Jack Pixley Sweeps Inc

Homeowner beware. They told me my chimney was unsafe and needed to be destroyed. They said I had had a fire, but I did not. They did not do a good job. I paid $250 to have the chimney cleaned, but it was not cleaned properly. The owner was supposed to call me and he never did. Update: Yes, the company did call and refunded half of my money because the technician did not properly clean the Kodiak stove. Ash/creosote residue was left on top of the baffle and no attempt was made to clean the cap. Immediately following the technician's visit, I called a masonry/concrete company and had them inspect the chimney. Larry Everson of Osceola, WI has been in business for over 30 years and did not agree with the Pixley sweep. He explained that the staniless steel tube from the stove extends three-feet into the flue. This is the way Jack Pixley himself installed it. It did not come loose. Second, he told us that the Ahrens liner has a 1/8th inch of creoste, well within safety standards. However, he advised us to clean the chimney ourselves the morning after our first fire this season. He believes the warmth from the previous night's fire will allow for easy removal of the thin creosote covering. Additionally, since the Pixley technician did not even attempt to clean my chimney cap Mr. Everson suggested several products available from home improvement stores that, with a little elbow grease, remove soot and creosote. Photos were taken after the Pixely clean (?) and I will take photos after we have cleaned ourselves so Angie;s List members can draw their own conclusions. Further, I did contact my firewood provider and told him the technician's comments regarding his wood. He was furious as he sells only two-year old oak and has a sterling reputation. I should add that this unit is not for recreational purposes. It heats my entire two-story home and thus runs constantly in the winter. I showed Mr. Everson the Pixley technician's photo of the residue pile in the stove after his cleaning and he was impressed that it was so small and thought it was a testament to the efficiency of the Kodiak and the high-quality of my firewood.

Beware! I wanted an estimate of the exterior brick work on my 25 year old chimney. The rep from this company insisted on looking in the chimney with a camera which showed mortar joints loose in my wood burning chimney liner. He said the chimney is unsafe to use and the liner needed to be replaced, preferably with a stainless steel insert. I have not received the estimate, but can only imagine what that would cost! His assistant did go up with a ladder and looked at the brick problem, the repair of the bricks was less concern to the rep-he wanted to sell me a new liner. I had two other bids and my hunch was confirmed. There is nothing wrong with my liner and the exterior bricks need to be fixed.

They've been good. All of the work has been good.

Looked up the chimney. Did not go up on the roof to examine from the top down until I requested him too. Not happy that he took so little time in visually examining the chimney, handed me the check up bill and left.

I contacted Jack Pixley Sweeps for service, as they are located near my home. Their cost estimate was competitive with others that I shopped, and their website looks professional. They sent a technician to my home, Evan. He spent a good amount of time on the job, cleaning out my chimney thoroughly and explaining to me what he did. He also did a remote camera inspection of the chimney interior and provided me with pictures and recommendations regarding repairs to the inner flue. The company also generated an estimate for installing a steel flue in my chimney and sent it to me by email. Overall their service was very professional and thorough, and I will plan to use them again.

