Downeast Chimney Sweep

On-time, professional and friendly.

Punctual, professional, and thorough. Father and son team were friendly, careful with furniture, rug, hearth, etc., and meticulous--they did the previous sweep of our stove/chimney flue, and I will hire them again, without hesitation, when needed.

Downeast did a great job for us, as they did the last time, too: this is the second time we have used them. First, they cleaned our chimney really well. Second, they reviewed the dirt from two cords of wood and said the chimney appears to be drawing well and that we'd be fine with cleanings every two cords (which for us is about every two years). They could have said every year, but they didn't: just another example of the honesty and value that this company provides.

A joy to deal with. Called back after first phone call, on time for the estimate. Called back with the estimate as promised, then provided a written estimate when asked. Scheduled the repair/service, arrived on time and skillfully completed the tasks.

The gentleman who arrived was 10 minutes early and did an awesome job. He was honest, trustworthy, and most importantly, did an excellent job. He literally did not leave one speck of dust on the floor. I have used many, many chimney sweeps in the past and I can assure you that I will not be looking for another since these guys are fabulous. You will not go wrong. Their prices are reasonable - although I do not always believe that "you get what you pay for," these guys, whose price was at the lower end of the spectrum, certainly over delivered. Kudos to DownEast Chimney.

Excellent!! I am a real estate broker and as my gift to my clients I had Louis install a chimney cap. He did an excellent job and I highly recommend his services.

This is a competent person with integrity who is now working with his competent son. In addition to the above mentioned conversion of a Victorian fireplace with inadequate venting to an perfect working fireplace, Louis has solved two wildlife intrusions of raccoons and squirrels that no one else was able to spot and/or correct. I referred Louis to a friend whose fireplace had started to smoke in the fall following a cleaning the previous spring. My friend got an estimate of over $10,000.00 to repair the fireplace and asked me for advice. I recommended Louis who examined the fireplace and found that a chimney sweep's broom was lodged in the chimney and that no repairs - other than the removal of the broom - were needed. Louis has an answering machine, responds to messages within a day or two, schedules appointments, and arrives at the appointed time.

I found Louis and son Russ to be extremely well versed in every facet of the repair work I requested. They showed me the work that needed to be done and how they were going to do it. They politely answered all my questions and even made additional necessary suggestions. They were prompt and worked clean at a very fair price! Their expertise in preparation and installation was top notch. It was a very satisfying experience and I would highly recommend them. H Steele

It went very well overall. Everything was great. They came when they said that they would come for both giving us an estimate and doing the work. They called us and let us know when they were coming and when they would be here. They were here on time and we were very happy with the work that they did.

They did a thorough job and gave straightforward advice that did not seem like an attempt to upsell me into unneeded services.

Recommended and installed a vent reducer section, to resolve chronic air exhaust leak and lint build-up issues.

I was unable to connect with them to even obtain a quote

Louis (the owner) came out to give us a free estimate and suggestions about whether or not we needed to have a mason chimney lined (or relined). Another company had told us we needed a new liner at a cost of $4000-6000. The owner of this company came out on a snowy day and was extremely professional and knowledgeable as well as honest. He told us that we do not need a liner and even if we had wanted one, how impossible it would be to put in a liner because the chimney itself was too small and bent around the fireplace. He gave us suggestions about not using fireplaces except with fake logs or to have a gas or wood stove insert put in instead of burning wood. He also suggested to my upstairs neighbor that he have the pipe from his furnace to the flu replaced and went back to his truck to get aluminum tape to make a temporary repair. All at no cost, but just because it was the right thing to do. How rare it is to find a company that operates on the assumption that being honest and telling people what they actual need or don't need?! Louis works out of Norwood with his son. While he didn't do any "paid" work for us today, I would trust him in a heartbeat if we do need something done. Please don't hesitate to contact this chimney company. What a relief and a pleasure to deal with someone both honest and knowledgeable about his profession.

They were quite pleasant, professional, extremely neat and efficient. I was pleased with their visit. PS: I asked the owner for an evaluation of a leak in my living room fireplace. He checked it out and stated it was beyond his scope because of my unusually high and steeply pitched roof. He referred me to someone else that does staging for chimney repairs. The referral contractor set up an appointment with me but then failed to arrive to the appointment. Sorry I forgot the name of the contractor that Downeast referred to me.

Contacted Louis for a fireplace inspection on a home that I was purchasing. Louis worked me into his already over-busy schedule, did a thorough inspection and told me that the chimney would not need a flue liner and that we could delay repointing the masonry until Spring. He was courteous, punctual, and very clear about not recommending unneeded repairs.

The three men came in. They were mostly interested in a quick sweep/inspection of the oil furnace flue. They thought I was mainly motivated to get a certification that the furnace flue was ok for the purpose of a plumbing/heat inspection as I was planning to change my boiler. But I needed the work done for both flues (furnace and wood burning fireplace). This was clearly discussed when I ordered the service and the quote for both was $225. They inspected both flues. They started sweeping the furnace flue right away. The fireplace flue was inspected after a couple of requests. I was told that it needed some sweeping but it was not a huge danger. So I asked for it to be swept since that was a purpose of the visit. They proceeded to perform the sweep of the fireplace flue. When completed they presented an invoice for $350 (175 for each flue).

