flue and most multi-flue caps are available through our parts network within 2 to 4 business days in New York City. Custom caps, especially for multi-flue layouts on older buildings, take 7 to 10 business days from fabrication. Call (980) 580-8641 for a specific lead time on your model.
If the crown has surface spalling but the concrete underneath is still solid, a bonded coat repair costs $450 to $780 and usually buys 8 to 12 more years in New York City’s freeze-thaw climate. If the crown is cracked through and water has been running down the flue, full replacement at $900 to $1,200 is the honest fix. We’ll show you the camera footage before you decide.
Yes. Famco caps are built to standard flue tile dimensions, so a quality aftermarket cap from a manufacturer like Gelco or Olympia Chimney will fit correctly. We’ll tell you if an aftermarket cap meets or exceeds the Famco spec, and what it costs compared to OEM. The decision is always yours, in writing, before we start.
Written by Corrine Halstead, Owner, Emberly Chimney Cleaners at Emberly Chimney Cleaners, serving New York City and nearby areas.





Before
After
Before
After