ENGLISH SWEEP

First of all, the technician came 2 HOURS EARLY. I(Owner) was not even there. Other contractor doing work let English Sweep in. Supposedly inspected chimney and sweep. I have no idea if this was actually done or not-again

Gregg responded to my email inquiry immediately and was out to the house within a couple days to provide an estimate of making my chimney functional or putting a proper cap on to keep out the weather. Gregg provided a thorough description of different options as well as an inspection. Upon inspection, he found that the chimney needed to be tuckpointed. I chose the tuckpointing and a cap rather than making my fireplace functional. There was about a month wait until the crew came out. I was notified of the wait time and English Sweep kept in communication about the upcoming schedule. They notified me of the day they would start and sure enough, they were on-time. After the tuckpointer started and got a few layers down, they found out the mortar on the chimney had deteriorated too bad for just a tuckpointing (90 year old house). The crew called the office and they were able to negotiate a cheaper alternative to the cap I had purchased and offered to tear down and rebuild my chimney stack for only $105 in addition to the previous quote. I thought this was fair so the crew stayed on and did a very good job rebuilding my chimney stack over the next 2 days. Update 1: A few weeks later, there was a big rain and the chimney was leaking water worse than it had prior to the rebuild. I promptly notified Chimney Sweep and Gregg came out immediately. He inspected the chimney and said everything looked fine except the seal between the flashing and the brick was starting to ever so slightly separate (they only rebuilt down to the flashing)...he used a better seal and notified me that usually chimneys have crickets, so they'd write me a quote to build a cricket ($300) just in case that seal wasn't the issue. After the next rain, the water was still leaking, I opted to accept the cricket bid and within a day Gregg was out installing the cricket. (extremely prompt) After the next rain, the water was STILL leaking. Not knowing where the water was coming from, Gregg immediately came out and ran a camera up the chimney to inspect for water stains. Everything looked good, so then he ran water over the chimney. While he was running water over the chimney, I notified him that water was coming in! He quickly diagnosed that the concrete cap must not have accepted the sealant they applied after they rebuilt the chimney. After a couple days (the wet chimney needed to dry) they came out and applied another layer of sealant on the cap. After the next rain, I watched very close, the leak was much better but there were still a couple drips. The day after the rain, Gregg contacted ME to find out how it held up under the rain. I was very impressed that he called ME to check, most contractors are not like this. I notified him it was better, but still had a couple drips. He mentioned they'd come out right away and apply another coat and if that didn't work they'd replace the cap. As of now, I'm still waiting for another big rain to give it a good test. I'll update this report after it rains. Even though this experience has been very frustrating, especially since the chimney was REBUILT...I am still very impressed by Chimney Sweep's (especially Gregg's) communication, promptness and worksmanship...I understand sometimes crazy things happen (aka leak), but he doesn't appear to be willing to back down until the work is done right and the client is satisfied. Top notch contractor...still waiting to see if the leak is fixed though. Stay tuned... Update: We finally had a big rain (3-4 inches) and I didn't notice any leakage. It looks like it's fixed!! Thanks, English Sweep!

The service was handled in two parts - the first part was clearing the chimney of the debris that was preventing the hot water heater from venting properly. This involved removing a chunk of the foundation and lots of old mortar, sand and brick. The charge for this portion was $250 and I feel that it was well worth it. The second part was to install a flue liner. The flue liner was a simple flexible line from the top of the chimney to the foundation that I probably could have bought at Home Depot. I think this portion of the work was much too expensive. Had I know that the flue liner was just that flexible line, I would have done the work myself. I was expecting something a little more industrial. It wasn't that the work was bad, I just feel like it was expensive for what they did. The charge for the flue liner part of the work was $380.

He was on time, efficient, pleasant, well priced and I would definitely recommend / use them again.

A few months ago they cleaned our chimney and it was great. We then needed a new chase cap for the chimney because ours was rusted. They sent an estimate for that-so far so good. Then, when I was coordinating them coming out, and, deciding whether or not after I had my siding redone, if they would have to remeasure for the cap. They were happy to take money from me in the first place, but they said that they wouldn't need to remeasure that chase cap. Then there was a man that came to remeasure, I thought that was peculiar, but he went ahead and measured anyway. I thought the chase cap had been ordered and we were good to go. I called them and they said they hadn't placed the order yet. When it finally did come in, the guy was trying to beat a rainstorm. He barely beat the rain, and he left. I looked at it the next day and it looked slightly askew. He said he would come back at some point and straighten it. In the mean time, I called the owner to tell them that it seemed to be a little dis-concerning about their company, considering they are a super service award winner. He then called a few days later and told me that there was a problem with the numbers that they wrote down for my account. I told them that I would give them the correct information when they fixed the crooked chase cap. I told them I would straighten out our charge, when they straightened out their work. Finally the guy came out and wrote down that it was an optical illusion, and that it was not askew. To me, it looked more beat up than anything, definitely not fixed. We then got a proposal in the email saying that we needed chimney repair. It was for $3200 for a brick chimney--which we didn't even have. There is something wrong with this company--they do not have their act together to say the least. It seems to me that this company does not care about the customer, and is in no way interested in pleasing its customers. Not once did the owner say they would do something for us because of the inconvenience.

