Boston's Best Chimney

Don was on-time for our scheduled estimate and spent 45 minutes performing a detailed inspection, including time on the roof. He brought a partner to help with the estimate and work. His thorough review impressed us. We have an older home with a non-standard chimney layout. The layout made the installation challenging and required several follow-up visits, but Don was persistent and made sure the job was done properly. We were very happy with his work. We found Don and the Boston's Best office to be responsive throughout the job.

edaingt= It went very well. Richie and Pauly were very patient and willing to explain everything and answer questions. The work was done efficiently. I felt Richie had the customer's interest at heart. And showing me how to actually build a fire correctly was going the extra mile. I very much appreciated that and certainly highly recommend them and Best Chimney Services, Inc..

After a few mishaps with our chimney in our new home, and dealing with unresponsive chimney companies, Matt came over to look at the issues and suggested a couple of options. We went with the installation of a firebox smoke guard for now to see if that solves some of the problems we've been having. Matt gave me a quote the day that he came over and the quote was dead on. After a reschedule due to a lack of parts, Matt installed the smoke guard. We tested the fireplace and, so far, no issues. Best $200 ever spent! Matt left the house clean, and you couldn't tell someone was messing with your fireplace. He left the instruction pamphlet on the mantlepiece (in case we were wondering, I guess), together with the receipt for the job. The interactions with the folks at the office were also nothing but excellent.

I had another guy out to do the job, but it was too difficult and he recommended this company. They came out on pretty short notice and were able to complete the work.

Raymond and his partner were pleasant and worked efficiently on a cold day (the work was rescheduled from end of Oct to end of Nov due to weather). I am pleased with the work, and there is no problem with the work so far. The cost was higher than other estimates I received because some parts had to be custom made.

They did a good job and displayed a high level of professionalism when they installed new chimney caps on 5/28/11. I called them again in January 2012 to look at the chimneys that needed additional work. They came and recommended that we contact a stone mason.

We have worked with them for three years now and we have been very, var pleased. They are prompt, knowledgeable, and efficient. They are first rate!

They were very prompt and professional when they made the first visit to look at the chimney. They gave an estimate that day and called from my house to make the appointment for the work to be done. They were able to do the work earlier than anticipated and were able to complete the job in one day instead of two.

They arrived on time, very professional Did excellent work and cleanup well done. Would hire them and recommend they without hesitation, A neighbor recommended them as well as they did extensive work for her, through Angie's lIST,

The guys were great, professional... I took them out of there 'normal' service area, but after 2 other vendor's wanted thousands in unneeded Repairs. I found a great service provider. Though Angie's List as well. We call that a twofer !!

Overall, I was very pleased with the work done by Raymond. The chimney looks great. They cleaned up the yard reasonably after the mess. There were some complications with a shoulder of the chimney being slightly collapsed and thus blocking insertion of a liner. Raymond did this additional work without much additional cost. Afterwards, I had some issues with smoke from my fireplace getting drafted down into the basement and Boston's Best Chimney came out, modified the chimney cap and solved the problem at no additional cost. The only issue I had is that I was hoping for a nice block-off plate for the base of the lined flu which was part of the initial plan. I'm not sure why it wasn't done in the final work but I didn't pay for it so it wasn't a major issue.

Our home was built c.a. 1870-1873 and designated as A Historic District by the Somerville Historical Commission. Our chimney was falling apart and looking like it would land in our yard before long. We wanted the chimney to maintain the character of the era and chose Best Chimney Services to do the job. We could not be more pleased by the final product and are very impressed beyond expectations. Mike the mason who built the chimney is a gifted artist. The chimney looks like it has always been there snd he captured the style that you would find in the 1870's. The corbel adds style and elegance to our home. Mike and his assistant Jose were very professional from the initial meeting and set up of equipment, to the completion of the job and cleaning up. The office staff Caitlin and Lindsay responded to our urgency to get this job done before the bad weather came and they too were very patient and professional. I would like to strongly recommend Best Chimney Services and would absolutely use their services again.

