Two types of birds are most common in chimney bird nest problems, Starlings but more often Jackdaws are the culprits.
From April to the end of July is the jackdaw nesting season, although problems often occur beyond these months because jackdaws are very territorial and often hang about all year.
You should never underestimate the problem or these birds as they are surprisingly intelligent, resourceful and some of the most determined when it comes to nest building.
It is surprising how many cases of birds nests I see just driving around every spring.
All too often a bricked up fireplace hides a multitude of sins and takes the owner’s mind off the flue and pot completely.
What you need to consider when you have this problem?
The crows nests that you see in trees, when inside chimneys are built on top of a structure more akin to a beavers dam. They just keep throwing twigs down until a nest support platform (which is often at least 6-10 ft deep or more) is created.
The worst case that I personally remember when as a boy, was in a big old building in Barassie. It had multiple generations of jackdaw nests on top of each other and the runs in the chimneys were convoluted hindering removal of the nest material and so the only course of action was to open up the wall above in the loft space.
Eventually, my father & helpers removed 13 bin-bags of nesting material which took over 9 hours with little rest. Removal is ALWAYS HARD physical and labour INTENSIVE work. If you are unlucky enough to see us undertaking the task you will see we do not stop for breaks and endeavour to keep ourselves fit and strong for this purpose.
It gets worse too… IF left alone & forgotten about
If left unaddressed, one of the worst case scenarios are dampness problems that when severe enough, will eventually threaten your very house.
**Nests act like sponges for rain which eventually will soak right through into your inner and outer walls.**
I often see the signs of dampness above the affected chimney fireplace where the walls meet the ceiling and this will often be in the room directly above too, depending on the height of the nest and run of the flues. On the outside the worse cases often have dark stains on the outer visible rough cast of the chimney stack.
***If your building was built prior to the mid 1950’s, then the mortar between your flue bricks/stones is made from sand and lime mixtures and NOT concrete. These sand-lime mortar mixtures are very susceptible to the sulphurous acid (H2SO3) caused by coal combustion which causes disintegration. This acid is made when the sulphur from coal soot is dissolved in rain entering (or h2o from wood burning) into your chimney flue .** The older and longer your building has had a fire, the worse this problem gets and the more dust, rubble falls into the fireplace.
Once your flue gets damaged enough, you will eventually need to get a liner fitted to be able to use it again. That is providing any rubble collapses allow a liner to be dropped of course.
What we can and can’t do for you.
Firstly, we remind you that IF there are eggs or chicks in the nest it is illegal to block access to or remove them, unless you have a special license. So from the end of March till August you will need to wait till the birds have left (as you can read here RSPB Nest Removal Regulations) because we cannot touch it at all.
The most relevant TLDR part is, “The breeding season for Jackdaw’s is April – July. Therefore, if you are unsure there is a nesting Jackdaw, then the best advice is to wait until the end of August.
However, if you feel it is an emergency or other urgent situation that needs dealt with immediately e.g. if you are elderly and your fire is your only source of heat.
Then we can make a judgement call in determining if the nest is old , in use or not.
We Guarantee
We guarantee your birds nest problem will be removed 100% completely as will be shown to you live at the time of removal by our FREE CCTV Inspection (normally costs from £80).
If we can do it in an hour or less it will be done! We do NOT mess around or take breaks as you will see because we work to appointment.
Trying to put a time figure on nest removal is kind of like asking how long is a piece of string. However, on average with our professional power sweeping system, our In-house designed {Destrukto-Head} and a wee bit of luck… 99.9% of nests are COMPLETELY removed within an hour or two at the most.
***Supplying and fitting a bird Cage/China Hat prevents further problems…So WE MAKE IT MANDATORY because logically, .. it will save you money and we simply don’t want to have to do the same job twice.***
THEREFORE, WE CAN ALSO GUARANTEE THIS WONT BE HAPPENING AGAIN SOON.
PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE and CHEAPER TOO
Firstly, do NOT underestimate the problem!! This is potentially one of the worst things that can happen to your chimney flue. You need to act to get it removed and you need to prevent it from happening again.
Please read our normal preparation guidelines and T&C’s but also bear in mind that this work can is often a bit more messy. We need ‘open’ access to the fireplace to create the forces necessary to remove the blockage. In doing so, we cannot always close it to the same degree as when we are doing a normal sweeping job. So you should consider covering your floors, furniture and perhaps removing things from the room in advance.
NB//
If you have a stove fitted and are unfortunate enough to have a nest blocking its’ flue, IN ALMOST ALL CASES YOU NEED to have it DISCONNECTED by an installer BEFORE we can remove the problem for you.
Unfortunately, we are not magicians who can pull nests through flue pipes nor reverse gravity …..so the nest will have to come out of the bottom.