They gave me recommendations on stuff that can be done when spring arrives. They were very clean and neat and you would not have known they were here. They confirmed appointments via E-mail. I would probably use them again and will call hem for the additional work they recommended.

It has really worked out. I think that they did a good a job and it was a fair price.

The experience was relatively good. They were affordable, quick, and convenient. They came out in December and did the work.

I've been in my house for 10 years and never had the chimney swept. I picked English Sweep because of the great ratings on Angie's List. Joe came out within the scheduled time frame and swept the chimney. He was very professional and answered all my questions. He finished within the hour and left the place spotless. He also gave me some recommendations on repairing my chimney since it's currently leaking during heavy rains. Although I already have another company coming out within the next month (barring weather issues), Joe gave me a pressure free quote. If my pending company falls through, I'll make sure to use English Sweep. In conclusion, the experience was great. I will use them again, plus recommend to friends.

I have never used a chimney sweep service before, and contacted them because of their rating on this list. I was able to get an appointment in less than a week. Technician showed up on time, on the early end of the appt window. Very professional and very warm. Because I was new to this, I had many questions with regards to draw, cleaning, maintenance and operation of both types of fireplaces. He answered all of my questions and offerred up a potential solution to several problems that I have. Let me tell you, the questions were numerous and extensive. Cleaned my fireplace to more than my satisfaction, left not a trace of soot behind. Protected my home from the cleaning and did it efficiently. And since I was new to this, I had described my situation incorrectly, and it turns out that the overall price was far lower than what I was originally quoted and he happily corrected that for me. Overall, I was incredibly pleased with the service that I was given, I trust what was done and the advice that I was given. Fair, professional, clean and kind. You couldn't ask for more. "Joe" was wonderful and as a result, I will not hesitate to use them again in the future, or to recommend them to others. Thank you Angie's List people for this recommendation.

Easy to make appointment. Accommodated to my time schedule. Arrived on time. Polite, explained the process. Cleaned the chimney and cleaned up afterward. Checked chimney inside and out. Very satisfied.

I would highly recommend this company.

Fantastic. We scheduled the day before and they were able to get us in the next day. Joe was neat and professional working diligently all day to complete the job.

He stuck a big vacuum device up the chimney and cleaned it up, he put out really nice protective stuff for about 10 feet around the whole fireplace, he cleaned up the artificial logs of the gas fireplace, he fluffed up the imitation of the ashes real nice, and he went to the roof and checked how things looked from up there. He asked me to come and take a look at what he had done, he explained the ashes and how they worked, and said that I wouldn't need to do this again for another two years. He was nice and professional, and he carried equipment in and out without making a big fuss about anything. He didn't make a mess at all, and any mess that was there, fell on to the plastic covering that he had spread out. There was no dust at all, and the fireplace looked really good. His price was terrific.

(Most of this is covered above.) He arrived on time, was neat personally and with his work habits. Job was well done and he cleaned the artificial logs and fluffed up the fake ashes. He was friendly and explained several things to me about the pilot light.

I found them in Angie's List. They came twice. The first time they came, they inspected the chimney and they didn't have to clean it as it wasn't dirty. The second time they came they had to replace the chimney cap because it had rusted through. It went very well. They came out as soon as they could, after I spoke to them. They came on time. They were very neat and clean. The second time though they didn't call to tell they were coming so I wasn't expecting them. They were here and gone within half an hour which was really quick. They didn't have to come inside.

They did a great job. They were efficient and cleaned up after themselves.

Very professional, got me in right away. I know I was remiss, because we should have done this last year or even before, but they did a great job. The job was $190.00 with 20 off because of INTERNET special, I do think this is rather steep pricing.

Good service. They were in and out quickly. Quality was good.

Routine cleaning prior to fire place season. Joe was courteous and professional. He was thorough and careful not to soil the carpet with dust and equipment. I would definitely recommend English Sweep.

They were really easy to get a hold of, polite, nice and helpful. They were very accommodating with their time and in and out. They got everything done the way they said they would. It was a good experience and we would definitely use them again.

English Sweep called to schedule the appointment and instructed us to cover furniture prior to the visit. Russ finished his previous job early and called my wife to see if he could come over earlier. He explained what he was doing, suggested a cleaning frequency based on the chimney type in our home and the amount of wood burned. He also suggested the best time for cleaning for best value.

They did a very nice job. They were thorough with their inspection and the cleaning as well. They put tarps down to cover things so not to make any messes. They cleaned everything up nicely. Their prices were very reasonable. I asked them if they would paint the fire box which they did. The paint has since chipped off. I did not call them to let them know. I will definitely use their services for the cleaning but not any painting.

They were good about telling me what they were going to do and when they were going to do it. They got the job done and left the area clean. Their work was excellent. I was happy with everything.

I have used them in the past and they have always done a great job. I think they come out every other year for a cleaning. They are quick at cleaning and never leave a mess. It always makes my home smell better and makes my chimney work more efficiently.