I write this review with the caveat that as it was several years ago that they had come out, I cannot remember all of the specific details of my interatction with them but the information contained details my general recollecation of what occurred. As a new member of Angieslist I feel compelled to detail my extremely negative experience. After purchasing a 30 year old home through foreclosure we had Jack Pixley out to inspect the 3 chimneys. One of the fireplaces had obviously never even had a fire in it. During my initial contact they offerred me a DVD of the video inspection, and confirmed for me that were concerns found they could give me specific repair estimates. The report we recieved contained a paragraph of qualitiative text and approximately 6 pictures, half of which were so dim they were basically worthless. I was astonished to see that I had been charged a cleaning fee for the fireplace that had never been used in its lifetime. When I called the company to follow up, I was informed that I had "3 of the worst constructed fireplaces the company had ever seen", and that the only recourse I had was to have the entire 14 ft x 8t masonry enclosure removed from the roof to the basement and start over from scratch. The company said they did not have the expertise to do so and could not refer me to anyone who did. After I insisted they provide me with an estimate as per the terms of our original contract, their response was "upwards of $25,000". Also, they told me that no dvd of the video inspection was in fact available, and that the non tech-savvy technician should not have promised one. After I wrote a letter to the company following up with my opinion that they had not lived up to the terms of our agreement, I recieved a phone call from Jack Pixley himself. He explained that due to his recent bout with cancer, he feared that service from his company had deteriorated. While I certainly have the utmost compassion for his personal situation, frankly I remained disappointed as I had hired the company's reputation and expertise, not the man's himself. I also found it insulting that they stoop so low as to justify away the poor service through appealing to my compassion over the illness of its founder. Ultimately, Mr. Pixley informed me that it was his opinion that they had fulfilled their promised obligations. I told him that I thought it didnt make sense that a well respected organization such as his would charge a cleaning fee for a fireplace that for all intents and purposes was nothing more then a decoration, and that I was dissappointed that the pictures and inspection report were so incomplete that I would not even be able to use it as I brought in other contractors to give me a realistic estimate, but that I would leave it up to him to "do what he thinks is right". In the end I did not get any money back. I was able to get 2 of the 3 fireplaces repaired for under $2,000. Update: I dug out my "Jack Pixley" folder. There were two incorrect items in my original review - the amount spent was $544.20 and the last date of contact was wrong. My job invoice includes a note from the technician that does offer a video inspection. The worthless initial inspection report contains a 1 page form letter, 5 worthless pictures, 2 usable pictures, 1 page of definitions/disclaimers, and 0 comments on my actual chimneys. I also still have email verification of the date and time of my conference call with Operations Manager Joe Spoden and Jack Pixley. It was on this call when Mr. Pixley suggested that the fact that he was no longer actively involved in the company on a day to day basis was the cause of their deterioration in service. I have no record of a refund for the fireplace that was not cleaned. Lastly, I did eventually recieve a letter that contained some usable information on my chimneys, but they never offerred to fix anything. The letter was pretty clear: "Our company cannot take on a job of this job [sic] of complexity". I commend the company for their intention of issuing a refund regardless of whether I actually recieved it (who knows, maybe it got lost in the mail). Since that was the main driver behind my original "F", I upgraded them to a "D".

We contacted the chimney sweeper after checking A's List, left a message and received a prompt response with a quote range and set a date for the work. They showed up on the day we agreed ( 2 -weeks after the call). They were respectful of our home, performed the work quickly, cleaned up after themselves and the fee was in the range they quoted. We asked if they would also reattach our chimney cap which had previously blown off a few years back. They agreed, however they said they would need to return to do this as there was fresh snow on the roof. They returned a week later and set the cap for no extra charge. We intend to use them again in a few years to keep our chimney clean and safe.

Found company on Angie's list. Contacted company on-line. They called back, set up an appointment (2 hour window) arrived on time. Professional and pleasant. Was able to see what he was describing because of the camera on his equipment. Chimney needed a bit of cleaning but looked. Suggested a cap outside and I agreed so there was an extra charge but he didn't try to "convince" me to spend more money. I felt more confident in using the fireplace for the holidays. It hadn't been used in a few years.

Doing remodeling on my mid-century home, I decided to have the chimneys cleaned. Since I just purchased the house, I had no idea the last time they were cleaned. I knew some smoke was seeping out of the chimney on the main level and the lower level smelled of smoke and a haze in the lower level when a fire was in the main floor fireplace. Jack Pixley came and cleaned the chimneys. In the process, they brought a camera and inspected them. They immediately discovered I had huge cracks on the firewall both upstairs and down. They conducted a safety inspection and determined that the cause of the cracks were either a chimney fire or lightning strike. They advised me to contact my insurance agent and that they would handle any issues with the insurance company. That was just the start of my problems with the chimneys...not with Pixley. When they started to install the liner, they discovered asbestos in the chimney between the two stacks. They called in a special asbestos removal company and again worked with the insurance agent. Then, they discovered wood in the firebox that should have been removed by the original masons. Later, they came back at my request and re-examined the fireplace because I was still getting smoke smell downstairs. First, they cemented up every crack they could identify and later, came back an sprayed the entire inside of the fireplace with a resin to prevent any smoke from leaking. They never charged for any additional services, even though they continued to work on the chimney until the problem was resolved. I love these folks. Honest, trustworthy, professional and truly concerned about fire safety. In addition to fixing the fireplace, they installed a new chimney from the roof line up. Allowed me to select the brick and made excellent suggestions. Put new caps on the chimney and installed all new stainless steel liners on both my fireplaces. They cleaned up after themselves, were courteous and extremely professional. I would highly recommend them to anyone. Good job and thank you.