Everything was perfect - we were very satisfied and found the office and workmen to be responsive and professional. I would highly recommend Boson's Best Chimney - they probably are the best!

Given that my building is quite old, there was a lot of difficulty getting the liner down and past a corner in the flue. They had to break some ceramic tiles in order to open up the flue to get the liner into place. This liner is a long extremely heavy corrugated tube that isn't easy to manipulate. In short, Raymond and his team worked tirelessly and didn't give up, even though i was ready to throw in the towel many times. The job started on a Friday and then they had to come back to break the tiles, get the liner in place, and then seal it all up. Raymond and his team did a great job, was always courteous, respectful of my neighbors. I highly recommend Raymond at Boston's Best Chimney.

They were very helpful. We had to have our chimney inspected after the state's energy audit indicated that our chimney was not drafting properly. The person who came to look at it (John) was knowledgeable and wrote a thorough report. He even came back a second time and did not charge me again for the service.

The new chimney looks great, but (1) the roof around the chimney is badly stained since the crew did not protect it from the cement. (2) I had to ask the crew not to throw cement onto the grass. Instead I asked them to dispose of cement in the woods. (3) Instead of putting the residue in the woods, they threw cement in my neighbor's bushes. (4) Last of all they distorted and flattened the ridge vent by putting ladders directly on the vent all across the top of the roof.

Last December we found a water stain on our living room ceiling, which led to the discovery of some serious water leakage into our attic via the chimney. Our roofer assured us that it was not a problem with the ridge vent or chimney flashing. Richie from Boston's Best looked at the chimney and told us that we were in serious need of repointing. Since that type of work can only be done in warm weather, we asked for a temporary fix - Richie enclosed the chimney in plastic wrap, after pointing out that he'd never done this before. Good idea, but bad implementation - the plastic came loose after several weeks and strong winds. I called and Richie returned the same day, rewrapping and using lots of tape this time. This job was perfect, and remained intact from February until Richie and crew did the repointing work on July 5. The repointing and waterproofing was done cleanly and professionally, along with the inspection and cleaning of two chimney flues. He also found and corrected (at no extra charge) a furnace fluepipe configuration issue from the installation of a new oil boiler several years ago. These guys are good, professional, keep their promises, and clean up after the job. While it's too soon to declare our water leakage problem completely solved, I'm quite confident at this point that it is.

