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Thornbury has two kinds of chimney needing a cap: the reopened flue that has never had one, and the stack kept after the fireplace went. FreshDuct fits rain caps, vented caps and cowls to both, sized to Edwardian and bungalow pots and photographed from the roof.
Chimney kept for the streetscape but nothing burning under it? A vented cap stops the rain and lets the stack breathe.
Many of Thornbury’s Edwardian and Federation chimneys were built with a pot and nothing else, and after a century plenty of them still have nothing else. That was tolerable while the fireplace was in daily use and the flue stayed warm and dry. It is a problem now, when the same flue has either been idle for decades and is suddenly being relit, or has been sealed off at the bottom during a renovation and left open at the top.
For a reopened fireplace the cap keeps rain and leaves off the smoke shelf and birds out of the flue, which is most of what makes a restored fireplace smell and smoke on its first few fires. For a stack kept after the fireplace went, the cap has a different job: stop the water while letting the flue vent, so the brick dries rather than sweats. That is a vented cap, and it is the most useful thing a disused Thornbury chimney can have.
Both are measured to the pot on the roof rather than taken from a standard range, fixed with corrosion-resistant fasteners and sealed to the crown. Where a reopened fire smokes on windy nights we fit an anti-downdraught cowl and test it lit; where the smoke turns out to be a rangehood pulling against the flue, we say so, because a cowl will not fix that.
Rain caps, vented caps for disused stacks, bird guards and anti-downdraught cowls for Thornbury’s period chimneys, measured to the pot, sealed and photographed.
A chimney with no fireplace under it still needs to shed rain and breathe. We fit a vented cap that keeps water and birds out while letting the flue vent, so the stack stops feeding damp into the wall it stands on.
An insert fitted with a stainless liner needs a cowl sized to the liner, not a cap on the old pot around it. We fit the terminal to the liner, seal the gap to the pot so rain stays out of the void, and test the draw lit.
A flue that stood cold for twenty years has almost always hosted a nest, and a reopened one will host another by spring without a guard. We clear what is there and fit a cap with a bird guard sized to the Edwardian pot.
Real photos from Melbourne jobs — not stock, not staged.
Edwardian and bungalow pots are not a standard size, so every cap and cowl is measured on the roof and fitted to sit square and sealed. Corrosion-resistant fasteners hold it, and the crown is checked while we are there.
A working fireplace is lit and the draw tested with the new cowl fitted; a disused stack is photographed from the roof with its vented cap on. Either way you see the finished terminal without going up a ladder.
Documented end to end — every job, every suburb.
Flue size, terminal type and roof access checked.
The right cap or cowl for the appliance and the problem.
Firm price before any work.
Fixed and sealed from the roof, safely.
Draw checked with the cap on.
A photo of the finished cap from the roof.
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The same local team covers the suburbs around Thornbury. Explore nearby areas and related FreshDuct chimney services.
A vented cap. It keeps rain and birds out but lets the flue breathe, so the brick dries instead of holding damp against the wall below. A sealed plate does the opposite and traps moisture in the stack, so we do not fit those on a kept chimney.
We find out before fitting anything. If the flue draws well in still air and smokes only in wind, an anti-downdraught cowl is the fix and we test it lit. If it smokes whenever the rangehood is on, the problem is air supply, and we tell you that instead of selling a cowl.
An open flue lets rain, leaves and birds straight in. A cap keeps the flue dry, keeps nests out and, on a wood heater, a spark arrestor stops embers leaving the flue.
Usually a downdraught — wind pushing back down the flue. An anti-downdraught cowl is the normal fix; we confirm the draw with a test before and after.
Yes. If we are on the roof for a sweep and the flue needs a cap, we can quote it on the spot and fit it the same visit where we have the right size.
Send your details and the office confirms a window for Thornbury. No call-out fee, before and after photos, and honest advice on what your chimney needs and what it does not.
