High's Chimney Service

Last fall, High's relined our chimney, repaired the crown, and replaced the lock-top damper. A free spring cleaning came with the repairs. I called to schedule the cleaning & was given an appointment the next week. Mark T. & Walter phoned to let me know they were on the way, arrived within the promised time window, were courteous, clean, & efficient. They answered every question, explained every process, & didn't try to up-sell me on unnecessary repairs. We will be calling them every year to sweep & inspect the chimney, & we will recommend them to anyone we know with a fireplace!!!

I saw a representative from High's Chimney at a local home show. We discussed the age of my home and how often the fireplace was used. There was a special discount in effect for appointments made at the home show so I booked my appointment. The very same gentleman showed-up on time at my house. He cleaned and inspected the chimney and then he called me to view the condition of my chimney on a monitor as he moved a camera inside of the chimney. It was in bad shape. The house was built in the 1940's. I was offered a home show discount on the relining. I had already checked on the pricing for this kind of job with other companies and I felt that I was getting a good deal. I was not charged for the cleaning and set-up the relining job for a Saturday. He informed me that a different group of workman would be doing the job. On Saturday the workman showed up on time. First they set up barriers and other things to make sure that nothing would dirty the inside of my home. They put down runners so that they wouldn't step on my rugs. I went outside several times while they were working, I looked at the relining materials. The workmen were always polite. When they finished everything was clean inside and out.

The team arrived on time and had modern equipment (cameras etc) and were professonal. They did have some valid suggetions - and some suggestions that we wanted to get a second opinion on. There was a lot of discussion of "if you sign now - we can offer a discount this and work with you on this," a big push to have us on board without any additional consideration/views/research and we just weren't comfortable making a high-cost decision without a second opinion, so we did not sign. Ironically - we had called High's FIRST because other friends have had good experiences - but by having them come out first, we had not gotten another view (we had one scheduled for the following week). So - while we are grateful for the offer of the discount to do the work right away, I really did want to make a reasoned, wise decision. So - they seem to be a great company -- just, in the spirit of business I suppose, wanting a signed contract right away which was, sadly, not our timeframe on this project.

The provider called me and told me he had bad news. I was not home so he could not show me, but told me my one my chimney's was moving and it would have to be completely rebuilt at a cost of $20,000.00 dollars! I explained my situation to him-that I did not have the money or time since I was selling my house. Was he sure this was the only option. He said he would check with his boss and get back to me the next day. He did call me back promptly the next day to tell me that there was no other option but to rebuild the whole chimney. He said they would give me a good deal on it and not charge me for the work done on the other chimney. I told him I needed to think about it and got a second opinion form Priddy Clean who is A rated on this site. Priddy Clean came out and did a thorough inspection and showed me how I did not need a new chimney. They told me this is a common ruse people play on women and people selling their houses. Not only would have rebuilding the chimney cost me the quoted amount but High's would not have been able to find the custom brick that was on my house (they did not mention that) or would have had to charge me an extra $4000. to get it. I will never use HIgh's Chimney and am recommending that my realtor who recommended them stop recommending them.

The experience at the time was fine but the chimney is now falling apart.

It went really well. They were on time and they did the job faster than I thought they would be able to; it looks like a real good job.

The service was just fine. The scheduling and thoroughness was very good.

I have a gas fireplace in my breakfast room installed many years ago. It would not ignite. I found High's Chimney Service on-line. They came to the house and serviced and cleaned the unit which had not been done in several years. It now works perfectly. The work was thorough and courteous; very professional.

The salesperson was high pressure. They fixed the problem.

The first problem was the difficulty in scheduling; it seemed like it was geared to their convenience rather than to mine. I set it up, however, but later got a call the day before the scheduled cleaning, stating that they had to reschedule due to a mandatory staff meeting. They "told" me that they would come on the same day but earlier. I said that I would just reschedule. They tried to press for me to do the earlier time, same date. I said no. It got rescheduled, and the tech was to be here between 2-4. He did not show up or call. I called the company at 4:15. I was told by a very nice lady that she would put me on hold and call him. She did, and then came back on the line to tell me that the tech would call me in 5 minutes. She said that she agreed with me that he should have called me BEFORE he was late. She told me that the owner had already had an issue with this same tech that morning and that the tech was reprimanded for something. Then the tech called, "telling" me that he would be here at 5:30 or 6:00. I told him no, that I was cancelling. He tried to talk me into letting him come. I finally told him that I had things to do and that I had waited all afternoon for him. I wasn't about to wait any longer, and why would I want a tech who had just been in trouble that morning to clean my chimney? I had hoped to receive a call from the company in the next couple of days, apologizing, but no, no call came. I feel like they cared about pleasing me until they got my almost $2,000 for the major work they did, and then after that, they didn't care. I told them as much. I chose High's because they are listed in the PG County Best Picks publication for chimney/fireplace issues. What a disappointment.

Crew arrived on-time, worked well, did high quality work, completed work and clean-up in less than four hours. Oil Company representative inspected results and returned oil furnace to regular status. High's Customer Sewrvice checked with me after the job was completed. Good job, highly recommend.

I?m not happy with the service I received for 2 reasons. First, I was not told when someone came out to give an estimate that I would need to hire an electrician to install a box prior to fireplace installation if I didn?t want to have the unsightly cord running from the new unit to the wall. This will most likely run hundreds of dollars and I would?ve liked to have known ahead of time to plan the install and possibly go with a less expensive fireplace insert to offset the cost. Another issue I experienced was when I ordered the bronze faceplate and they delivered a black faceplate. Apparently I wasn?t told when I ordered, or when I called back after the install, that it would cost an extra $575 for the bronze faceplate. I only found out after calling back again a second time to find out the status after the guy that did the installation said he would put in the order for the correction. Needless to say, I am not happy with a color that I didn?t pick out and a cord that I didn?t want sticking out after already spending thousands of dollars.

