Animal & Nest Removal in Burlington, NC — 200+ Five-Star Reviews
Burlington's older chimneys draw wildlife, and the Haw River gives them plenty of company. The tall, open masonry flues of West Davis Street and the Glencoe mill houses, many along the river itself, are what chimney swifts nest in, and the wooded river corridor keeps squirrels and raccoons at the roofline. Perfect Chimney Cleaning clears animals and nests from Burlington chimneys from the Triad office in Greensboro, a close 25 to 30 minutes east.
It is the swift that dictates the sequence. Federal law, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, protects the chimney swift, and an active nest is off-limits through the season, so on a Burlington flue nothing happens until the camera has identified what is up there. A squirrel or a raccoon comes out the day we are there; a nesting swift is left where it is, and the cap is scheduled once the young have fledged. As a close-knit Triad crew, we can reach a live animal quickly while still holding each species to its own rules.
CSIA-Certified Chimney Sweep #12553
⭐ 5.0 Across 200+ Google Reviews
Triangle Office: (984) 777-8853 • Serves Cary
Hours: Mon–Sat 8:30 AM – 8:00 PM | Sun 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM · 24/7 emergency line outside office hours
Fully Insured • Wisetack Financing Available
CSIA-Certified Chimney Sweep #12553
⭐ 5.0 Across 200+ Google Reviews
Triangle Office: (984) 777-8853 • Serves Cary
Hours: Mon–Sat 8:30 AM – 8:00 PM | Sun 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM · 24/7 emergency line outside office hours
Fully Insured • Wisetack Financing Available
Chimney Restoration in Chapel Hill?
Call (984) 777-8853to schedule your visit, or request a free estimate online.
GET AN ESTIMATE
Quick facts:
- CSIA-Certified Chimney Sweep #12553 (Chimney Safety Institute of America)
- 5.0 across 200+ Google reviews, earned across the Triad and Research Triangle
- Triad office: (336) 604-6711, serving Burlington from 317 South Westgate Drive, Suite E, Greensboro, NC, 27407
- Hours: Mon to Sat, 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sun 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with an after-hours emergency line
- Fully insured: Spinnaker general liability ($1M / $2M) and AM Trust workers' comp ($100K / $500K)
- Wisetack financing available for repair and restoration work
Animal & Nest Removal in Burlington?
Call (984) 777-8853
to schedule your visit, or request a free estimate online.
First-ever Level 1 or 2 inspection, sweep, flashing repair, customer education on proper fireplace operation.
Brick chimneys with original clay-tile liners around the old Wake Forest College campus and the Glen Royall cotton-mill houses. These get a gentler sweep to protect century-old tile, and the visual check relies on the condition of the crown, mortar, and liner. Homes here are more likely to burn regularly, so creosote is real and the cadence is closer to annual.
In a town of open historic flues and a wooded river corridor, the animal in your chimney is either federally protected or a nuisance you can clear today, and the camera tells them apart. Here is what shows up where.
Era 1 · Pre-1940 historic and Glencoe mill village (real swift habitat)
West Davis Street and the mill houses strung along the Haw River give swifts just what they nest in: tall, open brick flues, with squirrels and the odd raccoon besides. The species the camera names and the federal calendar behind a swift order everything that follows.
Era 2 · 1950s-70s ranch and mid-century (mixed)
The mid-century streets near the older canopy, where a worn cap or an open flue admits squirrels and raccoons, and an old masonry flue now and then still tempts a swift.
Era 3 · 1990s and newer east side (fewer)
The east-side subdivisions, short on old habitat and swifts, where a single frayed cap is still an open door for a squirrel out of the nearby woods.
| Step | What we do | Typical timing |
|---|---|---|
|
Name what is there
|
The camera goes up first because, in a town of open historic flues, a protected swift is a real possibility, and the species determines what we may legally do. | On the visit |
|
Read the calendar
|
A swift puts the job on a protected clock and a wait; a squirrel or raccoon we can settle today. We tell you which it is, and the timeline that comes with it. | On the visit |
|
Remove or hold
|
The nuisance animal is out on the visit, humanely or through a one-way exit; a nesting swift is left where it is and scheduled past the season. | Varies |
|
Trace the entry
|
We photograph how it got in, which on an old Burlington flue is usually a chimney that was never capped. | On the visit |
|
Price the cap
|
A written estimate inside 48 hours for the cap that shuts the flue to the next one, cut to fit where a historic opening is off-standard. | Within 48 hrs |
Animal work in Burlington follows the old open flues and the Haw River corridor, with the protected swift setting the order of everything. What we handle and how it is bounded are below.
