American Chimney & Fireplace

Great service. Needed inspection on chimney and fireplace. Prompt and detailed with pictures from chimney cap. Will hire for repair.

James is such a nice person aside from being great at his profession. The interior of the fireplace looks brand new. Freshly painted and repaired. I could see the chimney cap as I drove down the street and was absolutely amazed at how wonderful it looked. He installed it and repaired the wood around the chimney and painted the whole thing to match. Also replaced the damper and vent. We absolutely would hire James again and recommend him to my friends who require his services. So nice to find an honest contractor who does what they say, on time and at a fair price. Thank you James for the excellent job..

I was able to schedule an appointment about 3 weeks out. The owner came himself, called when he was on the way, and arrived on schedule. The cleaning and inspection took about 30 minutes (it was definitely due!). The prep work included covering the interior opening so nothing entered the house. I general, a first rate job!

Great - he was very helpful and showed we ways to save money

Excellent service. James Rydill of American Chimney was very responsive from our first inquiry through completion of the job. He came out to measure and check out our requirements within a couple days. We discussed options, his recommendations and he provided an estimate while onsite. After we made our final selection of material and color it took less than 10 days to have the assembly custom made and then installed. We chose to have a powder coated aluminum assembly along with a new stainless steel chimney cap. James represents a very professional small business with fair prices, excellent communications and a quality final product and installation. I highly recommend.

Catherine Wilson and the bricklayer, Edgar, were phenomenal. A good warranty and work is responsibly done.

No call, no show. Very disappointed.

Excellent. I contacted American Chimney & Fireplace from Angie's list. I started hearing a dripping at the top of the fireplace when it rained. James Rydill came out, discussed the repair required, the cost, the installation, and timeframe. I had contacted two other companies on Angie's list as well. One was much more expensive for a lot less work (about the same price for just the chimney chase cover), and the other one responded 2 weeks later, which was too late. American Chimney was already working on it. Everything went perfectly. The services were performed exactly as promised at the price quoted, and completed very quickly. I have also asked to be put on a regular schedule with American Chimney & Fireplace for routine chimney and dryer vent cleaning. I'm very happy with the service. James Rydill was very friendly, knowledgable and professional. I would highly recommend American Chimney & Fireplace.

James Rydill, the owner is a skilled, knowledgeable and experienced fireplace expert. He and his crew take great pride in their work. I had requested Mr. Rydill come to my house for an estimate to transform a crumbling dead 95 yr old fireplace and chimney into a working useful one. At that time he gave me a complete quote which was the exact price I paid and a start date which was the date he arrived. The fireplace had broken and falling bricks with a busted floor. He chipped a layer of the old bricks out and removed the loose flooring (vacuuming the whole time), poured a new cement floor, built a beautiful new brick firebox, installed a stainless steel liner in the the chimney, installed a locktop damper system, restored the top of the chimney with new brick, a screen, lid, and sealed the brick. I love it. He brought me a nice fireplace grate and starter wood for my first fire where he demonstrated the damper and updraft system. The entire process took a week. Everyday him and his men would move my furniture, lay a working tarp, bring in their shop vacuum, do their work, and then clean up the entire area so that no one would have known anything was going on. They were all polite, efficient and worked in a timely manner. I now have a safe and useful fireplace and chimney to enjoy the chilly evenings with through the upcoming Christmas season. Thank You James Rydill and your crew. You did a great job

Contacted James Rydill and set up appointment for the following day. James arrived at the appointed time and discussed in detail the work he would perform. The following day work was completed with QUALITY products and in a timely manner. Dryer vent was cleaned out and we signed up for a repeat cleaning in 18 months. Would highly recommend this company. Very professional and friendly.

Very prompt and professional. The price was cheaper than all other estimates and the work was very good.

Not well...no return phone call after leaving 2 voice mails.

James Rydill called to reschedule and showed up as promised for the inspection. We are limited by the condominium association on corrective action, but James offered good, viable alternatives to actual replacement of the fireplace. My general contractor working on other areas of the condo found his expertise very helpful.

