Chimney services, Portland metro
Chimney animal removal in Portland, within wildlife law, then a cap
We remove raccoons, squirrels, old nests and dead animals from Portland chimneys, clean what they left behind, and fit a cap so it stays empty. Vaux's swifts have federal protection, so a flue they are roosting in waits until they leave.
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What you are seeing
An animal in the chimney announces itself in one of these ways, and which one tells us a lot about what is up there.
- Scratching, thumping or chittering behind the damper, loudest at dusk and dawn.
- Chirping from inside the wall or the firebox for a few weeks in spring or early summer.
- A smell that gets worse every day, with flies at the fireplace.
- Twigs, grass, leaves or insulation on the smoke shelf or falling into the firebox.
- Soot and debris on the hearth after a windy night, from a flue with no cap.
- A raccoon seen on the roof at night, going in or out of the chimney top.
What we do on an animal removal visit
We work out what is in the flue before we open anything, because a nest, a live animal and a dead one are three different jobs.
Identify what is up there from the hearth
With the damper still closed we listen and shine a light through the gap. Chirping and a bulky nest of twigs says birds; a soft heavy thud and a musky smell says raccoon; frantic scrabbling says a squirrel that fell in; a sweet, heavy odor and flies says the animal has died.
Check the top of the chimney
Up on the roof we check the cap, or the open flue where a cap used to be, for torn screen, a chase cover pushed aside, or raccoon tracks in the soot. On a factory-built fireplace we check the chase for gaps where squirrels get in behind the flue pipe. This tells us the way in, which is also the way we will close.
Birds: wait until the flue is empty
An active nest of any bird stays until the young have flown, and we give you a return date. Vaux's swifts carry federal protection and are never swept, smoked or capped while they are inside; the fall roosts in Portland last from the middle of August into the middle of October, and we come back after. A nest that no protected bird is using is cleared with rods and the vacuum the same day.
Raccoons and squirrels: out the way they came in
A squirrel that fell in gets a knotted rope lowered from the top and climbs out on its own. A raccoon is persuaded out the top with light, noise and scent at the smoke shelf, never through the room; a mother with kits in spring may take a few days and a return trip. The camera confirms the flue is empty before anything closes.
Dead animals: remove, clean and deodorize
A dead animal on the smoke shelf comes out through the damper opening or down from the top, bagged and taken away. We vacuum the shelf, scrub and treat the area with an enzyme deodorizer, and sweep the flue if the animal or its nest left debris behind it on the tile.
Cap the flue and write it down
The visit ends with a stainless cap with a screen sized to the flue, or a repaired chase cover, because an open flue in a Portland neighborhood can fill up again. You get before and after pictures of the flue, the cap in place, and a note on whether the chimney needs a sweep or an inspection now that it is clear.
Never light a fire to smoke an animal out
A fire under a nest or a trapped animal is how a chimney fire or a panicked raccoon in the living room starts, so the fireplace stays cold until we have cleared the flue.
Nest material is dry twigs and grass packed into the one place in the house built to carry flame upward, and a blocked flue sends the smoke back into the room along with the animal. A dead animal under heat is worse. Shut the damper, close the doors or screen, and call.
The same goes for a furnace or water heater flue. A nest in that flue can push combustion gases back into the house, and a carbon monoxide alarm sounding near a gas appliance is a reason to shut the appliance off and have the flue looked at before it runs again.
Vaux's swifts: the chimney guests Portland waits for
Vaux's swifts are migratory birds protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, so we never remove them or disturb a roost; the flue waits until they leave.
Through late summer and early fall the migrating flocks drop into masonry chimneys at dusk. The Chapman Elementary roost in Northwest Portland emptied in 2024 after about four decades, and the flocks have since used school and church chimneys in other parts of the city, which means an uncapped masonry flue can host them.
If you hear a flock settling into your chimney at dusk in September, keep the damper closed, enjoy it, and call us for a cap once they have gone south; our swifts guide covers what to expect week by week.
