Johnson Chimney Service

Johnson Chimney Service exceeded my expectations. Scheduling with Joan was a breeze, and Dakota’s attention to detail during my chimney inspection was incredible. He was professional, knowledgeable, and made sure everything was left clean. Highly recommend

We contacted JCS for a chimney inspection. They were responsive and came out within a few days. We met Walter who seemed very knowledgeable and was very courteous. He described in detail the condition of the chimney and the cause of the issues we were having and made recommendations to rectify. We received a report the next day via email specifying what was wrong and what the recommended fixes are. They seem very professional, and I would recommend them.

Highly unethical company. I had contracted with Walter Kerr of Johnson Chimney to replace the crown on my chimney and to waterproof the external stone of the same chimney. Without my permission, the crew that came to do the work covered two of the stones on my chimney with cement. There was never any mention during my initial consultation with Mr. Kerr that there were any issues with any of the stones or that they needed treatment. There was nothing in the contract that I signed that there were any issues with any of the stones. Moreover, the crew that came to do the work never mentioned to me (even though I was home at the time) that there were issues with the stones and that they needed to cover them with cement. Unfortunately, I paid Mr. Kerr before I realized what his crew had done. This part of the chimney is visible from two of my upstairs windows, so it is extremely unsightly. When I complained to Mr. Kerr, he argued that the stones were missing and that his crew filled in the holes for my benefit. Again, there was never any mention of any missing stones prior to the work being done or during the work and no one had my permission to cover my chimney with cement. Johnson Chimney offered to paint the cement to look like the stone on my chimney and I agreed. When his worker came out to paint the chimney he lamented that he only had spray paint and that it would not look any better than the cement. He showed me what it was and, in fact, it was a gray cement colored spray paint. He was kind enough to explain to Mr. Kerr that this was not a good option. Neither Mr. Kerr nor his company has responded.

Dealing with Johnson chimney services has been by far the worst experience. Not only they took forever to get to my home after two cancellations and a delayed visit but finally the gentleman came to fix something that took him one minute and charged a big fee which I respected and valued for their 45 years of experience. I did not like the fact that within the period of time of a little over a month the chimney stopped working again. The lady who answered said that the chimney is getting old, that we should “not put good money into bad money”. They don’t even know how old is my unit for them to dare to recommend me to change it without that having been their professional diagnostic their repair visit. It was clear for me It’s all about the money for them. I asked them to come back to take a look at why the chimney stopped working and it has not even been two months, and once again they were going to charge their super expensive fee. I have misplaced the information of the other company that served my chimney in the past and I’m going to look for it because they were far better more customer service oriented and more than that a business that wants to retain clients happy. Again, with Johnson chimney services , I cannot speak of their professionalism if their “fix” lasted less than 40 days and they were reluctant to at least come and check without having to charge me again $$$$ I do not recommend them at all. … what a Nightmare…

Fabulous. The workers came on time and they were very professional and neat. This is a 3-story house so they had to install scaffolding to do the job safely. They took many before-and-after photos for me to look at. They were also able to replace the bricks they had to remove to secure the liner rather than putting in a metal access door which the other company had proposed - an option I thought was going to be very unattractive.

They came with a ladder because the outlet from the dryer is high. They were able to get up there and clean out the vent. That outlet angles around so it's not accessible to reach the whole thing straight on. They cleaned out the feathers and nesting material from the birds who settled up there. They put a type of protection over the vent to prevent future animals entering the vent. We were satisfied with the company and the work they did. We would be willing to recommend them to other people. A rat or other animal may have entered in to the vent since the work was done.

I did not pay for the service, but am so grateful for the after hours support over the phone.

Appointment was made for a window between 8:30AM and 12:30PM. When no one had arrived by 12:30 a call was made to the office number. Was informed that they were running an hour late, a fact that I wouldn't have known if I had not called. No one arrived by 1:30PM! At 2:08, I received a call from Mr. Kerr that he was on his way and would arrive in 20 minutes. He arrived at 2:54. Since he had parked in a reserved resident parking space, I requested that he move his truck down 5 or 6 spaces to a visitor space. He chose to park instead in the prohibited fire lane stating it would only be less than 30 minutes and he would take his chances. He performed the vacuuming in less than 14 minutes. For the fact that his time was less than 15 minutes and he was 2 1/2 hours later than scheduled, I thought $175 was steep.

They were on time and unclogged the chimney, they also sent me an email with a break down of everything they did. They did an excellent job and were very professional, I also really liked that they would refund my deposit if I were to have canceled the services prior to the scheduled service date.

Came the same day I called. On-time arrival. Spent over an hour, working carefully and addressing every detail. Answered all technical questions and explained all options. Cleaned work area upon completion. Well done. This is the second time I have used this company and I recommended it to our homeowners association.

Just know that that were very delayed in arriving for my appointment and did not come back to install the part they claimed they were going to order.

They were right on-time and completed the work as promised. Everything went well and we seem to have no further water infiltration.

Prcoess went very smoothly. The owner performed my chimney cleaning and explained what was going on with our fireplace / chimney after a thorough inspection. Explained what needed to be done, should be done and what was optional. I felt very confident in my final decision and the work was completed on they day I was told it would be done.

I would never recommend this company to anyone. Mr. Kerr was so unprofessional it left me wondering how he has been in the business for so long.

