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 Smithtown
If your Smithtown chimney is leaking or your cap has rusted through, we can usually be there within one or two days to inspect it and give you an upfront quote on the spot. For most cap replacements and crown repairs in Smithtown, a multi-flue cap runs $850-$1,400 installed, and a crown coating job is $1,200-$2,200 depending on size and condition. We’re a local, owner-operated company with roots going back to 1999 under Wendell Pike, and the number we quote on the phone is what’s on the invoice. Call (516) 968-5380 to set up a time, and we’ll work around weekends and evenings if you need us to.
Why Top Hat Chimney Is Smithtown’s Preferred Chimney Cap & Crown Company
We earned our place in Smithtown the slow way: one roof at a time. Wendell has been crawling around Long Island chimney chases since before many of the national franchises existed, and when you call, a live person picks up around the clock. It may well be Wendell himself. We know the Kings Park and Nesconset subdivisions, the split-levels that share flue walls, the way salt air off the Sound eats cap screws faster than homeowners expect. That’s why our Chimney Cap & Crown work often includes checking the interior chase condition before we quote, because a cap and crown repair on a shared flue means nothing if the chase itself is compromised.
Every job carries our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If anything isn’t right, one call brings the crew back at no cost. We offer $40 off any repair over $200, and seniors and veterans always save 10%. Our reputation in Smithtown is built on showing up in a real window, in uniform, with a name you can verify.
Our Chimney Cap & Crown Services in Smithtown
In Smithtown, cap and crown work is rarely just a cap and crown job. The mid-century housing stock here has specific quirks: shared masonry chases, oil-boiler flues, and decades of salt-laden air eating at metal components. Here’s what we actually do most often when someone in Smithtown calls us.
Multi-Flue Cap
A single brick chase that vents both an oil boiler and a decorative fireplace is common across central Smithtown and Nesconset. In many of these older homes, there’s no tile liner in either channel. When we install a multi-flue cap in Smithtown, we size it to cover both flue openings properly and anchor it to a stainless base that will hold against the wind coming off the Sound. We won’t slap a universal cap on a two-flue chase and call it done.
Crown Repair
Smithtown crowns crack from freeze-thaw cycles and from the acid in oil-flue exhaust that eats at lime-based mortar from the inside. A crown that’s split horizontally lets water run straight down the flue and into the wall cavity of your split-level. We repair crowns by cutting out the loose material, rebuilding the wash so it sheds water, and often applying a flexible crown coating so it moves with the chimney instead of cracking again in three winters.
Crown Coating
For crowns that are structurally sound but porous, a coating job is the right call. In Smithtown, where we see around 100 freeze-thaw cycles per year, a CrownCoat or equivalent flexible sealant keeps water out of the hairline cracks that eventually become major failures. We’ll tell you plainly if coating is enough. If it isn’t, we’ll show you the photos so you can see exactly what we saw.
Cap Installation & Replacement
Rusted-out, corroded, or missing caps are the single most common Chimney Cap & Crown in Smithtown call we get. The salt air near the North Shore chews through galvanized steel fasteners in five to seven years on attached homes, not the fifteen to twenty you’d expect inland. We’ll pull the old one, check the chase for hidden damage, and install a proper stainless or copper cap with stainless hardware so it stays put.
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 Smithtown
We install and service products from Gelco, Olympia Chimney, Famco, and Copperfield. For Smithtown customers, we keep common cap sizes and stainless parts on the truck so we don’t have to order and come back. We prefer Copperfield multi-flue caps for older mid-century chases because they’re American-made and come in custom widths that fit the oddball dimensions builders used in Kings Park and Nesconset. If you’d rather go with Olympia or Gelco for a specific reason, we’re happy to match it to your chimney.
Common Chimney Cap & Crown Problems We See in Smithtown Homes
- Corroded cap fasteners from Sound salt air. Homes within a few miles of the water by Kings Park and Nissequogue see galvanized cap screws rust out early, causing the cap to lift or rattle in a storm. We replace them with stainless hardware and often upgrade the whole cap assembly while we’re up there.
- Spalled interior crown surfaces from oil-flue acid migration. When a fireplace flue and an oil flue share a thin brick division, acidic soot migrates into the fireplace side and eats at the mortar crown from the inside. The outside looks fine. The inside is crumbling. This is a common find in central Smithtown ranches and split-levels.
- Horizontal freeze cracks in 50-year-old lime mortar. Nearly 100 freezes and thaws a year will pry apart soft mortar. Once the crown cracks horizontally, water follows gravity down the flue and into the wall cavity. By the time you see water stains on a ceiling, the crown has been leaking for a while. We’ll camera the flue to show you the extent.
