This is a question about chimley caps. ( That may not be the correct spelling but it seems to the preferred pronunciation lately )

Anyway, here goes: There are a variety of reasons for replacing a chimney cap that is no longer effective. When you replace one:

A. Do you leave the old cap so that the customer can see what was wrong and the obvious reason for replacing it?

B. Or do you take it along and get rid of it yourself?

P.S. If you have any idea on how to get rid of those little stinkin' moths that I seem to have brought in with some dry dog food; please let me know. You could be saving a life. MINE!

customers choice

What Throw Back said. Usually they are happy to let me get rid of their junk. Doesn't bother me, most are made of aluminum and it just goes into the pile to be sold with all the other scrap aluminum.

Okay, right off the bat, I wasn't specific enough. Perhaps you guys haven't noticed, but in this day and age, both the husband and wife are at work when you arrive. The customers are almost never there, so it's your choice! Now what?

And I'm not getting a lot of help on those life threatening moths!

Are you positive the moths are coming from the dog food? I had a call like this a couple years ago. Tiny white moths (not hundreds, but enough) throughout the entire house, found the problem to be coming from the kitchen, they were hatching from tiny larva that were found in a fairly new bag of flour. Is your flour kept in a sealed container or just in the bag it was purchased in? We spend nearly a week tracking down these buggers... removed the bag of flour within two days the moths were gone!

Thanks David; if there is any chance that I can blame this on my wife, like she blamed it on me, be expecting a check in the mail to cover the cost of a great dinner for you and your loved one!

Part of my pre-inspection questions are if repairs are needed, what do you want done with debri? I usually always take away the mess as part of the job so the homeowner doesn't have to mess with it.

Paul, it sounds like you have indian meal moths. Try moving the dog food into the garage or transfering into a container that is as close to air-tight as possible. Adult moths can be caught in pheremone traps such as Allure. I normally recommend throwing out the source of infestation but some dog food is pretty darn expensive!

If those are those little suckers that you'd like to shoot with .22 birdshot, you've got the right moth. My wife threw me and all the dog, cat, bird, and dinosaur food out into the garage a long time ago.

The garage seems to be the only place that doesn't have moths now. I've been trying to figure out their new places of infestation, but if I was as good at trapping as I was at finding moths, I'd have to join PETA!

Look through the pantry then. Check meal, cereal, etc...Could even be from a spill that made its way behind or under something. Do a search for pics of this moth to confirm. They have a coppery color.

Bird food is real common for IMM (Indian Meal Moths). If it for a pet, put the food in the freezer, take out daily, only as much as needed, same with dog and cat food. Pheromone traps will attract and catch Males. It only takes one Female to re-infest. Find and remove the source. Move the fridge and stove and clean under them. Check every cabinet for spills or open packaging of ANY grain source. Do you have a shed separate from the house you can move the animal food too?
I had a customer with an attached garage. He had a wooden box that he was keeping his chainsaws in. Years ago he stored corn for the deer in it. I found some corn lodged in the box. He removed the box and his IMM problem went away.

I had those moths once. I found that they love those old time fly papers! Took a couple weeks, but they were drawn to them things hanging under the light.
Flour, corn meal, fish fry etc. may have them. Blame it on the wife if at all possible.

Old chim-i-nee caps are left on the front porch, or shown to customer. Usually they don't want 'em.

Wink,
How's those moths coming? find the source?

I've found a couple. Unfortunately I think my wife will kill me before I find all of them!