It went well. We have used their services for some time now and they do a good job, are timely and clean up after themselves. We will continue to use their services.

Very professional. Explained what they were going to do. Showed the cleaned chimney on their camera. Offered suggestions for future cleanings. No mess at all. Would use them again and highly recommend them

The cleaner came on time, was clean, laid out a large cloth so no dirt would land on my rug. He was very professional and I would use them again.

The crown was finished in one day, all mess removed and clean. The fireplace was done in a couple of days. We called them back once to ask for adjustment to some of the gas logs, more for our aesthetic sense than that anything was out of place. The bottom panel would not close properly due to the placement of the gas turn off handle and hose, and that was fixed in the same trip. They patiently answered any questions we had.

They are good and efficient. They are polite and keeping me to up-to-date because they actually had to redo inside the chimney that came down into the house. They were always helpful. I would use them again.

It was a great experience working with these guys. The scheduler on the phone took the time to listen to my issue and was VERY clear on their pricing and policies up front. Although $245 was a little steep, I still gave them an "A" in pricing because I'm very comfortable with their work and their assessment of the situation.The technician who came to my townhome was on time, an absolute professional, and did excellent work. He was in and out in about 90 minutes. As I mentioned before, he was very careful to clean up after the project. He even laid out a large tarp from my doorway to the fireplace area so he could walk back and forth between his truck and my house.A great experience all around.

They did a quality job. They gave me a bid on some repairs and I thought it was very steep.

They are good, professional, and nice people. It’s not horribly expensive. Jack personally is very knowledgeable and gets very involved with solving problems.

He seemed to be pretty conscientious. I didn’t get in the chimney and look at the finished product but they spent a lot of time and seemed pretty good. He didn't make much of a mess. I think he did a good job but I am not positive. He did work for me years and years ago and I thought he did a pretty good job. The price was fair but I don't remember what it cost. I was satisfied with the work.

This company is very reliable and the people who work for them are responsible and honest. I would highly recommend Jack Pixley! The young man who inspected and cleaned our chimney was polite and thorough. He recommended that we do not use the fireplace unless the tiles that were missing got replaced and the brick tuckpointed and gave us an estimate. We thought about that and a year later contacted the company again for an estimate on a gas fireplace insert instead of the other work which was not necessary with a gas fireplace. The work was done within the month and in time for a very special Christmas. They would not charge us the final payment until they were satisfied that the remote was working. We got the upgraded model for no additional charge since the less expensive remote did not work after several tries. This is a very reliable company and I would definitely recommend them for all chimney and fireplace work.

Ray was very helpful and completed additional repair at the top of the chimney.

They did a good job. There was no residual dust in my home. He was probably done with it in a very short time.

I Sorry I told the story above.

Years ago I used this company to clean our chimney and they were just fine. However, I called today to have a cleaning on a different chimney at another house and the cleaning and inspection was quoted at $299 which includes a video inspection. They do not offer just a cleaning for less money; they require an inspection. I made an appointment with another company on Angie's List for $175!

I thought they did a great job. The technician was very professional and detailed. He showed and explained all the of issues that he encountered when inspecting the chimney in great detail. I was very happy with the work they performed and impressed by the information the technician provided. I thought it was a great value for the service performed. Also, I didn't have any issues scheduling the cleaning service, I just planned 3 weeks in advance. I had no issues scheduling during their busy fall season with proper planning.

We returned from a vacation to find a broken wire hanging in our fireplace. It was a repair that I considered doing on my own but thanks to a chance meeting at the State Fair with Jack Pixley Sweeps, they successfully took care of it for me. The owner offered a fair price quote at the Fair. Their office staff was very responsive and professional. The work was scheduled within a week (fast!). And Evan, the technician who performed the work, did an excellent job. Overall, I am very, very pleased.