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
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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 (336) 604-6711
Call (336) 604-6711 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.
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.
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.
Chimney Sweep & Cleaning pricing & scope
The most common scope is Inspection + Cleaning at $200, a Level 1 inspection plus a full sweep in one visit.
A standalone Level 1 inspection is $120. Add-ons such as animal or nest removal, dryer vent cleaning, chase-cover cleaning, or cap installation are priced separately and quoted before we do them, so there are no surprises at the end.
What's NOT included in chimney sweep and cleaning
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.
Most Chapel Hill sweep visits are clean and uneventful, and we are glad to tell a Meadowmont homeowner that their lightly used flue can wait another year when that is the honest answer. When a sweep surfaces a cap or chase-top issue, we quote it separately so you can decide on timing and, where the historic district or an HOA has a say, on appearance too.
Perfect Chimney Cleaning is Google rated 5.0 by Chapel Hill homeowners and neighbors across the Research Triangle. 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 Triangle office is at 105 Star Street, Raleigh, NC, 27610, about 30 minutes from most Chapel Hill addresses via I-540 or NC-54. When you call (984) 777-8853, 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 Chapel Hill 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.
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 Chapel Hill 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 Chapel Hill 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.
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 (336) 604-6711 to schedule your visit, or request a written estimate online.
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Triad — Greensboro Office
Triangle — Raleigh Office
Greensboro
317 S Westgate Dr, Ste E, Greensboro, NC 27407
Raleigh
105 Star St, Raleigh, NC 27610
CSIA-Certified #12553 | Fully Insured | Wisetack Financing | 24/7 Emergency
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