Replaced chimney cover and other internal pieces, painted chimney. Promptly returned my initial call, gave me an estimate, and performed the work -- all done within a few days. Excellent work. I would definitely recommend James.

Mr. Rydill was quick to return my call and schedule an appointment, he was on time to the appointment and provided a detailed estimate and answered all questions I had. He was honest of what needed to be done immediately to protect the chimney and what could be done at a later date to be able to build a safe fire. The work was done in the time frame that he stated. IIf I ever had any questions he answered the phone or returned my messages promptly. He is very efficient, professional and I would definitely recommend him to any one. I

The firebox restoration was done by building another firebox inside the old one. This left voids between the old and new that have now become a convienient place for roaches to hide. The gaps in the brick on the old chimney were never filled so that the roaches still could get in from the outside. The cap replacement included replacement of a couple courses of brick at the top of the chimney. Although the new cap looks nice, it leaks whenever it rains. James returned a couple times to try to fix the rain leaks but he was unsucessful. After that, he gave up on it and refused to try anymore. The $500 gas burner is now ruined because of all the water dripping on it. Don't let this guy try to repair your chimney. I will most likely have to have it fixed be another contractor that is more competent.

Coastal Chimney came, analyzed the situation and provided an estimate. On acceptance, they scheduled a time to perform the work. They arrived on time, performed the work in a very friendly and professional fashion and departed. End of story.

Wonderful! We weren't sure how long(if ever)it had been since the chimney had been cleaned, as we bought the house about 4 years ago. James was very thorough, CLEAN, and arranged services promptly when I contacted him. He spread out a large covering to put his tools and vacuum on, first of all. He got a lot of black guck(creosote)out of the chimney and vacuumed it up each time. James went on the roof and inspected our chimney cap, stated it needed a new one, and gave me the price on the spot. He even showed me in a book what it looked like. James noted that my chimney was in great shape and that was great news!

Mr. Rydill was very professional and approached the problem as a true craftsman. There was some concern when the first attempt to stop the leak failed. A roofer was called to confirm that the leak was not from the roof. Mr. Rydill returned, at no additional charge even though additional payment was offered, to approach the problem differently and he succeeded in terminating the leak. Mr. Rydill takes pride in his work and it shows in the final product.

The labor is included in the price. I got what I paid for.

There was some miscommunication with the appointed time for the sweep to be done and the time/date agreed upon. No one showed or answered the phone calls. But once the error was rectified, the work was scheduled and done quickly. The sweep only seemed to take a matter of minutes. The part that was defective and allowed water to pour down the chimney was repaired/replaced. Because I am also self-employed and have a number of medical appointments to work around as well, flexibility with those hired to perform work is a major issue. James was flexible in scheduling. He was very polite and considerate throughout. The person he brought with him was also. The questions I had about firewood and fireplace products were answered; he did not seem to mind my questions. I would definitely call him again and would refer to others. I did think that the price for the repair work was high, even with the Angie's list discount. I had nothing to compare this to, as I have not had similar issues.

James was on time, very informative and will be back to do more work on the outside of the fireplace.

He was very friendly and prompt when setting up appointment. He called early 8 AM on 12/28/05 day of appointment to ask if I could move appointment from 9:30 am to 1:25-1:35 pm same day. That was fine. I was working in the yard and checking the time and there was a no show. I called his phone, left a message around 2 pm asking where he was and what had happened. A couple hours later my caller ID had his number on it, but a message was not left. Several days later he left a message saying he came by and no one was home. My son was playing out front and was aware we were waiting for the chimney sweep and I also have two big dogs that bark very loudly when someone walks by our house let alone when someone knocks on the door. I was upset that this was my first time using Angie's List and it started with an unsatisfactory transaction. I also gave a subscription as a gift. We are in the process of starting to remodel our house. I hope Angie's list will be a help to us in the future. Thanks.

They were on time. They inspected the fireplace and cleaned it. I would use them again.

Very easy to work with. He answered the phone and made the appointment for the day I wanted. He was on time and very clean. Very good experience.