Old cap was a wash type cap. New overhanging cap will help protect chimney brick from being damaged by freezing thawing of water by shedding water out away from the top of the chimney. Most chimneys suffer damage because of poorly constructed caps. In this picture the brick are set out and then back in and since the cap did not overhang those brick water damaged the top four courses of the chimney and brick faces were gone and most of the brick were loose.