A visual inspection during the sweep, focused on chase top, cap, crown, flue access, damper, and visible refractory. On historic Franklin Street and Westwood chimneys, the emphasis shifts to crown, mortar, and clay-tile condition. Photographs of anything worth watching. Included in the Inspection + Cleaning combo.
Level 1 inspection (visual, accessible-parts check)
A visual inspection during the sweep, focused on chase top, cap, crown, flue access, damper, and visible refractory. On historic Franklin Street and Westwood chimneys, the emphasis shifts to crown, mortar, and clay-tile condition. Photographs of anything worth watching. Included in the Inspection + Cleaning combo.
What animal and nest removal covers in Burlington
Squirrels, the everyday call
The bread-and-butter Burlington call, most often on homes backed up to the river woods. A squirrel comes down an open or poorly capped flue and lands on brick it cannot climb; we camera it, lift it out or fit a one-way exit, and mark the opening. An hour or two, usually.
Raccoons
Heavier and less common, mostly along the river tree cover. We clear them by exclusion alone, no smoke and no chemicals, and seal the flue once the animal is out.
Nesting swifts and the federal rule
In the old West, Davis and riverside flues, a nesting swift carries federal protection, so a nest the camera finds stays put until the young have flown, and the cap follows after. You get the timing straight, not the convenient version.
Bats, handled by a specialist
Rare, and never forced, since several bat species are protected. We plan a lawful exclusion and bring a licensed wildlife specialist to close it out properly.
A dead animal and the smell
An urgent one, on the smell alone. The camera locates it before anything is opened; we remove it, and we treat the flue. Where the flue is bare old brick, sealing the masonry is part of it, since brick keeps an odor a modern liner would let go.
Animal & Nest Removal pricing & scope
Animal work carries no flat price. Clearing a squirrel in an hour and waiting out a protected swift's nesting season are different jobs, and the species, the depth, the condition, and the cleanup each move the figure, which we set only once the camera has named what is there.
Where the fix is the cap that stops the repeat visits, that estimate follows within 48 hours; on a non-standard historic flue the custom fitting is part of it, and if a second animal turns up mid-job we hold and re-quote.
What's NOT included in animal and nest removal
Equally important, here is what the Burlington animal and nest removal scope does NOT cover. If you need any of these, here is where to find them.
What's NOT included in this scope
- Trapping wildlife outside the chimney; an animal in your attic, walls, or yard is wildlife control, not chimney work.
- Disturbing a nesting chimney swift; federal law forbids it, and we give you the timing and a plan for after the season.
- An animal in a gas-appliance vent, a separate technician path coordinated where it applies.
Follow a Burlington animal call to its source, and it is nearly always an old flue left uncapped where the historic streets meet the Haw River woods. The camera names what is there, any nesting swift keeps its legal timeline, and the flue is closed afterward with the cap the old chimney should have carried from the start.
Perfect Chimney Cleaning is Google rated 5.0 by Burlington homeowners and neighbors across the Piedmont Triad. This section shows the live Google reviews feed, so the most recent reviews always appear here.
5.0 Stars Across 200+ Verified Google Reviews — Read Them Yourself
Triangle team, real local response
Our Triad office is at 317 South Westgate Drive, Suite E, Greensboro, NC, 27407, 25 to 30 minutes from most Burlington addresses via I-40 and I-85. When you call (336) 604-6711, the team that answers is the team that works your job. There is no regional call center in the middle and no local subcontractor we hand you off to, so the person who books your Burlington visit is accountable for how it goes.
CSIA-Certified Chimney Sweep #12553
Our CSIA-Certified Chimney Sweep credential is #12553, and you can verify any technician's certification directly at csia.org. Plenty of Burlington chimney companies claim certification on their websites, but only certified businesses appear in CSIA's national directory. Ask any company you are weighing for their CSIA number, and if the answer is vague, you have learned something useful.
Fully insured, to the dollar amounts that matter
General liability is through Spinnaker ($1M per occurrence, $2M aggregate), and workers' comp is through AM Trust ($100K per accident, $500K aggregate). The certificate is available on request. For any rooftop trade, this is not optional, and in Burlington the larger HOAs and any local historic-district review may ask to see it before work begins.