Raccoons, squirrels and starlings in a Portland flue
Raccoons climb brick to den on the smoke shelf, squirrels fall in and cannot climb out, and starlings pack a flue with nest material; each needs a different approach.
A raccoon on the smoke shelf can be a mother with kits in spring, and the goal is to move the whole family out the top, not to trap her and leave kits behind in the flue. That takes patience, scent and light, and sometimes more than one visit.
Squirrels and starlings both move into uncapped flues in the older neighborhoods, and a cap with a stainless screen ends both. On a factory-built fireplace the way in is often a gap in the chase or a chase cover rusted through, so the fix is on the chase, not at the flue.
What moves the price of chimney animal removal
The posted price covers removing a nest, debris or a dead animal from one flue and cleaning behind it, and the add-ons below are quoted before we start.
- A live raccoon or squirrel, quoted on site once we know what we are dealing with and how many.
- A return visit after a nesting family has fledged or a raccoon family has moved out.
- A full sweep afterward, when the nest left creosote-soaked debris in the flue.
- The cap or chase cover, priced as its own line and sized to the flue.
- A furnace or water heater flue, which gets a camera run before the appliance goes back on.
When a repair stops making sense
Removal stops being enough when the animal has damaged the chimney: a raccoon that has torn the screen off a cap and bent the frame means a new cap, and a chase cover rusted through at the corners is replaced rather than patched.
Nest debris that caught fire in place means the flue has had a fire, and it gets an inspection before the next one. When the camera shows tile shifted or cracked by years of nests and water from an open top, the flue is relined before it is used again, and the cap goes on the new liner.
Animal removal: common questions
How does chimney animal removal get a raccoon out without hurting it?
By making the smoke shelf an unpleasant place to stay and the top an easy way out. Bright light, noise and a scent raccoons avoid go in from the firebox side with the damper kept shut. A mother leaves and comes back for her kits, so a family may take a few days and a second visit. The camera confirms the flue is empty before the cap goes on.
Does chimney animal removal include a bird nest with birds still in it?
An active nest waits until the young have flown, whatever the species. A Vaux's swift roost is left alone entirely until it moves on, because federal law protects the birds. We give you a return date, keep the damper closed in the meantime, and sweep and cap the flue once the birds are gone. Old nests that no bird is using come out the same day.
What does a dead animal in the chimney smell like, and how long after removal does it last?
A sweet, heavy, rotten odor that grows day by day, often with flies at the fireplace, strongest on warm days with the damper shut. Once the animal is out and the smoke shelf is cleaned and treated, the smell fades over a few days. A smell that stays means another animal or soaked debris is still up there.
Will a chimney cap after animal removal stop animals getting in again?
A cap with a stainless screen sized to the flue stops birds, squirrels and raccoons, which is why every animal removal ends with one. The cap also keeps out leaves and rain. On a factory-built fireplace the weak point is often the chase rather than the flue, so we check the chase cover and the gaps around the pipe too.
Is a nest in the furnace flue a reason for chimney animal removal, or a furnace call?
Both, in that order. A nest in a furnace or water heater flue blocks the exhaust and can push carbon monoxide back into the house, so the appliance stays off, the flue gets cleared and checked with the camera, and then the furnace company confirms the draft. If a carbon monoxide alarm is sounding, get everyone outside and call 911.
What should I do right now while I wait for chimney animal removal?
Keep the damper shut and the glass doors or screen closed, keep pets away from the hearth, and skip any fire. Listen at dusk and dawn and note what you hear, and look at the chimney top from the yard if you can see it, because a photo of the chimney top helps us bring the right gear.
Related pages
Where we do this
We clear and cap chimneys in all the places listed below, and recent swift roosts have been in Northwest, Northeast and Southeast Portland chimneys.
Ready to book a sweep?
Call with what the fireplace is doing, or text a photo of the opening and one of the chimney top, and we will name the service and its posted price before we come out.