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.
Fast, Reliable Chimney Cap & Crown Across Midwood
Chimney cap and crown repair in Midwood typically costs $280-$890 depending on whether you’re replacing a corroded cap, coating a cracked crown, or both. Most Midwood jobs are completed in a single visit once we diagnose the damage. Call (516) 613-3035 for a free estimate with upfront pricing.
We’ve been working on Midwood’s chimneys for decades. The neighborhood’s concentration of 1920s-1940s brick Colonials and Tudors, many sitting within a mile or two of Jamaica Bay, presents a specific problem: salt-laden coastal air that eats galvanised metal years faster than it fails inland. Our crews know the difference between a chimney that needs a quick crown coating on East 16th Street and one that needs full cap replacement with stainless hardware near Avenue J. Dispatch and scheduling run from our New York City office, but our technicians live and work across Brooklyn and arrive with the parts to finish most jobs the same day.
Why Hearthstone Chimney Co. Is Midwood’s Preferred Chimney Cap & Crown Company
Our reputation in Midwood was built one brick chimney at a time. Homeowners here talk to each other on these quiet residential blocks, and we’ve found that a job done right on East 17th Street leads to a call from East 18th the following week. We’re not a chain sending whoever’s available; our background-checked, uniformed technicians know the local housing stock and its particular failure modes.
Response time to Midwood is typically same-week during peak season, with emergency calls triaged by the live person who answers our phones 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. No voicemail, no callback queue. When water’s pouring through a rusted cap during a January nor’easter, that matters.
What sets us apart here is documentation. Every inspection ends with photos you can see and a plain-English verdict. If your crown is cracked, we’ll show you exactly where. If your cap needs replacement, we’ll explain why stainless makes sense for Midwood’s coastal exposure versus galvanised that’ll rust through again in three seasons. Then we put the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If it’s not right, we make it right. No arguing, no paperwork chase.
Our Chimney Cap & Crown Services in Midwood
Custom Cap Installation
Midwood’s older chimneys weren’t built to standard modern dimensions. Many 1930s Colonials on blocks like East 16th and East 17th have oversized flue openings or multiple flues clustered irregularly. Off-the-shelf caps won’t seal properly. We measure on-site and order custom caps from Gelco and Famco in stainless steel, cut to fit your chimney exactly. A proper custom cap in Midwood runs $450-$780 installed, including hardware and sealant. The alternative - a loose-fitting stock cap - lets salt air and rain infiltrate, accelerating the crown damage you’re trying to prevent.

Cap Replacement
Replacement is our most common Midwood cap call. Galvanised caps installed even five or ten years ago show rusted seams, corner holes, and screen deterioration from Jamaica Bay salt exposure. On East 17th Street we pulled a galvanised multi-flue cap off a 1930s Colonial whose corners had rusted through and were dumping rust flakes down a bare 12×12 flue venting a modern gas boiler. We replaced it with a stainless Famco multi-flue cap, poured a crowned Gelco crown coating over the salt-eaten mortar, and relined the flue with a DuraFlex stainless liner sized for the boiler. Cap replacement alone in Midwood typically runs $320-$650. When paired with crown work or relining, we bundle for a flat price agreed before we start.

Crown Repair
Original 1920s-1940s crowns in Midwood were thin, flat mortar pours, often little more than a sloped wash. Decades of freeze-thaw cycling - Brooklyn winters drop below freezing dozens of times, and salt moisture accelerates the damage - leave them spiderwebbed with cracks. Water wicks through, freezes, expands, and separates the crown from the brick below. Crown repair involves removing loose material, applying a bonding agent, and pouring new crowned concrete with proper overhang and drip edge. Midwood crown repair runs $380-$720 depending on accessibility and how far the damage has spread into the brick courses beneath.

Crown Coating
For crowns with minor cracking but sound structure, crown coating is the cost-effective option. We use HeatShield and Gelco elastomeric coatings formulated for masonry expansion and contraction. In Midwood’s climate, where temperature swings of 40 degrees in a single winter day aren’t unusual, flexibility matters. A coating job runs $280-$450 and adds 10-15 years of protection if the underlying crown was basically sound. We won’t sell you a coating if the crown is too far gone - we’ll show you the photo and explain why repair or rebuild makes more sense. Photos you can see, a plain-English verdict.