We called BBC based on Angie's List recommendations to inspect the chimneys of our new home. Problems began the day of the inspection. BBC set a 2 hour window (3-5pm) during which their rep would come to our home. My wife was slightly late leaving work and called BBC to say she would get there about 3:15. BBC said that was fine and indicated that the rep would be informed. At 4:45pm, no one had yet arrived, so I called to see when we might expect them. BBC said they would call me right back and let me know. At 4:55, I called again; the BBC answering machine picked up - no one was in the office anymore and I never got a call back. At 5:20, the rep and a trainee arrived. When I confronted the rep about the time, he said he had been told that no one would be there before 5. They finally got to work; they noticed a hole in one of our fireplaces, which they said made it currently unusable, and then a problem with the furnace flue, which was not exhausting properly, leading to the smell of fuel in the basement, though no CO detectors or smoke detectors were going off because of this. The rep inspected the chimney and found what he thought was a blockage from the furnace to the chimney. After conferring with the owner's son, the rep indicated that he could not leave the exhaust as is and jerry-rigged an exhaust pipe through the window in the furnace room. He also indicated that we would have to get it repaired ASAP and that it would cost upwards of $3-4K and require a hole be punched through a concrete wall to do so. The cost of the chimney inspection was supposed to be $99, but he tacked on another $250 for "emergency repairs" although he never got us to authorize the work he was doing. When I balked at paying that, he told me to not worry, that the $349 would be applied to any other work. When he left, we indicated that we would get another estimate on the work the next day (it was now 8pm) and let BBC know if we would move forward with them.At 7am the next morning, the owner's son called my wife to say that we needed to do the repairs that day bc the exhaust pipe installed the night before was illegal. I called back and said that we would not do any repairs until we had another estimate. He became very angry with me and insisted that he was going to send someone right away. At this point, I indicated that BBC was not welcome on my property until I called to give them explicit permission. He hung up. Shortly after that, his father, the owner, called me. He was conciliatory and asked if he could send his "best guy", Richie, out to take a look. I agreed. Richie was prompt and polite - despite the overall poor grade BBC gets, I have mostly positive things to say about Richie - relatively professional and good at his job. Richie found that the "blockage" in the chimney was a brick, which he removed; he found this by poking a crow bar into the inspection port. It took about 5 seconds and the rep from the previous day couldn't figure that out. He noted then that the furnace flue pipe was breaking down bc it was terra cotta and suggested we replace it - he quoted $2K; he said this would solve the problem of the smell of fuel. I agreed to the repair and he indicated he would set it up. I called BBC the following Monday (Richie's visit was Friday) and asked about the repair visit as I had not yet heard anything - the person on the phone said she could set up and appt for 3 weeks later - this after the first rep literally telling us that we were likely to die if we did not get the repair done immediately. They had also dug up the side of the house to look at the old pipe and the hole was still open - including the hole they had punched in the furnace flue. When reminded of that, BBC set up an appt for 2 weeks later, saying things would be fine. I asked about the $349 from the original visit being applied - I was told that the owner needed to be consulted and I would get a call back. When I had not received a call more than 24 hours later, I called again. BBC refused to apply the $349; when I told them what the rep had told me during the original visit and got angry about their refusal, I was asked "Are we really whining about $350?". At that point, I realized that this was a totally unprofessional organization and resolved to simply get the repair done and never use their services again.When the date came for the repair appt, the forecast called for rain. I contacted Richie and asked him to let me know ASAP if he would be canceling the appt bc of the forecast as I did not want to have to take another day off of work for this if unnecessary. He did not call until about 1/2 hour before the appt to cancel, despite the fact that it had been raining for hours. I had already left work, however, so I lost that day and the next day, when he actually did the job.I had been told that the BBC crew would be very careful to clean up after they completed the job. To this date, I still find large (>2in diameter) pieces of masonry in the yard and the sooty handprints they got on the white siding of my home have not come off despite repeated washings. They took out a screen panel to a window in the furnace room and never replaced it - they seem to have thrown it out. They left multiple pieces of equipment in our basement, including gloves, a bucket and packaging material. Their clean-up was woefully disappointing. Further, the fume smell still remains in the basement. Finally, I never received a report outlining the problem found in the fireplace, despite asking repeatedly for a written report. Overall, I spent $2350, 3.5 days of missed work and hours of headache and frustration to have the same problem I had when they walked in the door - and I still can't use the fireplace. I would not use their services again nor would I recommend them to anyone else.

The chimney was cracked and significantly leaning towards the roof above the roofline - it was at least 6" from plumb at the top of the chimney. Rich came out to provide an estimate (approx $7500) within a few days of initial call. We had another company (Complete Chimney) come out as a second opinion a few days later - they had a completely different view of the seriousness of the chimney status, they wanted to remove the entire chimney and replace it at a cost of well over $40k. I had Rich come back out to see their estimate and take a second look. Rich very clearly showed how the second opinion was incorrect and pointed out areas showing the chimney was still in good shape up to the roofline. We went with BBC and they showed up as scheduled (3 weeks later) on time and spent the week doing the repair. Every day the work site was left clean and professional. He asked if we wanted to replace some previous mortar repairs that were starting to spall and we agreed on a bump in the estimate. He also replaced mortar in the fireplace where the mantel joins the firebox. The only thing that wasn't perfect was the color of the new bricks doesn't exactly match the original bricks and they started the repairs without checking if that was OK beforehand. I let it go and the repair is only obvious if you are looking for it. Overall I'm very pleased with the results.

