Cost to put a bird grill on top of the chimney?

pinkteapot

Trauma this morning - came down to hear a bird falling down the chimney then scrabbling about behind the gas fire. Couple of hours and an emergency gas engineer call-out charge later, bird is gone. I had moved everything easily move-able out of the lounge and dust-sheeted the large furniture, and the bird flew straight from the fire to the window and didn't poo once on the way.

I know that chimney companies can put a bird grill on top of the chimney to stop this happening again (I assumed we already had something up there). Does anyone know roughly how much these cost?

cddc

It is a quick job and not that expensive as long as someone is prepared to go up a ladder and do it as they were in our case.
We had it done for less than £100 I seem to recall.

pinkteapot

Unfortunately our chimney is on the side of the house that butts right up to the boundary, so they'll have to clamber from our neighbour's garden to do it.

Ah well, I'll get some quotes. Gas man this morning charged £45 plus VAT so we could probably have 2-3 more bird incidents before it becomes worth putting a grill up, though that's probably not worth the hassle.

sphinxkat

I had a chimney sweep come out a few weeks ago to sweep our chimney obviously as we are putting a gas fire in, and he sold me a grill thing for £15.00 apparently there are different types for different fuels... so now it’s just the cost of fitting.

We had a bird come down the chimney last year and you can hear them knocking soot down sometimes so i don't want to take my chances once the gas fire is in.

I am hoping I can convince the OH to climb out of one of the velux windows

Hope this helps.

pinkteapot

Thanks. Doesn't seem like there's any soot in our chimney as the bird was clean when it came out. The house is 20 years old but it's only ever had a gas fire in the fireplace so no soot.

Don't think either hubby or I would be climbing on the roof to put it up. Unfortunately these days most firms won't go up that high on a ladder so it gets expensive then they want to start using a scaffolding tower or cherry picker.

muckybutt

Having had a bird down the flue / chimney I would highly advise you get a chimney sweep to sweep it and put a cowel on top at the same time, theres a chance the bird could have been nesting in the chimney so could have partially blocked it.

Even though its a gas fire you should still have them swept at least once a year for safety reasons, carbon monoxide is a silent killer and is a serious risk if your chimney hasnt beent swept.

POPPYOSCAR

Our chimney sweep put ours on for us. He supplied and fitted 2(good quality ones) for around £90. You can get a variety of Cowls, I would not advise going for the cheapest as they can get blown down after a while.

pinkteapot

When we have the gas fire serviced the guy puts a puff of something up the chimney and goes outside to check it's appeared and the chimney is clear. We also have a carbon monoxide alarm in the lounge as we do use the gas fire.

Thanks all - I'll get some quotes from chimney sweeps. If I do have them sweep the chimney though I'll have to pay a GasSafe person to disconnect the fire beforehand and reconnect it afterwards.

cyclonebri1

You actually have a greater problem than the bird, the live one that is.

Yes the problem was resolved for £5o today, but what about the ex Norwegian Blue (only for viewers of a certain age:D) that expires down the gas fire flue.

Thats the issue it should have an approved gas cowl fitted for your safety not the birds.

Bird grills are for soil vents essentially. The pong at least won't kill you, well..................