Top Hat & Tails Corp Professional Chimney Services

Don’t ever use this chimney service. Robert Harris was not honest. We asked him to do a full camera inspection for our chimney in Jan. We paid him cash. We trusted him bc it was recommended by our contractor. Robert never gave us the receipt. He said he will send us the full report. Almost 2 mths no reports. We confronted him, he said his camera first time didn’t work. He came back, took more pics. Finally we got the report, he said everything in our chimney is bad and unsafe. Our chimney was never cleaned which is not true. It would cost us over $20,000 to fix it. Mind you, we have had another chimney co. cleaning our chimney every yr and everything was fine. We thought our normal co didn’t have camera inspection. That’s why we used Robert. Robert is also a weird person. Before he left our house, he asked if he could have one of our oranges. The bottom line is you better be careful if you do decide to use Robert’s service. Terrible service and terrible person!

Robert E. Harris - President of Top Hat & Tails Chimney Service is honest! I know that because he didn't give me a laundry list of things that I didn't need. As a matter of fact, Robert, Bob, didn't try to sell me anything. That was a first. Instead, Bob was straight-forward and gave me some really important tips. Again, no one else had ever done that. It's a relief to know there there is someone out there that you can trust.

Excellent. Bob and his assistant were prompt, courteous and obviously know what they are doing. Bob spoke candidly and agreed that I was in pretty good shape and the work that needed to be done could wait until the spring. He was reassuring and reasonable. Inspected both chimneys and took out the scam liner that had been placed 11 years ago. He made recommendations as to testing to be done and we both hope the draft tests well show no problems. There was no charge for what he did today...we will address charges to be expected after we know the draft test results. To be taken care of in the spring, 2022.

They were on-time and completed the work well and at the agreed upon pricing.

I cannot recommend Robert more highly! We hired him to clean our chimney, but after he carefully inspected it, he said we didn't really need it. He showed us a (free!) way to get rid of the smoke smell after a fire. What a great guy!

They were fantastic! Arrived on time, were professional and courteous and cleaned up after themselves. I would hire them again.

I would hire them again. They explain the situation and gave me options. I think they were very fair.

A+ service! Quick and efficient, just do the job right, cleaned up all the dirt in the Chimney and the furnace can run without any issue.

The man/ owner was punctual and pleasant. He alarmed with his opinion of the condition of the fireplace, chimney and furnace. I was frankly overwhelmed. It has been over two weeks and I have not received the written report. I had another certified inspector repeat the inspection and was told everything except the liner from the furnace was safe. It was a very different report. I was alarmed by the findings of the first inspection needlessly !!!

These folks have been cleaning our chimneys for over 20 years, and we've never had a single problem. We look forward to seeing them each autumn!

Very punctual, timely and extremely personable. Did a thorough job of the inspection. But his estimates of the cost to repair were way higher than we got elsewhere. In retrospect, for inspections, one should hire a firm that ONLY does inspections. Too much probability for conflict of interest, if the firm does both inspections and repairs.

Bob was very helpful trying to figure out the problem with our flue and cap. He used a camera to take pictures of every thing so that he could show us the exact problems we had. I felt very comfortable that the repairs were really needed and in fact after that, our problems disappeared. Best of all he had the parts he needed in his truck to fix it right then and there. He arrived on time and got straight to work with his assistant. Very happy with the service provided.

No nonsense, got it done, did a great job and we'll call again next year. Don't remember the exact date but sometime in the summer. The cost is approximate but not more than $100.00. I may have used a coupon so it was likely less.

Overall service was good. Bob the owner was very approachable and answered all questions and leaned a lot about my chimney

This service started of good. Showed up on time and did a thorough inspection of chimney and heating system. Took pictures via camera in the chimney the detailed problems inside.? Where this service failed is that its been 7 weeks and I have not received a report that I can use to start repairs. I have emailed and called frequently and there has been no response. ?To make matters worse, he hit on my wife and asked for donuts that were sitting on the counter.? I would never recommend or utilize this service again. ?It was a wasted $119.00.

