Why Winston-Salem chimneys need a custom cap
Winston-Salem has more old masonry chimneys per square mile than almost anywhere else in the Triad, and that’s exactly where stamped big-box caps fall apart. The original brick chimneys in Buena Vista, West End, Ardmore, and Reynolda Park don’t measure in clean inches. A 1920s flue that was nominally 13”x13” now reads 14.5”x17” once you account for nine decades of mortar buildup, and a generic stamped cap sold to “fit” a round number simply won’t seat. We see the same on the larger center-chimney homes near Forsyth Country Club, where double and triple-flue stacks need a single cap that clears every flue with the right draft height.
These are the same neighborhoods where we already replace cracked lead flashing every week — the chimney is the number-one failure point on Winston-Salem’s older housing stock. When the metal cap is the missing piece, a stamped product screwed into crumbling mortar lasts a few winters before it rattles loose in an I-40 wind event or lifts off entirely in an ice storm down from Mount Airy.
What we install for Winston-Salem homes
Every cap is built around measurements we take at your house — never from a verbal description or a guess off a photo.
- Copper caps for the historic districts. On the dark-brick chimneys of West End, Ardmore, and Old Salem, copper is the right architectural answer. It starts bright orange, weathers to bronze, and eventually to the green you see on the Moravian church roofs downtown. It will outlast the roof and the chimney both.
- Stainless steel caps for the 1960s–70s ranches around Sherwood Forest, Forest Hills, and Konnoak Hills, and for the newer builder homes out toward Clemmons and Lewisville. Stainless lasts 30–50+ years, stays bright, and runs roughly 40% of copper.
- Multi-flue configurations for the big center-chimney homes — one cap covering two or three flues with proper clearance and a drip edge over the masonry.
Each cap is a system, not just a lid on a flue: a full top plate over the crown, a spark screen to keep embers in and squirrels out, a drip edge that overhangs the brick so water runs off instead of down the side, and standoff legs at the correct draft height.
When the cap is only part of the problem
On Winston-Salem’s older chimneys, the leak isn’t always the cap. We assess the whole stack before recommending anything. The concrete crown on top of the masonry cracks under freeze-thaw and lets water in independently of the metal cap. The step and counter flashing where the chimney meets the roof is a separate, extremely common leak source on pre-1960 homes here. And failing mortar joints need repointing, not a cap. If your crown is the real problem and the cap is fine, we’ll tell you that — and we can repair the crown while we’re up there.
Why Winston-Salem homeowners choose Mid Atlantic
Our shop is right here on Reynolda Road, just south of Wake Forest — we’re not a chain with a local zip code on the contact page. We install, and the W-2 crew that measures your chimney is the one that installs the cap, no subcontractors. If you’re already getting a new roof from us, the cap goes on at the same visit while we’re up there.
- custom-built to your chimney’s actual measurements
- Copper and stainless — the materials that last on historic brick
- Owens Corning Platinum Preferred and coordinated with any roofing work
- A+ BBB, 4.8★ on Google and Facebook
- 3-year workmanship warranty, in writing
Schedule a chimney cap measurement
Call (336) 671-5208 or request an estimate online. We take measurements at your house, build to spec, and install in a follow-up visit — usually scheduled within the same week.