Northeast Chimney Sweeps

I contacted the company for an estimate to install a chimney cap.They were very quick to show up and do the estimate, which was reasonable.About 2 weeks later I tried to reach the company to order the work done. I called, left voice message (or two) and wrote e-mail.However, the phone is never answered, voice mail messages never returned, e-mail is not answered, for 10 days. Therefore, my experience is negative since I wasted my time.

Joe was great. He thoroughly explained all aspects of the project and his approach. He was prompt, took great care when working inside our newly remodeled living room to keep things clean and provided terrific service. The 6" liner Joe tried would not fit down the chimney due to some tricky bends and dried mortar lumps in the way. He spent a 1/2 day working on it, but he charged us nothing for his time since he was unable to finish the job that day. He returned a few days later with a 5.5" liner, installed it in half a day and we now have a greatly improved draft going up the chimney. Joe takes great pride in his work and I would HIGHLY recommend him to others.

We initially intended to have one or more linings installed in our circa 1890 unlined chimney (with 3 flues). We contacted almost all of Angie's chimney repair/cleaning listings, and most who cover our area either could not/would not do the work, or quoted a steep price. Joe Albano of Northeast Chimney Sweeps (Woburn) was the only person we spoke to who, after a thorough inspection, felt that aside from some seriously overdue cleanings, the chimney and flues were actually in good shape and really didn't need lining (although he could recommend several companies that might do the work). Joe removed A LOT of debris from the 3 flues (including fallen bricks that prevented the damper from opening, etc.). His work was spotless-no dust or soot anywhere. He did exactly what he said he was going to do, in the estimated time and for the quoted price. He also spent a lot of time going over maintenance suggestions with us, as well as telling us about other options we might want to consider (gas inserts, etc.), even though he/Northeast does not do all of these things but could recommend others who do. We really appreciated the quality of his work and advice -Joe is a really nice, honest person, who will be our exclusive chimney "go-to" guy from now on.

Very helpful, timely, and gave some advice on the chimney.

This was part two of the chimney work. The first part was a flue liner replacement (previous report). The chimney repair work had to wait until spring since it required warm weather. In June Joe arrived with the custom made (extra wide) chimney cap, and in his usual pleasant and efficient manner installed the cap, fixed up a bunch of crumbling grout, and applied sealer to the exposed bricks. The cap looks great, and we no longer have water seeping in to the living room ceiling. (This work was completed in June; I just remembered to enter the report).

Two of the 5 clay liners in our fireplace flue were cracked. On his first visit Joe performed a very thorough review of both the fireplace flue and the oil furnace flue as well as the connected devices. He discussed the various options for dealing with the cracked flue (as well as some other work to be performed in the spring). He also satisfied my curiosity about the workings of the fireplace and chimney. We agreed to replace the two cracked clay tubes as well as the two above for a total of four. As the work was in progress it turned out all 5 tubes needed to be replaced, and Joe was able to do this on the scheduled day (and at the quoted price) despite some complications which turned up during the process. Joe arrived exactly on time for both visits. Cleanup was very thorough. As a bonus Joe noticed and pointed out a disconnected heating duct during his first visit (which had been overlooked both by our pre-purchase home inspector and a furnace repairman).

My experience working with Joe was one of the best I have ever had with a contractor. Since he runs his own shop, it took a little while for us to connect but it was worth the wait. He spent about an hour and a half just to assess the situation and recommend what I needed. He took time to explain everything in great detail and was very knowledgable about the liner system and possible challenges we might encounter. The fact that he spent so much time doing the free estimate was impressive. The pricing was very fair compared to my other estimates. The day of the job was excellent as well. Arrived on time, set up a very neat work space with drop clothes, etc. Again, he took the time to explain what was going on and invited me to observe him work. He takes pride in his work, which shows in both his workmanship and his style of interaction. I would recommend him without a doubt. You can trust him and he provides good value.

Our overall experience with Joe Albano was excellent. He was articulate, neat, friendly, respectful, and most of all fair. When Joe discovered that our furnace flue was almost completely blocked, he stayed to shut off the furnace and hot water heater and cleared his schedule for the next day to replace our liner due to safety concerns. He used his camera phone to take pictures from the top of the chimney and of the blocked liner when removed, to show us what he saw. It is never easy to pay such a large amount for an unseen home repair, but Joe made it so much easier to swallow because of his professionalism. Our family is safe from potential carbon monoxide poisoning because of Northeast Chimney's thorough inspection. Plus he didn't even charge us for the 3 hours he spent trying to clean/sweep out the flue! We are so appreciative of all his help. We will recommend Joe Albano to anyone who needs chimney sweeping! P.S. He does service Melrose.

JOE WAS EXTREMELY RESPONSIVE AND PROMPT IN BOTH RETURNING MY INITIAL CALL, ASSESSING MY SITUATION, EXPLAINING THE WORK I WOULD NEED, AND COMPLETING THE WORK. HE WAS FAR MORE SERVICE ORIENTED AND RESPONSIVE THAN ANY OF THE OTHER CHIMNEY SWEEPS I TALKED TO. HE WAS EXTREMELY PROFESSIONAL AT EVERY TURN. WHEN ALL THE OTHER SWEEPS SAID THEY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO DO MY WORK FOR AT LEAST A MONTH, LEAVING ME WITHOUT HEAT FOR THAT FULL PERIOD, HE WAS ABLE TO SQUEEZE ME IN AND FINISH MY JOB WITHIN 2 DAYS OF OUR INITIAL CALL, AT NO NEGATIVE IMPACT TO EXISTING COMMITMENTS HE HAD MADE TO OTHER CUSTOMERS. MY SUSPICION IS THAT HE DID THIS BY WORKING LONGER HOURS THAN USUAL. PLUS, HIS PRICE WAS EXTREMELY REASONABLE BASED ON OTHER ESTIMATES I HAD RECEIVED. I HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PROVIDER.