Our furnace was not functioning properly and we were told to check the flue. ?The weather was turning cooler and we called Bob at Top Hat and Tails. ?The next day he found time in his busy schedule to show up at 8a.m. on a Saturday morning to check out the gas flue. He did a cleaning of the flue and educated us on some issues that might be causing the heating problem. He stayed to do a sweep of our fireplace. ?We were pleased with the work and would certainly use his services again

He had done a very thorough job with our inspection last October. He said he would get back to us with the thorough report of the inspection. It has been several months and I have not received it. We were interested in discussing the repair work with him, but there has been no follow up. I tried to contact him in November or December, but he has still not followed up with us.

Bob (I think) was very nice, explained everything and answered all questions. We had a cheaper estimate from a company we also felt good about, and so we went that route. I'd call again if we ever needed additional work.

These guys are great. They show up on time, they clean the chimney, they advise on any prospective issues, they leave no mess. I don't recall what they cost, but I did not feel it was unreasonable.

Our furnace repairman determined that the blockage needed to be removed before they could restart the heat. Other chimney service providers told us of a wait for several days which would've meant no heat in January. Top Hat & Tails was able to come at moment's notice - that was the first gold star. The 2011 repair of the chimney by another vendor had been improperly done and created blockage much greater than I could imagine - Bob, the owner worked inside and outside in freezing temperatures, removing bag after bag after bag of soot - another gold star. He worked tirelessly and effectively for over 4 hours to get the problem resolved and the chimney back in working order, ready to go in just over 5 hours from my first call - how good does it get? All the while, I was given updates on their progress, the work he was doing and why they were doing it. Finally, after a thorough clean-up, Bob once again reviewed the work and the welcome results. AND for above and beyond service, he showed me yet another furnace issue, not related to the chimney, that I should (and will) be attending to. Who bothers to think about their chimney except when there's a problem? I can guarantee that I will use his service on an annual maintenance basis - I could not be more pleased with this company and its service, and he has well earned my trust and my loyalty.

I purchased a deal with them, when I called them, they informed me that they do not service my area.

The day fo the service was fine. He swept the chimney and performed the inspection. There are a lot of problems with my chimney and I know we need to get them repaired. The inspection and sweep was to get an estimate and get a better idea of what needed to be done. He did his inspection pointed out some problems and said he would get us an estimate soon. It took more than two weeks to get a copy of the estimate and he promised he would provide photos of the problems as well. He never provided the photos and has not responded to additional requests for the photos. I had some questions about the estimate and after he responded to the first one, he has not responded since. This is a complicated and expensive project and I am trying to compare multiple opinions on what work should and shouldn't be done. He stopped replying to my questions so I guess he doesn't need the work -- which is a shame for him because he probably would have gotten the contract. He was very polite and professional, but I need someone who is responsive to do a project this large.

After taking a copy of the previous estimate and pictures, waited for a reply. It took over 2 months, and I had to call them regularly to ask. He mentioned along the way, possibility of relining the fireplace flue. The initial work was less than $4500 including the oil flue. While I was never able to get a detailed estimate, the new estimate for increasing the chimney height, the relining of the fireplace flue, was $14800 to 15100. It was never clarified despite several requests to provide details by project. Further, it was not clear in any description attached if this was all in addition to the oil flue reline costs and the waterproofing. My best takeaway seemed that these new costs were in addition to the costs of 3200 for oil flue, and 1875 for waterproofing - waterproofing increased from 625 when first estimated for doing to roof line, to 1875 to do all the way down to ground( as I could best make out). This would then mean that the total work they were proposing was just under $20k. When I attempted to ask him to break down the costs, and help explain why so expensive and what was actually necessary - he basically said he has changed how he does business. So it was all or nothing, without really taking time to explain. We basically agreed that it seemed best for us not to do business together. It was not entirely clear how someone who does not have $20k available would proceed, or ever really well understood whether any of this is truly a safety concern. I did not have any other bids to compare, so its possible its in range others may estimate. However, I think the larger concern raised is the lack of responsiveness or follow through. Its possible that since early on I stated I needed to prioritize the work based on what I could afford to spend, that the company did not want to do projects for less than this amount of money. I was prepared to do work for up to $5k, based on the earlier proposal, maybe slight increases. The larger concern became whether could rely on this company to deliver any work on an acceptable timeframe, at least at this current time.

I was supposed to get in touch with me by Friday, but he didn't until Sunday evening, through the Angie's List message center. He said it would be $199 and didn't give an explanation as to why it would cost more. That rubbed me the wrong way. Something seems off, and I'm pursuing a refund.

Quick, clean and efficient. Definitely go with them again in the future.