They were prompt and did the service. It seemed that all was quickly done which didn't seem to warrant the high price.

I had problems with this dyer vent a year earlier. Another company refused to mess with it when they found the exit pipe was smaller than standards (it had been stepped down somewhere inside the floors of the house). Johnson Chimney tried to use their power vacuum to clear it, but could get no suction. They found the last section loose and quickly determined that it was disconnected somewhere. They cut a hole in the drywall ceiling of my garage and found the first disconnection. But the vent was disconnected in another place so they had to made another small hole in the garage ceiling. Finally exposed, they were able to replace all the bad sections of pipe (about 10 feet) with new metal pipe and connectors. The last section was replaced with a flexible piece that went up and over the joist to vent outside. They recommended that I cover this hole with a metal grate (like those used for HVAC returns). That way if the troublesome last flexible section ever failed, it would be easy to clear or replace. This turned out to be quite a big job. Johnson Chimney was able to finally eliminate a fire hazard from my home. They made sure that the diameter of the dryer vent was done to code all the way from the dyer to the outlet vent. I very much appreciated their persistence to take care of this problem the right way.

It went great! My appt had to be rescheduled due to rain - for the inconvenience they gave a discount of $50 - Original price was $250. Our dryer was on the third floor and vents to the second floor. Juan and Mauricio were great at keeping the house clean. They used booties and then made sure to vacuum all the contents taken out of the dryer. I was amazed at how much came out of the vent! Juan said that he thought the vent had probably never been cleaned. All in all the appt took about 30 minutes.

Mr. Kerr was professional, knowledgeable and personable. He responded to all of my questions and kept me informed. He provided several options for handling the vent situation. When making the appointment, I made sure that this company could handle the height of the outside vent, but was unaware that there was an additional charge for using the 32 ft ladder. I recommend this company for others that need their dryer vent cleaned - very thorough job completed successfully.

Mr. Kerr insisted on being paid in full, up front. The patching was done right away but then it took almost six months to patch crown and install chimney caps despite months of pleading. When crown and cap work was finally done the first wind knocked the caps off. Johnsons refused to put the caps back up for free (or even reduced rate). Claimed it was and quot;act of Godand quot;despite the fact that other caps in neighborhood were not blown off. Even tried to convince me to do chimneny cleaning while he came out and got paid to reinstall caps... FOOL ME ONCE... JUST HORRIBLE

He pulled the dryer out and cleaned it all out and put a new vent in. He replaced a plastic vent and put in a metal vent. He put the dryer back in its orginally position all in 30 minutes. I highly recommend him

I called Johnson's Chimney service and explained the problem to the representative. She said she would check with the technician if this was something the company could service, and get back to me. We played a little phone tag and when I got someone on the line it was a different person, who knew nothing about the conversation I had with the first representative. At some point the first person called me back and we scheduled an appointment. A few days before the appointment, a rep called to confirm the appointment. However, I received another call later saying that I had two appointments, so would I call back? I did and the person who answered had no idea what I was talking about. I explained it to her and we settled on an appointment time. A few days before the appointment I got a call saying that the tech got into an accident and they had to reschedule all appointments, and to call back next week. I called back a week later, and the rep. who answered said she had no record of my appointment (do you see a pattern?). There is obviously a communication issue among the rep.s in the office. Anyway, I was told I would get a call back to reschedule, but probably not until after Thanksgiving. A few weeks after Thanksgiving, someone called and left a message with the name and number of a person that they were referring customers to. I scheduled with someone else, so didn't call back. I also didn't follow up because their charges were outrageous. I was quoted a visit fee of $165 and something like high $200, low $300 to light the pilot. Other repairs would be added to that. I understand the visit fee, but more than $100 more to light the pilot is ridiculous. I know how to turn a knob and press a button (and/or read the instructions on how to light the pilot on the inside of the unit).

Kyle arrived on time and explained what he was doing. He put down a drop cloth, took off his shoes and was very neat. He was very patient and didn't mind all my questions. I had had a poor experience with a previous fireplace company and wasn't able to use my fireplace. Now I can use it all the time. Great company and great employees.

Great! I asked about the need to have the system upgraded and Walter said it wasn't necessary - the unit was in good shape and there was no need. The type of fireplace I had could only be replaced by a similar unit and no efficiencies would be gained. He is going to look into getting glass doors for me - they need to be special ordered for the size and manufacturer of the fireplace. I told him I found him on Angie's list and I got a $20 discount! 11/22/2011 Update - One of the things I discussed with Walter was installing fireplace doors. He was going to inquire about the doors and get back to me. I never got a response. I called and left a message requesting additional information and still got no response. I've now been doing my own research and found out the doors that fit my fireplace insert are discontinued and I need to have the doors made to order. I wish I had known this earlier as I wanted to have the fireplace taken care of before the end of this year.

Very well. I had two other repair people out in the last two years. Neither was able to tell me why there was a smell coming from the gas logs. Walter isn't cheap but the work was done right. And I have a working gas fireplace, just in time for Christmas!

The flue liner was installed incorrectly. Arlington County requires a building mechanical permit. company did not bother to obtain one (found out after the installation). The flex crown needed new masonry. This started to crack within two weeks of completion. I would not hire this company ever again.