JOB 1: PROMPT, POLITE, GREAT JOB, GREAT PRICE, CLEANED UP. I WILL USE THEM AGAIN. JOB 2: JOE AND PAUL WERE EXTREMELY PROFESSIONAL AND POLITE. THEY HAVE DONE A SMALL JOB FOR ME BEFORE. THIS WAS AN ALL-DAY JOB BECAUSE OF A VERY SHARP CHIMNEY BEND, WHICH MEANT IT TOOK SEVERAL HOURS LONGER THAN THEY HAD EXPECTED, BUT THEY STAYED UNTIL IT WAS ALL DONE IN THE EVENING. DESPITE THE LATE HOUR, THEY CLEANED UP VERY WELL. THEY DID AN EXCELLENT JOB. I WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND THEM AND USE THEM AGAIN MYSELF.

JOE WAS PROMPT, HONEST, COMPETENT AND THOROUGH, AND A PLEASURE TO DO BUSINESS WITH. HE AND HIS BUSINESS PARTNER ACCOMPLISHED MOST OF THE WORK ON A QUITE RAINY, RAW DAY, BUT HE ASSURED ME THAT THESE CONDITIONS DON'T USUALLY HINDER HIS WORK OF THIS KIND. HE DID RETURN THE FOLLOWING AFTERNOON TO COMPLETE THE OUTDOOR DETAIL WORK ORIGINALLY PREVENTED BY THE RAIN. ALTHOUGH IT TOOK A SECOND PHONE CALL FROM ME BEFORE HE RETURNED MY INITIAL CALL (PERHAPS BECAUSE, AS HIS WEBSITE INDICATED, I WAS NEAR BUT NOT IN ONE OF THE COMMUNITIES HE USUALLY SERVES), THEREAFTER HE KEPT ME WELL INFORMED. HE TOOK THE TIME IN HIS INITIAL EVALUATION TO EXPLAIN CHIMNEY STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION, AND PATIENTLY ANSWERED ALL MY QUESTIONS. I FOUND HIS PRICING WAS CLEAR AND FAIR. HE ALSO CLEANED UP THE WORK AREA THOROUGHLY. CERTAINLY SOMEONE I COULD RECOMMEND TO OTHERS.

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WE REALLY ENJOYED WORKING WITH JOE, THE OWNER, AND WOULD NOT HESITATE TO WORK WITH HIM AGAIN AND CAN RECOMMEND HIM EASILY. JOE WAS EFFICIENT, EXTREMELY INFORMATIVE, FRIENDLY, AND PROFESSIONAL. IT'S AWESOME TO FIND A SERVICE PROVIDER WHO TAKES HIS PROFESSION AND CUSTOMERS SERIOUSLY. OUR CHIMNEY IS IN GREAT SHAPE NOW, AND THE ONLY SAD PART IS THAT WE WON'T SEE JOE AGAIN FOR ANOTHER THREE YEARS UNTIL THE NEXT CLEANING IS DUE.

JOE WAS ON TIME, POLITE AND TOOK THE TIME TO EDUCATE US ABOUT OUR CHIMNEY AND FIREPLACES. HE MADE REALISTIC RECOMMENDATIONS TO SEAL THE CHIMNEY AND REPAIR THE FIREPLACE (UNLIKE ANOTHER COMPANY THAT INSISTED WE REBUILD THE CHIMNEY, COMPLETELY REHAB THE FIREPLACE AND CLEAN OUT IMAGINARY ''SQUIRREL NESTS AND CARCASSES''. JOE SAVED US OVER $3,500 AND HONESTLY REPORTED THAT THERE WERE NO NESTS OR SQUIRRELS IN THERE.). THE WORK WAS DONE IN TWO SEGMENTS AND HE WAS VERY ATTENTIVE TO OUR NEEDS AND RESERVED TIME FOR US TO FINISH THE WORK DURING HIS BUSY SEASON WITHOUT OUR HAVING TO CALL AHEAD. HE LEFT DETAILED AND INFORMATIVE MESSAGES, WAS HIGHLY RESPONSIVE AND DID A SUPERB JOB. WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY. IF ONLY MORE CONTRACTORS WORKED IN SUCH AN ETHICAL AND PROFESSIONAL MANNER.

THEY GAVE ME A PERMANENT FIX TO A PROBLEM THAT HAD UP UNTIL NOW HAD BEEN A YEARLY TEMPORARY FIX. HE DID A REALLY GOOD JOB. VERY GOOD EXPLANATION AND EDUCATION. VERY TIDY, HELPFUL, EXCELLENT GOOD FOLLOW UP. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM!! THEY ARE REALLY, REALLY GOOD!

JOE LINED AND REPOINTED CHIMNEYS AT ANOTHER LOCATION FOR ME THREE YEARS AGO. KNOWLEDGEABLE AND HONEST, HE EXPLAINED PROPOSED JOBS AND ALL OPTIONS. ALSO, HE WAS THOROUGH, CLEAN, POLITE, PERSONABLE, AND TRUSTWORTHY. TRULY A GEM AMONG SERVICE PROVIDERS.