Aj's Chimney Service

AJ gave me an estimate to reline my heating chimney, in preparation for installing a gas heater to replace an old oil one. In the course of that visit, I asked him for advice on a contractor for the heater, and he was helpful, indicating that he knew them and could, and would, work with them to coordinate the job, specs, and timing. I felt I was in good hands. AJ was very kind and polite throughout. On the day of the work, AJ' and his helper showed up on time, worked steadily, and finished the job in the time promised, which was good, as it was a noisy and messy job. My wife contrived to be out all day. Good thinking. Then he cleaned and inspected the fireplace chimney, having carefully covered everything in the room with dust clothes, pointed out where I might have future problems, and even built a fire in the fireplace before leaving! I am all ready for next winter, now. Just need a match. He hauled away all the debris, and even rounded down his price to $2000, saving me a couple of hundred bucks. Thanks AJ.

AJ Chimney Service company came because we were installing a new gas boiler and we needed to have work done on the chimney before the boiler could be installed. I called AJ and it took him a day or two to call back. Once we spoke, we sent up an appointment. AJ showed up on time, explained what I was asking him to fix/install was two separate jobs but could be done at the same time. The only reason I rated this companies reponsiveness as "good or a B" because it took approximately a week to get the estimate. Once we got it, it was broken down into two jobs and what the cost for each one would be. Our two story house has a slate roof. We accepted his bid, we were able to set up a tentative start date. The weather had to be cooperative. AJ called two days before his start date to confirm with us. His job took two days. They worked on the roof and in the cellar. All of the old materials were removed by AJ and they cleaned up after themselves. The chimney stayed wrapped for about one week due to the fact that it rained for a week after they finished their work. AJ worked well with the company who would be installing the new boiler. The new chimney looks very nice. The job was done professionally and we are very satisfied with the job and the whole experience.

We waited for a return call for a quote, but Andy never got back to us.

In early January, Andy responded to our request to inspect our chimney in order to see whether we needed preparatory work done (installation of a chimney liner) before installing a new gas-fired steam boiler, in a switch from an oil-fired boiler. He was intent, direct, and energetic, decided he needed to look at the chimney from the roof to be sure, and we made an appointment for him to come back the next morning with his ladder. He came back as scheduled, worked quickly and intently, and told us we already had the correct type and size of chimney liner, but that our chimney would need to be swept before the new boiler was installed, as it was very dirty. This was right-on advice: The old boiler had not been combusting properly, nor had we had the chimney inspected nor cleaned since we had moved in six years ago (naive homeowners). Andy also pointed out that a brick was missing from the foot of our chimney, and the other bricks near the bottom were not in great shape, and he offered to quote a fix for that, too. He provided us with a quote for the sweeping and also for fixing the chimney. We very much liked his hardworking style, and hired him to do the sweeping. We had a mason suggest a different fix for the chimney, and ended up choosing the mason for that work. For scheduling the sweeping, Andy told us to give his contact information to our boiler installer, and he would coordinate to get the chimney swept at the appropriate time in the process of boiler installation. We did so; the boiler installer gave him very short notice, but Andy responded quickly and did the job quickly and neatly. My impression was that this man really knows his trade, and works hard every day to do it right. I very much appreciated his direct, competent, and hard-working style.

AJ was fantastic. He didn't complain about the fact that we hadn't hired him in the first place. He came right over and got to work and it was a huge job that took several days as the chimney was crooked and too narrow in places so he had to remove a lot of brick work. We can't say enough good things about him and only wished we had hired him in the first place. All of his work was first rate and he cleaned up after the job too!!! As we were already out $1800 for the botched job, he allowed us to pay him in installments. Can't say enough good things about him.

The job appeared well crafted. Why the low professional score? He started talking politics and when he suspected I was not in agreement with his views he looked at me and said, "You can't argue with an idiot." I was amazed he would talk that way to a virtual stranger, let alone the guy who was paying him for a job. Unless you feel Rush Limbaugh is a visionary, I would refrain from talking politics. You can decide whether his remarks are at all relevant to your search for a chimney contractor.

Very well. I cannot really rate the quality of the work, time will tell. AJ was very responsive, he offered a fair price and he provided 3 references upon request who all said positive things about him. AJ also took pictures of my 3 story roof area which is very helpful for other work I need done and he repaired some roof seams at no charge!