Getting them scheduled depended on the time of year, as I called them in the summer and was able to schedule easily. When they did the lining, they had a whole team here. It took a day to replace the two linings. We called them back out this year to have the chimney cleaned. We haven’t had any problems so far!

The two technicians opened the gas insert, cleaned all components, checked the flue and repaired the exterior screen. The job was done quickly and completely.

It didn't go well. They were not responsive when I called them back. The work caused more harm than good. Griffith's no longer recommends them but so what? I'm stuck with the job they did. Better to ask friends or neighbors for a recommendation.

Team arrived on time and went straight to work sweeping chimney connected to wood stove. They took precautions to prevent soot or ash getting into the house and left no mess. I was briefed on the condition of the chimney and creosote build up and advised to continue my burning practices as my creosote was minimal and easy to remove. All in all a pleasant experience.

They were great. The workers were very professional hard workers. I had them do a few extra things while they were there and they had no problems with it. The work was excellent.

High's did a great job overall. They worked hard in bad circumstances (weather). I was a little disappointed in the clean up since they left cinders in the yard and on the walkway. But, that was a minor problem. They were very courteous and diligent.

They were great.They were on time and quickly provided the service. They fully explained everything and cleaned up after themselves. They even vacuumed the unused log on the grate. Both were friendly and professional.

The installers were a little late because they had problems with their truck. They immediately went to work. They laid down a drop cloth on the floor in front of the stove for work on the thimble. They had to remove a clay tile from the thimble so that the new liner would be able to connect with the stove pipe. Outside, one man climbed on the roof and removed the old chimney cap and cleared the way for the stainless steel liner. Meanwhile, the other installer removed some bricks from the lower part of the chimney to help guide the liner into place. They guided the liner into the chimney. - one working from the roof and the other on the ground until the liner was in perfect position with the thimble using a T joint. They replaced the bricks on the chimney with masonry cement perfectly and replaced the chimney cap. Then they went inside again and connected the liner with the T joint. They insulated the thimble and put a masonry seal around the new liner. They then connected the liner to the stove pipe, screwed the pieces of stove pipe together and placed a collar around the opening of the pipe to the wall. The stove was now installed and they cleaned up the materials that they used for the inside work. They couldn't do anymore work outside as it started to rain. High's called the next day to schedule another team to finish relining the chimney. Again, they went to work immediately. They mixed Thermix and poured several bags of it down the sides of the steel liner to insulate it and keep the liner in place. One man broke the crown apart while another man removed the broken masonry around several bricks and then repointed the bricks. Then while one man constructed a new crown, the other man measured and cut a new chimney cap that fit the top of the steel liner. They cleaned up all their materials before they left and left our property as they had found it.

The estimator was very knowledgeable, informative and helpful. I don't feel he tried to oversell me and took the furnace cap off to look inside the existing chimney which was severely deteriorated and crumbling. I had another company give me an estimate a couple of months prior to calling High's and he never did this. I didn't realize until High's was here just how badly damaged the furnace chimney was ( I was using this chimney even over the summer because I heat my hot water with the furnace). He gave me a very fair estimate, which was lower than the other service, and scheduled the work to be done on a weekend because it worked better for my schedule and I didn't want to put the work off any longer because of the furnace chimney issues. Two crews arrived early the next morning, introduced themselves, worked efficiently and very politely all day taking care to cover things to keep the dust down and cleaned up after themselves once the work was complete. The crew and their foreman were really great, very knowledgeable and seemed quite experienced. I highly recommend High's Chimney Service - - - they are my go to company for any chimney/fireplace services from now on.

The problem was incorrectly diagnosed. We got three other estimates all of which recommended less extensive work. That was the repairs carried out and the problem resolved.

We were having leakage, and we have had rain, but it hasn't leaked. They were professional, and we don't have anything negative to say at all. My husband called a few other people, and I believe that he wasn't looking for the lowest price. We know that just because you pay more, doesn't mean you get the best. They cleaned up everything, they were very professional, and spent a lot of time. We are happy with it. I would use them again for any problem, and I would recommend them. They were good. They checked everything to make sure we had everything in place. The house is 20 years old, and the problem started 2 years ago, and they say the builder should have sealed the chimney.

I was not happy with High's at all. The original crew came out and went to work, were punctual, but did not communicate well or meet my expectations. While the relining of the chimney looks OK as far as I can tell, they botched the rest. It was a hot day, and the new cement they used for the crowning was not kept wet, was not covered, and cracked within hours of the crew leaving. The tuck pointing was simply applied over-top the loose old mortar (instead of grinding out the bad mortar to get to the solid stuff). The color they used did not match my existing mortar at all. Finally, the waterproofing spray also got on my siding which left a clear color difference for where the spray did not get. I complained to the owner who insisted that I did not know how to do masonry (poor professionalism), but did agree to send somebody to inspect. The guy who came agreed with me on all points and said he'd report back what he heard. About a week or two went by with me hearing nothing. I finally went out to a big-box store to get the stuff I needed to do the job properly, and returned to find a crew working on the job. This crew was much better, listened to what I had to say, and did the job well. My guess is that they send out the cheap inexperienced guys the first time and then send out the real workers to fix the slop if a customer complains. Unfortunately, the newly replaced crown has cracked 2 years later and the owner did not respond to my inquiry into any sort of warranty on the work. Oh well - never hiring them again.

They were on time, professional and fully explained findings. They even provided suggestions and tips for use of my fireplace to prevent damage. I will be using them again.