Nesting birds present a real problem for flues and chimneys and some species have a remarkable ability to design and build a nest in your flue representing many hours of effort, indeed if they like it they will come back year after year.

There are rules about removing nests, often specific to certain breeds depending on the number of broods of chicks they have in any one season. The basic rule is that we are not allowed to disturb nesting birds or their chicks so problem nests have to be dealt with between late August and early April, unless it can be established that the nest is an abandoned one or the birds have left having fledged.

A straight forward birds nest removal will normally cost from £95,00. It must be said however that the removal process can be a very time consuming business because it is important to be though and consequently it is not always possible to predict how long it will take or cost.

As a general guide each additional hour after the first 90 mins will be based on an hourly rate of £56/hour (up to a maximum of £180). Please be assured that I will discuss any likely additional costs before they are accrued. The service includes extensive smoke testing, and checking the structure of the chimney where it runs through the structure and an internal inspection with CCTV (where access permits) to ensure as much as possible that all the debris have been removed and the flue functions properly.

In very extreme cases a cleaning charge may be levied if the equipment used is heavily contaminated with creosote or some of the less savoury residues associated with birds nests…