What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Midwood
We stock professional-grade materials from DuraFlex, HeatShield, Gelco, and Olympia Chimney - no builder-grade substitutes that fail early in coastal conditions. For Midwood’s salt-air environment, we specify stainless over galvanised as standard practice, and we keep common cap sizes and crown coating supplies on our trucks to avoid return visits. Most jobs are completed in a single visit. The brands we use are the same ones specified by chimney professionals nationwide because they hold up to real conditions, not showroom displays.
Common Chimney Cap & Crown Problems We See in Midwood Homes
- Galvanised caps rust through at the seams within a few seasons. Atlantic and Jamaica Bay salt moisture attacks the galvanised coating at cut edges and seams first. Once rust starts, it accelerates. Water pours straight down the flue, often onto an unlined 12×12 interior that was never meant to handle liquid exposure.
- Original 1920s-1940s crowns crack under freeze-thaw cycling. Thin, flat mortar pours with no reinforcement can’t handle Brooklyn’s winter temperature swings. Salt water wicks into hairline cracks, freezes overnight, and widens them. The damage spreads to mortar joints and flashing before most homeowners notice staining on interior walls.
- Crown and flashing failures hide bigger problems. The oversized, unrelined flue serving a modern gas boiler may have been “working” for years with poor draft. Once the cap fails and rain starts cooling the flue further, draft gets worse. Carbon monoxide risk increases. Many Midwood homeowners don’t know their chimney violates NYC DOB liner-sizing requirements until we show them the camera image.
- Multi-flue caps on converted coal chimneys fit poorly. Original chimneys built for coal had large exterior dimensions and multiple flues. Modern gas appliances need smaller, properly lined flues. Stock multi-flue caps sit loose on these old footprints, letting wind-driven salt rain penetrate from the sides.
Pricing for Chimney Cap & Crown in Midwood, NY
Here’s what cap and crown work costs in Midwood’s market:
- Custom cap installation: $450-$780
- Cap replacement (standard stainless): $320-$650
- Cap replacement (multi-flue stainless): $480-$890
- Crown repair (partial rebuild): $380-$720
- Crown coating (elastomeric): $280-$450
- Crown and cap bundled with flue relining: $1,200-$2,400
Three factors move you up or down these ranges: accessibility (steep roof pitch or tight alley access), the extent of hidden brick damage we find after removing the old cap, and whether the flue needs relining to meet current code. We give you a flat price before booking, and that number appears on your invoice. No surprises. Call (516) 613-3035 for an exact quote - estimates are free, and we bring the camera so you see what we see.
We Also Serve Cities Near Midwood
Our crews work across Brooklyn and beyond. If you’re looking for Chimney Cap & Crown in Midwood or nearby, we also serve Staten Island, Tottenville, Great Kills, and St. George with the same single-visit standard and upfront pricing. Wherever you are in the boroughs, our Chimney Cap & Crown team arrives with the parts to finish the job.
Serving Midwood, NY - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Midwood 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 Midwood
Salt-laden air from Jamaica Bay and the Atlantic accelerates galvanised steel corrosion by several years compared to inland Brooklyn. We see galvanised caps rust through at seams in 3-5 seasons near the bay side of Midwood. Stainless steel caps last 15-20 years in the same exposure. If your cap is showing orange streaks or corner holes, it’s time to replace before water reaches the flue. Call (516) 613-3035 for a free inspection.
Given coastal salt exposure and the age of Midwood’s housing stock, we recommend annual inspection for any chimney with a galvanised cap or original crown. Stainless caps and coated crowns can stretch to every two years if the flue is properly lined. The freeze-thaw cycle here is hard on masonry, and what looks fine from the ground may show cracks and spalling at roof level. Our Level-2 camera inspection includes photos you keep and a plain-English verdict on what needs attention now versus what can wait.
The crown is the concrete or mortar slab that tops your chimney structure, sloped to shed water. The cap is the metal cover that sits above the crown, protecting the flue opening from rain, animals, and debris. In Midwood, we often find both failing together: a cracked crown lets water into the brick, while a rusted cap lets water straight down the flue. Fixing one without the other leaves the job half-done. We’ll show you both on camera and explain what each needs.
Indirectly, yes. A failed cap lets rain cool the flue gases, reducing draft. A cracked crown lets moisture erode mortar joints, potentially opening gaps in the flue wall. In Midwood’s many unlined or oversized flues - originally built for coal, now venting gas appliances - poor draft can allow carbon monoxide to spill into living spaces rather than exhausting properly. NYC DOB guidelines prohibit gas venting through unlined flues of the size common in Midwood’s 1920s-1940s homes. If your cap or crown is failing, we inspect the full system, not just the top. Call (516) 613-3035 to schedule.
Absolutely. For Midwood specifically, we specify stainless steel as standard and avoid galvanised except on budget-restricted jobs where the homeowner understands it’ll need earlier replacement. The salt-air difference is real: a galvanised cap that lasts 12 years in Schenectady may fail in 4 here. We source stainless caps from Famco and Gelco with proper mill certifications, and we back the installation with our 90-Day Done Right Promise. The upfront cost difference is $80-$150. The replacement cost difference, if you choose galvanised and it fails early, is the full job plus any water damage to the flue interior.
Ready to protect your Midwood chimney from salt-air damage? Call (516) 613-3035 for a free estimate. We’ll bring the camera, show you what your cap and crown look like from the top, and give you a flat price with no surprises on the bill. Done right - and we stand behind it.
Written by Russell Haines, Owner at Hearthstone Chimney Co., serving Midwood and Brooklyn communities for over 42 years.





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