James Ball Chimney Cleaning

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Great. Very professional.

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See above.

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See above.

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Thumbs up on all counts! We just bought our house and the inspector recommended we have the dryer vent and chimney cleaned out, so I found James on Angie's List and gave him a call. James returned my call promptly and scheduled an appointment for an estimate. On the day of the estimate, James and Alan took their time to look thoroughly at our chimney and furnace flues and dryer vent. It was determined that the dryer vent was fine and didn't need cleaning. (Since he could easily have told me that it needed to be cleaned to make a few extra bucks, the fact he said it was fine led me to believe that he is an honest person.) The fireplace was another matter entirely. It was obvious the fireplace chimney needed a lot of work as a result of decades of neglect, perhaps even since the house was built in 1949. James told me that he believed the fireplace was unsafe to use in its current condition and recommended we (a) have it cleaned and then (b) have him apply Smoke Tite to the smoke chamber to fill the large holes and gaps where burning ashes could hide out and eventually burn into the walls of the house (which, sadly, happened to a family friend and their house burned to the ground, so I knew it was possible), and then finally (c) have flue caps put on the chimney and furnace flues to keep out water and animals. We asked around with some friends and the price James quoted seemed a little higher than average, but none of them had been all that happy with their chimney services so we decided to go with James. He offered to send us a certificate of insurance coverage without us even asking for it. On the day of the service, he and Alan were punctual, professional, friendly, and hard-working. They took care to put drop cloths down in my living room. After about two hours of non-stop work they told me that they had to let the Smoke Tite dry before they applied another application of it, so they went to get coffee and even brought back a blueberry muffin for my little boys! When they were finished they thoroughly cleaned up after themselves and walked me through everything they did. And right before they left they showed me the dead animals they had cleaned out of the chimney (a bird and a squirrel), so we're very glad that we now have the flue caps to keep out unwanted visitors. In our opinion, a great company and another great Angie's List find! We will definitely use them again.

We had damage to our chimney from a tree that fell on the house. My insurance adjuster told me I needed minor brick re-pointing on the chimney & a new cap, so I called James Ball based on that assumption. James called back promptly, and came out to take a look at the chimney. He felt that the masonry work was too extensive to do himself (loose and cracked bricks, crumbling joints, broken crown, flue appeared to be offset inside as well). He was not comfortable attempting to do the work so he referred me to a brick mason. As it turns out that was excellent advice. I ended up needing a complete re-build of the chimney down to just below the roof line as the tree caused much more damage than what my insurance company thought. Unfortunately I did not get to hire James for any repair work, although I would certainly reccomend him. I have a lot of respect for him, he essentially turned down a job so that I could bring in a mason. He was clearly more interested in me having a safe chimney than making a few bucks.

I will probably go ahead with him, but I haven't decided yet. It's been fine so far. My experience with the estimate was positive but pretty routine.

Both the guys were really good. They were clean and very careful with the soot and dirt. They had an air filter to keep the exhaust down. They did the right thing. I couldn't ask for any better. The price could have been a little cheaper; I thought it was a little high.

Visit 1 he inspected the fireplace & got the model # of the firebox. Visit 2 he & his helper cleaned the chimney & fireplace, leaving not a trace of mess, & removed the old doors. Visit 3 they installed the doors.

He was excellent. He diagnosed the problem, and got right to it and fixed it. He hired a cherry picker to get up there and he did a great job. He seemed very honest to me and his guy was good, he understood the problem.

Showed up at the appointed time but didn't have a ladder long enough to reach my second story roof. Came back but ladder still was not long enough. Called and wanted to charge $150/hour for a bucket truck just to provide an estimate. I offered to provide access to the second story roof from my flat porch roof. He called & left messages on answering machine saying he could come right away but never managed to make another appointment? They guy is a joke!

Showed up when he said he would. Gave me an estimate and did the job that day. Very careful about not getting dirt in the house and keeping the mess in his work area contained. Very professional.

There were leaks around the bottom of the chimney in the basement. I searched the Angie's List and found this vendor. It was a Sunday afternoon, I thought I call and leave a message anyway but Mr. Ball answered the phone; I was pleasantly surprised and set up an appointment with him. He and an assistant arrived on time. They checked the chimney and the areas thoroughly, explained to me what needed to be done and my options.

He was very good and very professional. He told me what the chimney cleaning would cost and when he came on site he recommended that I have the cap put on. He gave me some literature on it and gave me two or three days in which I could call him if I decided to have it removed, but I decided to keep it. I would recommend him.

Furnace people said there was a problem with the chimney. James Ball came out the next day, examined the chimney and determined that there were no flaws and it did not need cleaning this year. No charge.

Perfect experience with a person who gave me a second opinion and saved me unnecessary expense. See above for the story.

Very well. James called prior to his scheduled appointment time to see of he could arrive early, which we agreed to. He came, inspected the chimneys, told us we didn't need the furnace one cleaned and fixed a damper that was out of alignment. He was very efficient, working with a helper. He recommended better fireplace screening and referred us to a company and left. Overall, a good experience.

Labor and parts came to $350.00. The price was reasonable. James and his assistant determined that my water leakage was most likely due to the absence of a chimney cap. They did not recommend replacing the flashing. They could have taken me to town since I do not know much about chimney repair nor could I get to the roof, BUT that did not happen. Recommended.

James was very nice, clean and friendly. He determined our chimney was in good shape and it didn't need to be cleaned. He checked out the inside and outside of the house and measured for a cap. After measuring, he gave us options on which cap to buy. He came back 3 days later and put it on while we were at work. He did a great job, and I would hire him again in the future. My husband had done research on the price of chimney caps and James was right on target. He was so nice and honest.