Fireplace Freddie

We got 4 bids for our fireplace. Read some good and some bad reviews of all of them. Fireplace Freddie topped the bids price wise, but negotiated down a bit after we said we would paint. Once we signed the contract, they showed up right on time the next day to start the job and the demo went well. Once that was done, work slowed to a crawl and we could not seem to find out who was in charge of our project. We spoke with about 5 different people throughout the project with none of them knowing or even having access to complete information. Communication both within the company and with us was poor. Scheduling was WAY off with some days nobody showing up or calling. Sometimes they would show up and work for 2 hours then be gone for 3 days. The only positive thing I can say is that Juan and his partner who actually performed the work were professional and did good work. Would not use Fireplace Freddie again and would not recommend them to anyone.

They came on time and completed the work as agreed to. They were excellent about cleaning up and checking their work. A few days later, another representative of the company came by to do a quality check on the work done. I highly recommend Fireplace Freddie

READ THIS BEFORE YOU HIRE THIS COMPANY. I had these guys out 2 days ago to inspect our fireplaces and tell me what needs to be done to get them up to code and working. I know that it needs work. I was told that when we bought the house. Not a surprise. We've never lit a fire in either fireplace. I will not go into every detail but I will tell you my quote: $8,920. Nope not to run new pipes or anything major work, this was just to replace the stainless steel cap on top of the chimney and put stainless steel screen in the caps. EIGHT THOUSAND, NINE HUNDRED AND TWENTY DOLLARS!!! I don't know how the guy could look me in the eye when telling me -- EIGHT THOUSAND, NINE HUNDRED AND TWENTY DOLLARS to replace a cap and screens. And this quote did not even include opening the top cap to see if the pipes need to be replaced or if they're braced or what needs to get done to get these fireplaces to code. They charged me for the inspection and talked me into a cleaning which I didn't need if I'm not using the fireplace. These guys are first class, A-1, five star SHARKS. The only reason I got this quote is because of my zip code. Hey, Freddie, I didn't get to live in a nice neighborhood because I'm stupid. BEFORE YOU HIRE THIS COMPANY: Get multiple estimates. Trust me.

This review is seventeen months in the making... In the two years after buying a house, I?ve done extensive projects, from plumbing and electrical to replacing the entire house foundation. I?ve worked with various companies but I?ve never experienced such an astonishing lack of skill, management, quality, efficiency, and communication as I have with FIREPLACE FREDDIE; so much so, I almost think that it must be a ?front? for some clandestine illegal business. The job, which began in July 2013, was to install a new gas insert fireplace and venting. They underbid other companies because they used the wrong (cheaper, incorrect) firebox. I?d found the one I wanted, a see-through front to back unit, but the salesman sold me something that looked very similar (but less expensive). After installation, the Fireplace Freddie peeps failed to show up for the inspection, but the city inspector left a huge list of things that were done incorrectly. The most egregious issue was the fact the company installed an indoor/indoor fireplace. The rear portion was never meant to be exposed to outside, which was clearly indicated in the manual. Their response was to convince me to let them jerry rig it. Even if I hadn?t refused, the city would have never allowed it. The second one they installed was indoor/outdoor, but was significantly smaller than the unit I wanted. There was so much space around it, the cat could easily stroll through the gaps around the firebox to the outside of the house. Finally, I insisted that they install the box that I had brought to them initially. I paid some more money, and signed a new contract. At this point Fireplace Freddie (mysterious owner who has never returned a call to this day) sent his lackeys to have me re-sign yet a third contract because he was now getting involved and he said the contract I?d signed (the one his people put together) would mean he?d lose money from all these bonehead mistakes. Why would anyone in their right mind sign another contract so that they could pay more money to the people who are screwing him over? Well that didn?t stop them from trying. The smarmy sales guy lied to my face, I called him out, pointed to the binding second contract and asked them to finish. Again, they didn?t show up for the inspection appointment that revealed further failures. This happened a lot, and the city inspector was as annoyed as I. When it was all said and done, the fireplace worked intermittently. They did come by to ?fix? it but there was no change. This actually turned out to be a good thing, and maybe even saved my life, my roommates, and my pets. I hired the best ? Boston Brick and Stone - to reface the fireplace, install the hearth and re-brick the ventilated chimney. Fireplace Freddie?s work was so poorly done, Boston Brick were worried about moving forward. I delayed their start and hired a third party inspector to come and compile a list of everything still wrong with the firebox install and venting. That?s when I found out the whole place could?ve burned. I also found at that the inspector I hired was coincidentally one that had inspected their work on my fireplace last year. He told me he had informed them of the incorrect firebox install, and they chose to keep it quiet. I gave Fireplace Freddie the option to fix everything on the list, or pay to have a reputable company do it. After another (out of pocket inspection), everything finally seems to be working, but man I really had to work for it. Do not use Fireplace Freddie. Pay more and go directly to Boston Brick and Stone.

