CHIMNEY CRICKET

He has a wealth of knowledge and is able to explain things simply. He's an older gentleman, but incredibly fit and thorough. He really took his time to clean it well, and he also brings very informative brochures along.

He seemed to want to talk about everything but the chimney. I went off a realtor's referral rather than Angieslist, my mistake. He walked around my house, looking at the furnace, my kitchen, in my empty pantry, in my garage... so nosy and highly unprofessional. I bought a new house and I wanted an expert opinion on the chimney before I moved my baby into the house. The home inspection report had noted a couple minor issues. He came in and started talking about smoke detectors. And then the furnace. All stuff that I guess is important, except that he hadn't even started looking at the chimney yet. He would work a little, then walk around the house a little, then go back to working a little, and all accompanied by a constant barrage of questions about the house, where I worked, where my husband worked, what are we going to do to the house, what did I name my child, etc. I felt like I had to constantly keep him on task. In the end, he did an ok job cleaning and recommended that the crown be resealed. Otherwise the chimney was in good shape. Like another member mentioned, I checked the damper afterward and more soot came down. He told me he was replacing the ash tray but didn't tell me it would cost an extra $35 until he handed me the bill. He should have told me about that upfront. After all, he had plenty else to say. I think he could have finished in half the time if he had worked straight through. I wouldn't have minded the chit chat as much if he had started work first and chatted second. I'm going to get the crown repaired but with a different company.

It started well and ended well. In between was a bit of a bother. John came to our house just a few days after we called him, and arrived a few minutes early. He cleaned the flues ($150 each) and then cleaned up the crud that fell into the fireplaces. But after he left, we operated the dampers and a lot more crud fell out, especially from one of them, requiring us to clean up again. As others have stated, John likes to talk a lot and tends to walk around the house, visiting rooms that are not en route to a chimney he is cleaning. We kept some doors closed, and that helped. But in truth, we found his stories entertaining and educational, and didn't mind much at all. While he was working, John patiently answered our questions and gave us some promising suggestions. He sold us a heat reflector shield ($275) for a fireplace that had charred bricks on the rear wall and wasn't heating the room. He had one the right size in his truck and installed it. We haven't made a fire yet this season, so I don't know how much help the shield will be. John also measured for two screen-type chimney caps to help keep out leaves and varmints. We paid him a $65 deposit on this $140 purchase (two caps). He said they would be ready in 1-2 weeks. After 10 days, we started phoning him. He returned some of our calls and kept promising to install them "this week," "the day after tomorrow" or even "tomorrow". But he didn't show up until November 13. The installation was difficult because of the shape of our chimney, but he got both installed in 10 or 15 minutes. He apologized for the four-week delay and refused payment for the balance we owed him. I said I would use this company again. But if I bought any products, I would be wary of paying a deposit and I'd get John to commit in writing to an installation deadline. After a flue cleaning, and before John left the premises, I would test the dampers to be sure there was no lingering crud. But maybe these policies would be wise to apply to any maintenance professional.

Very responsive and willing to come out immediately (this was in August, though)! Not convinced about the quality of the work; we get quite a smoky smell whenever we use the fireplace. However, this could be our chimney and not the quality of the work. No problems with mess or clean up though. The most annoying thing, is this guy is a total chatterbox. Of his total time in the house, at least 50% was chin-wagging. He literally wouldn't leave me and my husband alone; we had recently bought the place and he seemed to feel obliged to give us all kinds of unsolicited advice, even following us to other parts of the house nowhere near the chimney. I was so irritated by him! In fact, it was almost creepy; thank goodness my husband was home at the time.