- Loose caps on attached homes with shared stacks. In Smithtown’s denser neighborhoods by Route 111 and Main Street, older attached homes share chimney stacks. A loose cap on a shared stack means rainwater can enter not just your flue but your neighbor’s wall framing. That’s why we anchor caps solidly and check the condition of the whole chase face, not just your side.
Pricing for Chimney Cap & Crown in Smithtown, NY
A standard single-flue stainless cap installation in Smithtown runs $650-$950. Multi-flue caps on shared chases run $850-$1,400, since they require more fabrication and anchoring. A crown repair with new mortar wash and flexible coating runs $1,200-$2,200 depending on the crown’s size, how much material we need to remove, and whether we find spalled brick that also needs patching. A custom stainless or copper cap for an odd-shaped chase runs $1,100-$2,400. Every quote includes a camera inspection before we touch your roof, so you see the exact same footage we do. We’ll tell you if the crown can be coated instead of rebuilt, and if it can wait a year, we’ll tell you that too. No trip charge applies if you’re in our own service county. Call (516) 968-5380 for a free estimate and we’ll give you a number that doesn’t change at the door.
We Also Serve Cities Near Smithtown
Beyond Smithtown, we work across Commack, Brentwood, Huntington Station, and Huntington. If you’re in any of those towns and need a multi-flue cap, crown repair, or a full chase relining, the same crew, pricing, and warranty applies. Just call (516) 968-5380. We’ll let you know our arrival window when we schedule, and the phone is answered by a person, not a recording.
Serving Smithtown, NY - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Smithtown 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 Smithtown
Yes, a properly sized multi-flue cap covers both flue openings, but the real issue in Smithtown is what’s under the cap. Many 1960s chases in central Smithtown, Kings Park, and Nesconset vent both an oil boiler and a fireplace through the same unlined brick chase with no tile liner in either channel. A cap alone will stop rain from coming in, but it won’t stop the acid and cross-drafting that happens between the two flues. In most of these homes, we recommend a full stainless reline alongside a custom multi-flue cap. We’ll show you the camera footage so you can see if your chase has a liner or not, and then quote from there. Call (516) 968-5380 and we’ll inspect it free.
Kings Park and Nesconset crowns crack more because they’re older and closer to the salt air of Long Island Sound, plus they were built with standard lime-based mortar that softens after fifty years. Nearly 100 freeze-thaw cycles per year work the already-softened mortar until horizontal cracks open up. Add in acidic oil-flue exhaust migrating through thin shared chase walls, and you get crown failure faster than in towns further inland. A flexible crown coating slows this down significantly. Not every crown needs a full rebuild; we’ll tell you which one you need once we get on the roof.
Yes, and usually you should also reline or decommission the old flue. Many Smithtown homes are converting from oil to gas or heat pumps right now, and the original oil flue is not sized or rated for the new appliance’s lower-temperature exhaust. If the old oil flue had corroded the cap, it’s likely been corroding the chase too. We see this every week in the mid-century subdivisions. Replacing the cap without addressing the flue transition means you’re capping a compromised chimney. We’ll walk you through what your specific conversion requires, and we’ll do it without upsell pressure. We’ll show you what’s actually inside the chase.
If the crown has hairline vertical cracking or surface pitting but still slopes properly and doesn’t have loose pieces, a flexible crown coating is usually enough. If the crown has horizontal cracks, chunks of mortar missing, or spalled brick around the edges, it needs a full repair, which means cutting out the loose material, rebuilding the wash, and then coating it. In Smithtown, we see a lot of crowns that look fine on the outside but are crumbling underneath due to acid migration from oil flues. We’ll bring a camera up and show you exactly what condition your crown is in before we recommend anything. Call (516) 968-5380 and we’ll give you a straight answer.
It can, and it does, especially in older attached homes and townhouses along Jericho Turnpike and around Route 25 where chimneys share a common stack. If a shared masonry chase wasn’t properly separated with individual flue liners, exhaust from one unit can migrate through cracks and voids into the other unit’s flue, and then out any cap or spalled brick opening. That’s why we don’t just check the top of your chimney; we camera the full interior of both flue pathways when an attached Smithtown home smells smoke or oil exhaust from a neighbor’s side. Fixing it usually means individual stainless liners and a properly fitted multi-flue cap. If you smell sulfur or oil in a room with no appliance running, call us at (516) 968-5380. We’ll find where it’s coming from.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Smithtown and the North Shore since 1999.