Really courteous and friendly. Fixed the problem quickly and did a complete inspection of my fireplace along with reasonable rates. Would use again.

I called up the office explained the situation with the "collapsed" Fireplace?they suggested an inspection and then I would get a quote for the repair. The inspector that came was rude and condescending and actually was annoyed that this request happened during the holiday week. I never received the inspection report, nor pictures. However, 2 weeks later they did send a quote of $50K for the repairs. In the meantime 3 other companies had come and the most the other quotes came in at were $19K. All 3 other companies included the full inspections report with pictures and explanations of the repairs. Unfortunately I would NOT recommend this company?I had high hopes from all the previous great remarks when I was searching on Angies list. I've never had to leave a bad review on Angies list?this is my first and I hope my last.

Very professional and conscientious, all the workers that came into my home treated it like their own

stop us from using an in operable fireplace. which could have caused a fire in our attice

Went well. Technician very helpful.....

Excelent work and expertise all around. From the first inspection I had a good feeling about them. This is not a company out to make a quick buck on the latest home improvement fad. This is a company of fireplace experts with a passion for preservation and repairs. The work istself took about a week. Some of the special cement used to repair the flue tiles was on special order from the east coast. All materials they used were from the US. They knew what they were doing. You should contact them if you love your fireplace and want it cleaned or repaired properly. I would not hesitate to use them in the future. A few weeks after the repairs are done, the lead inspector comes back out to do another thorough review, with cameras and all. He will fix anything that is not 100% to his liking. This company IS the real deal.

It went great! James knew what to do and how to do it. Any questions he had he called the manufacturer for answers. He answered all of my questions and made recommendations. Since his service call both fireplaces are working fine and we are enjoying them.

I would not recommend Fireplace Freddie if you need any tile work done in addition to fireplace/chimney repair. For reasons that were never adequately explained to me, the fireplace company changed the plans on how to repair the subflooring and ending up removing the tiles around the hearth. The company advised me that they could do the tile work as well and sent me to James. James is a bit of a flake. I was able to set that aside, however, and selected the tile I wanted. A man named Ron came to my house. He is apparently a general contractor working with Fireplace Freddie. Ron occasionally brings in his own workers to lay tiles. HE IS NOT QUALIFIED TO SUPERVISE TILE WORK. I had the distinct misfortune of meeting his employee, Gilbert. Ron left Gilbert unsupervised for the entire project - the laying of seven tiles- which Gilbert managed to botch beyond belief, not only gouging the tiles when he cut them to fit but gouging small notches into the hardwood floor bordering the fireplace. I was devastated. I had just gotten the house a month before and it was my first house. I imagined that the job was simple enough to allow me to run errands while Gilbert worked and Ron supervised. Ron did not even tell me he was going to leave. He came back when I called and acknowledged that the job had to be redone and my floor fixed. I have never seen such incompetence. I could have done a better job. And I was upset that Ron left without so much as a word to me. Needless to say, I complained to James and Tag, another Fireplace Freddie employee. I will give them credit for their willingness to make the job right, but really what choice did they have? I had paid $10,000 for the entire job, chimney work included, and had come home to see my hardwood flooring destroyed. Ron came out a second time with new workers and LEFT THEM ALONE AGAIN!! This time, I was wise enough to stay but Ron disappeared. I called and he came back 30 mins later. He watched the guys but not very closely because when they were done, I realized one tile was not lined up with the floor and another had an obvious chip which Ron missed. I complained a third time. I should have gone to another company and demanded reimbursement but my judgment was clouded by disbelief and anger. How hard is it to lay 7 tiles? Ron and his workers came out a third time and did an okay job. I had a male friend stand around and supervise and Ron didn't leave. But the damage to my floors could not be repaired without removing the hardwood and inserting a new piece or filling in the gouge marks left behind by Gilbert. I chose the filler option because it seemed simpler. If you look closely, you can see a yellowish border lining the side of the wood closest to the hearth. Nothing like it used to be. Fireplace Freddie "made it right" by doing a passable job after 3 tries. I would recommend going elsewhere if your fireplace project requires tilework because Fireplace Freddie does not have quaified workers who specialize in laying tiles and is ignorant of this obvious fact, or simply does not care. As evidence for the latter proposition, I complained to Tag the second time and have yet to hear back from him.

