High Top Birdguard Solid Fuel

A tree growing out of the chimney is what finally did it! A two foot high beech tree.Prior to this, just pigeons sitting twenty-five feet up, on top of the chimney just being pigeons, but sometimes so noisy!Clearly the tree had to go, so I borrowed some long ladders from the neighbour and gingerly went up high enough to look into the chimney where, clearly, a pigeon had kindly 'deposited' a seed which, in turn, had developed into a healthy little tree with a one inch trunk. (Broke off the tree as I could not pull it out, and treated the area with neat Roundup. That should do it!)It is a ten-inch diameter straight-sided chimney pot with a rounded top edgeHaving looked around for a suitable cowl, I chose this cowl based on reviews and the highly respected maker.Prior to climbing up to fit it, I pre-assembled it, using threadlock on the strap screws to ensure no loosening over time. With tools in hand, a pair of cutters to remove the excess left after adjusting the restraining strap, and a small ratchet and socket for tightening up the strap, I clambered up and pulled the cowl up behind me on a rope.Fitting issue: The description states that it will fit pots up to 250mm diameter. It would, except for the protrusion of the strap securing screws and their ferrules into the ring of the fitting. This reduces the 'sit-on' useful diameter by about three-quarters of an inch. In order to deal with this, I put the cowl on top of the pot edge and bent the cowl straps tightly to fit under the pot rim and then tightened the fastening band over the straps directly under the rim and bent the excess of the straps up over the fastening band.The clever fliplock design of the adjusting screw design for the fastening band allows for very fast initial adjustment and subsequent full tightening. Once tightened, just cut off the excess, pull up the straps and all was done.Tight, good looking and, hopefully, long-lasting.The pigeons now sit on the nearby tv antenna where their 'deposits' simply fall to ground.

I have had this on the chimney for over a year now and it shows no sign of deteriorating, despite several big winter storms battering it and having weeks on end of daily fires giving it a good test of heating & cooling. I did a roof inspection with my DJI Mavic Air 2 drone and could see no sign of any wear - in fact it looked as good as new. The roofer who put it up for me said it fit perfectly and was a doddle to install. The last one began to fail about 5-6 years into it's life - and completely fell apart after 7 years - so we have a benchmark to go by.

These Chimney Cowls are perfect for what I needed them for. We love huddling around our open fire but because it is a very wide opening when it rain or is windy we do get a lot of debris coming down (despite regular cleaning). We have a tree relatively near the house on the side of the chimney and so these protect us from debris, leaves, and birds (we have an annoying family of wood pigeons in the area!). These were very easy to fit, good value for money and arrived in 24 hours. I have a standard Chimney width so the fitting was perfect. I cannot imagine any chimney causing a problem. The fittings were sound as well despite earlier reviews claiming they are of poor quality. Overall, I would definitely recommend these. 4 stars at the moment until they have been in place for at least 6 months then I will post and update.

Would have preferred a stainless steel one but this powder coated version should last 10 years or so. It is not flimsy, seems well made. Marked it down to 4 stars for lack of dimensional information. Measured dimensions are approx:282mm internal diameter at inside of rim at base of cowl220mm diameter inside (approx mesh diameter but this dimension is not important)35-45mm the amount the pot protrudes into the bottom rim of this cowl (so it is well located in any wind)

I wanted to stop rain ingress down my chimney and also the occasional downdraft from the trees around my house when it is windy. I liked the price of this cowl and the reviews were all good. I wanted something that blended in and this terracotta cowl does thatIt is very easy to install. Straight out of the box you just have to turn each of the 4 fixing straps through 90 degrees (by loosening the screw).I didn't cut the stainless steel jubilee clip to length. I just cable tied the excess to itself.

This would have rated 5 stars but for one thing - the stainless steel Jubilee clip is difficult to get started, ie. the screw is difficult to engage onto the threads on the band. You won't want to be trying this perched up on the chimney, better to do this job prior to getting up there. Once the band is seen to be screwing up OK stop there. You should find that the band will slide over the birdguard and then down over the three straps, or you can fit it over the pot first. I can't comment on how the cowl will last but its appearance is excellent and it does not reduce the draft but keeps out birds and rain. I shall order another to fit a different chimney.

We have had these covers before from different suppliers. They all look similar and do the same thing, lets smoke and gases out and stops the rain and birds getting in!The main problem with them was the tops were put together with small self tapping screws, so as soon as we had any high winds the top was whipped off. Last year we bought one (not from this company) and replaced the self trappers with nuts/bolts which certainly solved the problem!A few months ago our other chimney cowl blew off in high winds (another with flimsy attachments).We ordered the above cowl as a replacement getting ready when it arrived to strengthen it as we did the last one.FANTASTIC! Opened the box and found that this cowl had nut and bolt fixings already!! Someone else has seen them problem with the old design and upgraded it.Well done! Saved us a job and is now 'fit for purpose!!