Chimney Doctor

unknown

Logan arrived on time. He was professional and knowledgeable. After his inspection he gave us our options based on the age and condition of the chimney. Unlined but in overall good shape. But, because of the configuration of this old chimne,y we decided not to have it cleaned, and use it as a wood fireplace. Options will be either to put in a wood insert - which would be difficult based on the "dog leg" configuration of the smoke chamber and draw, or put in a gas insert. We will be researching the gas insert for possible installation next year. I would recommend their services.

Nice enough man BUT lacked knowledge of fixing the supposed problems Will NOT use again

We live on the Arroyo Grande Mesa. We have bats (that we have to protect by law) and therefore have special flues that keep out the bats from entering the flue and getting into the house. The owner of the Chimney Doctor was not aware of this and tried to sell us another kind of flue which would have been hundreds of dollars to replace. He came in halfway through the job, inspected our

The chimney "doctor" is, unfortunately, a quack. I say unfortunately because he was seemingly a nice guy. But I don't recommend people based solely on their personality. They must also be competent and the "doctor" was not. We had recently purchased a new home and the home inspector, in front of my eyes, had successfully tested the gas fireplace. When we moved in we found that the fireplace was no longer working. I looked online and found the chimney "doctor." Over the phone and in person, he was a nice guy and seemingly spoke intelligently about our gas fireplace issues.After finishing his inspection he informed us that the coupler (or something) was broken and that we would need to special order a piece. The cost of his inspection was around $200, he estimated the piece to be around $30 and the installation to be another $200. That was not good news to hear, but we didn't feel we had much choice if we wanted our fireplace to be up and running again for the winter. When he left, he informed me that I needed to determine the make and model of the fireplace (using the manual from my neighbor down the street with the same model house) and to give him a call. After getting the make and model I attempted to reach the "doctor" but did not receive a call back. I tried again with the same result. And again with the same result. Frustrated, I gave up. Fortunately, a few weeks later I was shopping with my wife and children downtown San Luis Obispo and walked into Forden's as the kitchen supplies peaked my interest. When I realized they also sold and serviced fireplaces I took a card to schedule an appointment. Not only was the gentleman that came from Forden's nice but he was compitent to boot., Within two minutes he was able to troubleshoot our issue: "Here is the problem. This wire is detached.." Within three minutes he corrected the problem. He spent the next 27 minutes cleaning and touching up some paint inside our fireplace at no additional cost. What a world of difference between the "doctor" and this gentleman. Bottom line, if you need to make a house call for your fireplace issues, don't trust the "doctor".

I would not recommend this company.

Steve called the day ahead to confirm the appointment. He showed up on time, and did a thorough inspection and cleaning. He took time after to report on his findings and to educated us on the best way to use the fireplace to eliminate smoke in the house. Very professional. We would definitely use him again!

Overall, they are excellent.

The Chimney Doctor took care of my chimney for twenty years. I would highly recommend them. I will continue to use them.

I would not recommend Chimney Doctor.

Here's what actually happened: 1. Noticing our gas fireplace, the vendor asked if we'd like it checked for carbon monoxide. With his sensor he found detectable (5-8 ppm) CO just above the glass doors when the doors were open and fire on. He said that any number other than "0" was not acceptable and that the fireplace should not be used with the doors open. 2. The vendor then looked at our vent and after a brief investigation said that they could not clear it. He said that under slab vents were problematic and recommended venting through the wall or ceiling and offered to provide a bid if we wanted to go forward. Meantime he said the dryer should not be used. 3. On the Internet we found a company selling a drill-driven vent cleaning brush. It cost about $80. With it we were able to clear the vent in a couple of hours (we have no experience cleaning dryer vents). 4. We DID NOT CALL the vendor asking for a refund. RATHER we SENT a two-page letter describing how we solved the problem and asking for a refund. 5. We recently heard from the vendor and he was emphatic that he never received our letter. Subsequently we had a long talk with him and re-sent the original letter along with updated information. The vendor was quite apologetic and promptly sent a refund of the $89 fee we had paid for the visit (less than what would have been charged had the vent been cleared). 6. Our dryer continues to perform fine. 7. The vendor has agreed in a letter sent to us that in the future discussions with customers regarding "low levels of CO spillage" customers will be informed that some manufacturers may deem small amounts of CO spillage acceptable while others may not. And he said he would urge that the manufacturer be consulted. 8. We placed a sensitive CO monitor we got at Home Depot next to our fireplace. So far it has never detected any CO. (The alarm is supposed to go off if levels are above 30 ppm. Based on the recent response and the refund our original ratings have been adjusted. The vendor has been in business 30 years and maintains that their primary interest is the safety of customers. We accept this and appreciate that our awareness has been raised regarding risks associated with fireplaces and dryer vents. ORIGINAL > .This company told us they could not clean the vent with a brush so that they would have to do major construction just to clean the vent. We used the brush to clean it ourselves, finding out his story was not true. The worker did not hook up our dryer correctly after the job, which caused a fire hazard. We asked him to refund some of our money, however, he never even returned our calls.