We are tremendously satisfied with the entire job. First, John correctly assessed our problem and made it possible for us to have a completely non-functional and broken fireplace rendered usable once more. Led by George, the crew of Victor, Francisco, and Ian did a terrific job throughout the repair. George's knowledge on fireplace repair was so encyclopedic that we were astounded. His eye for perfection and the smallest of details was incredible. The entire crew was professional and knowledgeable regarding all aspects of the job. They were hyper-aware of how messy a fireplace repair of this type could be, and were absolutely diligent in making sure the entire work area was kept as clean as possible. It was a pleasure to have them do the job. We are looking forward to the first cold day so that we can enjoy our new fireplace. We would use this company and this crew (particularly George) again in an instant. We highlhy recommend Fireplace Freddie.

We tried using our indoor fireplace for the first time after moving in, but smoke just came inside of the house. We also tried out our outdoor firepit that is adjacent to the indoor fireplace and the smoke odor jsut went into the house. We called Fireplace Freddie to have it evaluated and repaired so that we can get it to work without having all the smoke come in. John, from Fireplace Freddie came to our house and did a very thorough assessment. John is so knowledgable in every aspect of fireplace/chimney. He recommended to have a smoke guard placed, add a 2 inches of masonary to the existing (newly) placed firebox, and a new chimney cap placed. For the outdoor firepit. He suggested it needs to be swepted. We decided to have it done since he would be able to do it while he was here and stated that we can even try out the fireplace to make sure it worked. John did all necessary work and tried it out and worked! He also recommend that we close the indoor flue all the way when using the outdoor pit to reduced the smoke odor into the house. We are very happy with the overall work done.

They did pretty well. They were very responsive and professional. I have him come out again he is coming out. I would use their services again in the future.

We were hiring this company to come out every year and sweep our chimney. Last year they told us we needed a new chimney cap and gave us an outrageous quote. They told us they won't clean the chimney without placing a new cap and that our current chimney was a huge fire risk. We got worried had our contractor and another company come out and look at the chimney. The claims that Fireplace Freddie made were bogus, later when we called and told them what our other inspection had found they changed their story and said they were only reccomending we have the chimney cap changed and denied they had every told us our current situation was a fire hazard. Bottom line these guys are slick and will try to take advantage of any situation to make a few extra bucks.

I put in a new furnace that has an uptake fan which was sucking cold was coming into the living room through the fireplace. So I needed a way to shut the flue. There wasn't one when I moved in. So I figured I'd better have it swept too. John was prompt, courteous and professional. He did the sweep and took the dimensions for the damper. He came back a couple of days later and installed it and a new cap.

I joined Angie's List solely to find a chimney sweep in the San Fernando Valley/LA area. After reading bad reviews for other companies I went with Fireplace Freddie and they were excellent. I purchased a new house and wanted to get the fireplace going for the first time for Christmas and we have been enjoying it ever since. Thanks Fireplace Freddie and thanks Angie's List!

Great. They showed up on time, did exactly what we wanted, cleaned the work site and debris and left. The only evidence of them being there was a new fireplace made exactly the way we wanted it.

They were on time, professional, and on honest. I thought I needed the chimney cleaned but they told me I really only needed to have it evaluated. I was very happy with their service, they were very good.

Joe did an adequate job of cleaning, but did not get back to us as promised to tell us when a fireplace cap part was available. When we called him back to follow up, he did not have any memory of doing work at our home and seemed to have no records.