I had already discussed possibly replacing the boiler with four different heating contractors and nat Grid. I got basically 4 different stories about the best way to go: keep old boiler, replace with new 82% efficient conventional, replace with 90% or 96% high efficiency condensing side-vented unit with a variety of suggestions re the hot water, replace tank with indirect water heater etc etc. No one pulled all the issues together clearly, outlining advantages and disadvantages. The chimney was an integral part of any decision but plumbiers don't think about chimneys. My guy from Best Chimney, Chad, pulled all there issues together in a great discussion with me and we settled on a course of action planning to try to keep the existing boiler but improving the venting by replacing the liner (needed to be large enough to accommodate a 7" vent pipe). The options and exact costs were outlined for all possibilies so I could make an informed decision. Our first scheduled date had to be postponed b/c of a new baby being born the night before, but we rescheduled quickly and the work went according to plan. Tidy, professional, timely, can't say enough about how pleased I was.

Boston's Best Chimney were excellent. They were recommended to us by someone and we found them on Angie's List.

Excellent quality and great customer service. I have used Boston's Best Chimney for chimney repairs in my own home. I would highly recommend them and have referred them to a number of my interior design clients, who have all been very happy with their services.

I made an appointment to have the single chimney in my house swept. I have used this company before but not for several years since the fireplace had not had much use. I was given a 2 hour time window (11-1 PM) in which they were to arrive. In the past, this was a professional, reliable company. No longer. First, it was not until 1:10 that they left a phone message they were running late and would be there in about 10 minutes. Even though that was annoying (someone should have call between 11 and 1 at the latest to say they would not make the appointment), I waited. At 2 , I called the company. They said they would try to find out where the workmen were but would have to call me back, so they clearly did not know already, were not keeping track and now they are an hour out of their chosen times. They did not arrive until 2:10. The workman in charge said he had had a " little fender bender", which could happen to anyone, but it still does not explain a full hour error. He then looked briefly at the chimney and went to the basement to check the trap. A few minutes later, he returned upstairs to tell me he thought the flue needed an additional liner for the furnace as a safety measure, etc. In 30 years of having the chimney cleaned, no one has suggested this. I told him I was not interested in having that done and did not want an estimate. I was going to be late for an appointment if they did not complete the job fairly soon. He said it should take about 30 minutes. His helper went to work, and he returned to the truck. The young man working on the fireplace seem diligent and professional. When he finished however, I found that the other man was on my roof and taking measurements. removing the chimney cap shield, etc. Apparently he was doing this to give an estimate for work I had already indicated I did not want. That took an additional 15 minutes and I had to cancel my appointment. The estimate he insisted on providing was for $2250! Even if I were to have such work done, I certainly would not hire this company which appears to be attending far more to their profit margin and selling more services than to providing the work already contracted efficiently. Most disappointing to see.

We have used Boston's Best Chimney (specifically Rich MacGregor) in the past and had great service and responsiveness. They are the only ones we call now for any of our chimney needs. We are moving and realized that we hadn't had the chimney swept in a few years. We scheduled a technican to come out a few days prior and they were right on time. The cleaning was fast and the technicans were very clean. We had an inspection as well and needed more work on our chimney and to clean up oil soot. Rich told us that we can call our oil company and see if the oil soot removal is covered in our contract so he wouldn't charge us if we could get it free elsewhere. We're very happy with the service and are having them out again at the end of the month for the chimney repair.

Called them last fall (2011) for an estimate on repointing my chimney and for chimney cleaning. They scheduled a visit and showed up on time. They gave me an estimate for both activities, and we scheduled the work. They came back soon to clean the chimney, showing up as scheduled and checking in beforehand to confirm. During the chimney cleaning they discovered a problem in the basement ductwork. I agreed that they fix the ductwork during the same visit, which they did. I don't remember what this cost. The repointing was scheduled for the following April, as their skilled labor was commited for the rest of the fall. In the spring they called to confirm and then showed up on time. They did all all the repointing and waterproofing that day, doing a thorough clean up afterwards and charging according to their previous estimate. (I have had chimney repair done by other companies where the workers did extensive damage to our property and refused to fix it.) This part of the project cost $1700.