If the animal in your flue is a protected chimney swift during nesting season, we will tell you plainly that federal law does not allow us to disturb an active nest, and we will set a plan to cap the flue once the young have fledged.
If a squirrel got in through a worn cap, we will show you the entry point on camera, because replacing the cap is what actually stops it from happening again.
If the animal is in your attic or walls rather than the chimney, we will tell you that it is wildlife control and not something we would bill you to chase down the flue.
If your Wakefield or Traditions prefab is lit a few nights a winter, we will put you on a realistic 2-to-3-year cadence and not sell you a visit you do not need every year.
If the creosote is coming from how the fireplace is being run, we will show you the pattern on camera and walk you through the operating change, because that addresses the cause without more work.
If a downtown or Glen Royall clay liner just needs cleaning, we clean it and leave it, rather than talk you into relining a sound century-old flue.
Things we'll tell you that other companies might not
A swift nest on the camera gets you the honest answer and not the easy one: it is protected, and the cap goes on once the young have flown.
Nearly every entry traces to a flue that was left open, so the cap is what ends the repeat calls, and we put the lens on the exact gap that let them in.
If the sound is really in a wall or the attic, that is wildlife control and not a chimney job, and we say so plainly, so you are not paying for a flue camera with nothing to find.
Here is the actual sequence, from the moment you call until the truck leaves and your chimney is documented. No mystery, no runaround.
| Step | What happens | Typical timing |
|---|---|---|
|
1. Call
|
A Triangle team member answers, from the same office and crew that does the work. We ask about the chimney type, the Wake Forest address, the concern, and whether it is scheduled work or an emergency. | Answered in minutes |
|
2. Schedule
|
We pick a window that suits you. Most Wake Forest jobs are scheduled within 2 to 5 business days, and active emergencies take priority over routine work. | A few minutes on the call |
|
3. Confirmation
|
You get a text or email with the appointment time, the technician's name, and the truck details, so you know who is arriving. | Right after booking |
|
4. The visit
|
The technician documents the chimney with photos and, where the scope calls for it, camera footage, then walks you through findings before any added work is quoted. | On the day |
|
5. Follow-up
|
You receive the written report and any estimates. Repair and restoration estimates land within 48 hours, and nothing extra is charged without your say-so. | Within 48 hours |
Frequently Asked Questions
Something is in my old chimney. What happens first?
The camera goes up before we touch anything, because what it finds sets what the law allows. A squirrel or raccoon we deal with on the visit; a nesting chimney swift is federally protected and stays until the young fledge, so the species decides every step after.
Are chimney swifts common in Burlington?
On the old historic and riverside flues, yes. Swifts nest in tall, open masonry, and West Davis Street and the Glencoe mill houses along the river have a real supply of it. A nest the camera turns up is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, so we hold off until the season is over and cap once it is clear.
A squirrel is in the flue. How soon can you reach it?
Usually fast, since the Triad office in Greensboro is a close 25 to 30 minutes out. We camera it, lift it out or fit a one-way exit, and then quote the cap that closes the flue it came down.
What actually keeps them out?
A correctly fitted cap, which plenty of old Burlington flues have never had. On a non-standard historic opening, that is a custom cap, and where the river woods keep pushing wildlife back, a heavier mesh built to hold against determined climbers.
Can you get a dead animal out of an old flue?
Yes, and we jump on it, because the smell only builds while it sits. We fix the spot on camera before opening anything, take it out, and deodorize; on bare old brick that extends to sealing the masonry, which holds a smell a modern liner lets go.
Ready to schedule animal & nest removal in Burlington?
Call (984) 777-8853 to schedule your visit, or request a written estimate online.
Thank you for contacting us.
We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
We got it.
Schedule Your Chimney Repair Today
Contact Perfect Chimney Cleaning
Triad — Greensboro Office
Triangle — Raleigh Office
Greensboro
317 S Westgate Dr, Ste E, Greensboro, NC 27407
105 Star St, Raleigh, NC 27610
Raleigh
CSIA-Certified #12553 | Fully Insured | Wisetack Financing | 24/7 Emergency
Ready to schedule chimney repair in Cary?
Call
(984) 777-8853 for scheduling, or request a written estimate online.
Triangle
