AFFORDABLE CHIMNEY SWEEP

He was a nice and honest person. I trusted him. He came back and worked on his own. He was reliable and did what he said he would.

"Affordable" was my alternative after American chimney failed to perform the task. He was able to schedule me in for a Saturday visit when I called him on Wed. His pricing had seemed reasonable even though I had warned him that I've been told that the chimneys were TALL. He told me he should have no problems. First, he showed up late (by an hour). Second, when he showed up, he took a look at our living room chimney and said "man, that's tall, I don't know if I can tackle that". He then told me he'll have to charge me more than what he quoted me. I stupidly agreed. He proceeded to struggle with his tall ladder which he "has only used twice in the ten yrs (he) had it". In the end, he had to ask our painters to assist him. I was so worried he was going to fall off the roof and hurt himself!! That's not all. We didn't have a rain cap on the chimneys. So he offered to put them in, but I would have to make a run to Home Depot to pick one up. What kind of chimney inspector/repair guy doesn't have extra chimney caps kicking around in their truck? Finally, he got to the study fireplace and told me that it's tricky and he will need to go to ACE hardware to buy a new brush. After a run to ACE, he returned telling me they didn't have the right brush and so he won't be able to perform sweeping and inspection on the study fireplace. In the end, I hired another chimney sweep to complete the job. When the other chimney sweep took a quick look at the living room fireplace, he used his flasklight and showed me that there were still "gunk" in the corners of the chimney. d-oh!

Excellent service and performance

Doug was very responsive. He had an opening within a day of my call, showed up when he said he would, did the work promptly and left no mess. My house is in Berkeley and that was no problem (i.e., he travels far and wide from Martinez). He ran into an unexpected problem with my chimney and had to leave for 30 minutes to go buy some supplies, but he was back promptly and finished the work that day. He was more costly than I am used to paying back East, but his rates seemed about average for the Bay Area. A very friendly and conscientious-seeming guy.

Came over the same day. Did work in a timely fashion.

I called Doug and he was busy and promised a call back at 7:00PM. He never called. I called again a day later and left a message asking for a call back. He again did not bother to return call. Very unprofessional.

Doug returned my call immediately, set date, and then when he had an opening prior to our set date, called and was able to fit me in sooner. He was prompt, and very respectful of my time commitments for the day by working quickly. He swept the chimney, cleaned up, and made additional comments on what good shape my fireplace was in structurally (which he did not need to do). His experience in repairing chimneys after the 1989 earthquake has allowed him to spot damage and issues quickly, so his encouragement that mine was in great shape was welcomed. His price is extremely competitive, actually less than others who would (maybe) do the same job.

Doug called ahead to change the time of our meeting to earlier in the day. He called and came just as promised. He was polite and knew what he was doing. He went on the roof, cleaned and vacuumed out the chimney (hadn't been done in 18 years!!), vacuumed the dryer and showed us how to keep it clean in the laundry room. He kept the dirt and ashes out of the house. He was very pleasant, seemed to know his business well.

Scheduled appointment at 9 AM. Waited at house until about 9:45 with no sign of contractor. Finally got a call from contractor about 5 minutes to 10 AM, saying he was lost on the other side of town. He had previously declined getting directions saying he had a map. At about 6 PM I received a voicemail from contractor saying that he had arrived at the house at 10:30 and found no one there, so he left. Wanted to know if I wanted to reschedule with him for Saturday. I don't think so.

Doug (the owner) was very professional and courteous from my initial phone call through satisfactory completion of the job. He arrived promptly at the scheduled time, and when the job turned out to take longer than anticipated because of some creosote build-up, the work was done graciously and without any attempt to increase the estimated cost. Doug appears to be very trustworthy in his recommendations and work, and I would definitely use him again.

Doug confirmed the appointment the day before, arrived on time, finished the whole job within an hour. He is friendly and professional.

THIS COMPANY WAS VERY PLEASANT TO HAVE DO WORK. THEY WERE ON TIME AND VERY NEAT. THE MAN WAS HELPFUL AND PROFESSIONAL. THEY DID THE JOB AND WERE ON THEIR WAY IN JUST OVER AN HOUR.

AFFORDABLE CHIMNEY SWEEP WAS FAST FRIENDLY AND VERY POLITE. HE TOLD US THE CHIMNEY WAS IN GREAT SHAPE. HE DID NOT MAKE A MESS AS WE WAS CLEANING THE CHIMNEY AND HE DID A GOOD JOB.