If you love getting the run around, if you want your job to be drawn out for almost three months, if you love waiting at home for workmen to arrive late and if you love being told one thing and having another thing occur . . . than Fireplace Freddie's is for you! Got permission from my HOA the week of October 6th for work to begin. Fireplace Freddie's came and dismantled my fireplace on October 13th. I had to keep calling to see if the elbow had come in yet. I told Devon (who is now no longer with the company) that I had a house warming party on November 7th. He promised that my fireplace would be done by November 7th . . . well, guess what . . . the part didn't come in. The part didn't come in until November 24th. Devon wanted to "finish" the job on Wednesday, November 26th (the day before Thanksgiving) . . . he told me that everything could be done in one day. I had a feeling that it couldn't be done in a day since I was told it would probably take six days from start to finish to complete the job. So instead work began on December 2nd. Guess what? They worked on December 2nd and 3rd and still had more work to do! They had to get another part . . . they finally came back on December 17th to install the part and hook up my fire logs. By the way . . . the same workers rarely return. One person tells you one thing, another tells you something else and a supervisor never stops by to check on the work. I was told by one worker that the inside of the firebox still needed some work, when the next crew came out to finish the job . . . they knew nothing about it. On December 18th, a final inspection was scheduled for December 30th between 9:00-9:30 a.m. Received several calls last week from Aaron trying to schedule a final inspection. After I returned to town from the holidays, I called and told him that an appointment had already been scheduled. He said he had no such appointment on the schedule and that someone could be there between 10:00-10:30 . . . but probably closer to 11:00. I told him that I had a lunch to attend at 11:30 a.m. and he promised that it would be plenty of time for the inspection to take place. Just received a call at 11:00 a.m. from the inspector, Joe. Joe was "held up" and didn't have reception on his phone to call me . . . now Joe couldn't be there until 12:00 p.m. At the same time Joe said that the inspection would take one hour to complete . . . so much for 30 mins according to Aaron. Just called and left a message for Freddie . . . no one was in the office to take the call. Now Joe says he will be there between 2-3. I left a message saying I am not going to wait around! I have complained several times . . . most of the time the supervisors put the blame entirely on the workers. It is all unprofessional. I would NEVER recommend Fireplace Freddie's to anyone. They are a bunch of liars who don't know a thing about customer service.

This company did work for me some time ago before I was a member. But I looked them up to see what others had said. I never wrote them a letter of reference at the time and felt bad, so decided to write a report here. I bought my house with a fireplace that had been damaged beyond use by the 1992 earthquake. The prior owners had just lived with it that way. Several years after I bought it, I bit the bullet and had it repaired. These folks were terrific! I called out 4 contractors total to give me an estimate. One kept calling and rescheduling the appointment and never showed up, one came and was quite rude and couldn't understand why I wanted to preserve my 100 year old mantel piece with antique tile then never gave me the quote I asked for; another thought the antique tile was quite rare and lovely but couldn't guarantee they wouldn't damage it, It is a small fireplace and very unique with a decorative iron piece that attached to it at the front. They also said that the firebox was too small and I could never have a fire that didn't smoke up the house unless they built it larger than it originally was. Because of that, they wouldn't guarantee they could finish the job once they got started because the city may not be willing to issue a permit. Only Fireplace Freddie said, no problem. We can fix it without removing the mantel and tile face and reconstructing it later. (all the others said it couldn't be done unless they did), they guaranteed that the mantel and tile wouldn't be damaged, and couldn't understand why the other contractor thought getting a permit would be a problem. They were SO optimistic, at first I wasn't sure I should believe it. But it was true! They had to work in segments over a number of days, and have the city come in and inspect at several different phases of the work. (As they said, getting a permit wasn't a problem.) Each time they set up, they put tarps out to protect the room, and cleaned up impeccably around the work site. It turned out that the city required them to tear down the chimney lower than they'd expected -- causing extra work and materials -- but they honored the contract and didn't even imply that they'd like more money. I have a small Victorian house with a very pitched roof. They had to hood the pipe chimney and I was very impressed with their agility and surefootedness up there. There was one main staff person on the job and he was friendly, courteous and efficient. The mantel and tile were completely undamaged. I've had some lovely fires in my small fireplace over the last few winters -- without smoking up the house! I was very, very pleased with the way it all turned out.Only complaints: Over the course of the work, sometimes they didn't arrive exactly at the time they said they would. They didn't do plumbing and hookups for gas fireplaces and said I could get it added at any time, but a plumber later told me that it would have been a lot better to do it before the firebox was rebuilt.

After receiving the plans, we heard nothing!!! We called several times and did not receive a return call.

Since I found it funny they put the numbers on a blank piece of paper, I asked for an itemized estimate. When I received that, the flue damper alone cost $750 - for something that takes half an hour to install and $150 to buy. The chimney sweeper sat down on my white sofa to write the estimate - that was very inconsiderate! I got many other estimates that were $500 cheaper than theirs and the other companies were very reputable. The other companies told me that the patching inside the chimney was unnecessary, while Freddie's quoted me $1200 worth of damage. I feel they are using scare tactics to make people think they need repairs done on their homes.