cloudman75 wrote:Terry and Dave, I blocked mine as I am using it to vent gas appliances. I still had to remove a cat, squirrel, a ground squirrel, and ran a possum out in summer.
Not to mention catching some young chimney swifts and putting them out to fly with their parents. They came through the cast iron damper.
That was great getting the chimney saved that they were not using Dave. I remember reading it when you first posted it with a photo. I believe you also pointed it up for repairs. I would also encourage Chris to block off the chimney opening at the damper location if the chimney is not being used and not to block the opening that they are using. I still have swifts flying around with the bats at dusk. I will most likely try to build them a roost of some sort this winter.
Frank
Good for you Frank. I have wanted to investigate the connections between bats and swifts but have not had time. It is almost uncanny how many similarities they have, e.g. they cannot sit on a branch, they must hang. I have got to believe that bats and swifts must coexist in some roosts. That would be the ultimate in bug control - swifts by day, bats by night, 24/7.
Yes the thing that tipped the refuge manager's decision is when I offered to repoint the chimney myself. It needed some repointing and they did not want to spend the money to do that so they were going to tear it down. So I did not actually do the repointing, the remodeling contractor did.
I was there when we first saw swifts using the chimney. The refuge manager was practically jumping up and down with excitement as we watched them go in the chimney. I think that allayed his fears that he had made a bad decision to spend money to save it.
The simplest way to block off a chimney at the damper is to use a 2" thick piece of rigid insulation. I did that at my parents house. They have two fireplaces, one they use an one they don't use. You just carefully measure the opening below the damper, cut the foam, cut a slot in the foam for the damper handle (in the closed position), and push it up into place. The compression from the fireplace walls holds it in place, even in strong winds (which they get up to 100MPH each winter). When I did this I also discovered that there were some blobs of mortar on the damper which kept it from closing all the way. So they had a 1"x24" opening to the sky, sending heat up the chimney for 41 years. The room is much warmer in the winter now.
I used the same sheet of insulation to make a plug at the front of the opening for their other fireplace. Again I fitted it just right so it stays in place by compression, with a couple of places for your fingers so you can take it out when you build a fire. My mom made a cloth cover for it using some attractive material so it doesn't just look like a white sheet of foam. That has made a huge difference in keeping that room warm as well.
Around here there is huge interest in Vaux's swifts. Over in Portland (across the Columbia river from me) there is a school that actually allowed the local audubon group to save the chimney for the swifts (it was to be torn down due to earthquake concerns). It is a
huge local attraction during the swift migration - hundreds of people gather on the school lawn to watch the swifts:
http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/segments/view/1380 (this was filmed before the chimney was retrofitted & the heating system was changed). There are many videos on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... wifts&aq=fSorry for the rabbit trail! But if you are interested in bats, I bet you would be fascinated with swifts too.
as I can't decide whether the sound is the same or not. However, I do know that bats are around as I see them flying every evening. Maybe I was mistaken about seeing them fly *into* the chimney, but I'm not sure. I know I've seen them flying around the chimney, though mostly they're over the patio and lawn.