My mother's oil-fired steam heat furnace was on its last legs. My family spent some time deciding on oil versus gas. One factor was that the bidders told us that a stainless steel flue liner would be required for a gas furnace. Since we were not sure if a liner was installed or what its condition was, we needed an inspection. The heating contractor we hired (Roscia Plumbing and Heating) recommended Downeast chimney sweep, so we hired them for the inspection. (See my previous review of Downeast Chimney Sweep for a description of that job.) The chimney liner was badly damaged and had to be removed. We asked Downeast for a price for a new liner. He bid $2200. With the 10% coupon we got from Angie?s List, that made the price slightly less than $2000. Part of the work also was to correct an incorrect flue arrangement for the gas water heater. Once we selected Roscia, we got an estimated date for the furnace installation, November 25. Downeast had an opening in their schedule, also for November 25. Although the chimney company was willing to work at the same time as the plumber, Roscia strongly preferred to work separately to avoid congestion in the cellar from too many people working at once, so Roscia said they would install the next day, November 26. The chimney liner was installed on Monday, November 25, as promised. The crew arrived a couple of hours early, but we were able to accommodate them with a short delay. It was a very cold and windy day, so I would not have wanted to be up on a roof doing such a job, but the Downeast men seemed to be undeterred. The work was finished in less than two hours. The plumber said the next day that the liner was nicely prepared for the furnace installation. The Downeast men were polite, kept me informed of their schedule, and completed their work on time and satisfactorily.

We are in the process of buying a new boiler (steam furnace) for my mother's house in Dedham. The current furnace is oil-fired and we asked for bids on both oil and gas. Bidders told us that a flue liner is necessary of we switch to gas. We did not know for sure if a liner is installed. One of the bidders recommended Down East Chimney Sweep to do an inspection. Icalled Down East some time in October and made an appointment. They were booked up for about three weeks; November 5 was the earliest date we could get. On the day of the inspection, I got a call asking if they could come earlier than arranged, since they were nearby. We agreed. they arrived about 1:30 PM. The father and son team immediately got to work in the cellar. They quickly determined that there was a liner installed, but found it was loose and in poor condition. Also, the gas water heater flue was installed incorrectly. They decided the flue was in such poor shape that they felt it had to be removed because it could be blocking the flue. So they removed the old liner. Part of it came out the bottom, and a portion came out the top via the roof. They worked quickly, bagged up the remains, reassembled the boiler and water heater flue pipes, and left after about an hour. next day, they sent a bid for a replacement liner, as I requested. The old liner was of a certain type that looked a bit like a dryer vent hose. It had deteriorated so that it looked more like a slinky, a rat's nest of stainless steel ribbon that collapsed onto itself. Only the top 20 feet or so was remotely recognizable. It was clear that the chimney men felt that this type of liner was doomed to failure because of its design. Assuming we choose a gas furnace, we will definitely install a new flue liner.

This is a family-run (father & son) business. They were very professional and knowledgeable. They came on time and worked efficiently so the job was done quickly, but thoroughly. They advised me about damage inside the chimney that I was not aware of. I arranged with them to contact me with an estimate for work and, if the estimate is reasonable, I will ask them to return to do the work.

Great father and son team. Louis was great about coming out to give us an estimate, and we appreciated that he wasn't pushy about getting the chimney re-lined. He told us that our chimney was ok for the moment, but sometime in the future would certainly need repair. He showed us the current liner, and was very clear about what he would do if we chose to re-line at this point. We decided to go ahead with it. Scheduling is a bit tough because he is so busy - you pretty much have to call him at night to get him in person! We ended up communicating by voicemail/email, which actually worked just fine. On the day of the service, Louis and his son were punctual, friendly and professional. They removed an old antenna on the chimney as part of installing the chimney cap - you should have seen how neatly Louis bundled up the old antenna and its attachments for disposal. If they are this careful with what is essentially trash, you can imagine how meticulous they are about the actual chimney liner/repair. Our new cap and liner look great and we would not hestitate to use them again.

Second time I've hired them. Superb. Courteous. Unobtrusive. Perfect. Which is quite a recommendation for someone who's coming into your house and doing something that is basically a filthy job.

Louis and his son Russ evaluated my chimney after the first chimney company claimed that my chimney had "advanced deterioration", and needed a new liner for $4,900! (Please note here, that the first chimney co. first charged me to clean it out, and THEN told me I needed a new liner.) Anyway, Louis was very honest, and told me that a new liner was not necessary at this time, and wrote me an evaluation that it was in "fair to good condition". As a matter of fact, he quoted me a price of $2,800 to $3,000 if I actually decide to do it. We are talking about at $2,000 difference here from the first co.!!!! So, if the plumbing inspector feels that I actually do need a new liner, I will definitely go with Downeast Chimney! These guys were great!!! Couldn't thank them enough!

Louis and Ross were very professional. They were neat, friendly, and courteous. Most importantly, they did not try to "upsell" me on anything and also were honest about how often to clean the chimney. That is, they said once every 50 fires or more but they didn't pressure me to have them back every year. I did not compare prices with any other companies so I don't know if the $175 was fair but it was worth it to me not to have to worry about somebody lying to me. My only complaint is minor as they didn't respond to my original email request and I had to call them to get a response. Overall, I am very satisfied and would definitely use them again.

We were very impressed Downeast Chimney Sweep. They did a nice job cleaning the chimney and helped us understand the extent of the damage from the fire by performing a video camera inspection of the liner. During the inspection, they took time to answer all questions and explain what was being shown on the screen. They also took time to explain all possible options for repairing the chimney, including options that they didn't provide. They even provided names of other providers so we could explore all the options. We ultimately decided to go with a different solution for relining the chimney but that choice was only related to the specifics of the options. We were very pleased with Downeast and will use them in the future.

arrived very punctually (day after I called) for an estimate... Told me I didn't need a liner, even though the prior company would have sold me one .... so very honest I thought, (and also a very pleasant person).... I will call him again when I do need a service...