Apple Chimney

we originally planned to have the chimney cleaned and the back wall rebuilt. I asked that he concentrate on this since the chase caps would be secondary. We scheduled a time to come out. To his credit he came out as our schedule allowed and even worked on weekends. He stated the repair would take about 2-3 hours. On his first visit he came with a chimey cap. Neither his bringing the cap nor the style of the cap was agreed upon before his arrival but he brought a finished one out anyway. He cleaned the chimney and did a nice job not making a mess of the house. He tore out the back wall and laid about 3/4 of the way up the back wall and said this needed drying and then left. He returned the next day and said that he had to rebuild the back wall again due to sagging as the support his son (who was helping him) built was not sufficient. He rebuilt the wall and unfortunately made no more progress then spent another hour fiddling with trying the chase cap on the chimney and then he stated it was going to be a lot more expensive then originally planned because the crown was built up such that he needed to do more work than anticipated. He also stated that he needed to be paid and I requested that we settle the bill once the job was complete. He returned the following day to complete the job but laid two more bricks and left again stating that he left his brick cutter at the shop and that he would need to return again the following day. The bricks he laid fell off the wall that evening. I then made arrangements to meet him at the house the following day. We spoke over the phone while he was on his way he began telling me that it was more complicated and was going to be more expensive to rebuild the wall and that he had some ideas on how to do that. I asked him if he was able to actually fix the chimney at which point he replied that I could have a nice day and and that there would be no charge and hung up the phone. He would not answer any other calls from me. If you need a chimney cleaned he does a nice job. I would not let him do any repair work for you.

We recently moved into a new house with two fireplaces. We noticed that the mortar along the top of the chimney hips was starting to crumble/break apart and the fire places were filled with soot/creosote, which would requird a cleaning. We called Apple Chimney (Able Apply Chimney) to take a look at our fireplaces and provide a quote for the cleaning and repair. We were told by the owner (Jim Spangos) that both of our chimney caps were defective and needed to be replaced with new ones (at a cost of ~$600 apiece) along with a repair of the hips/crown (~$1400) and the cleaning would run around $160. Although knowledgeable, Jim spent very little time (seconds) actually looking at the chimney?s before coming up with his assessment, he was also very pushy, in a hurry, and won't address any of my questions. We were not that keen on having the repair work completed but we wanted the chimney cleaned, so we scheduled for both of our chimneys to be cleaned that weekend. The technician that came out (DeWayne) was very friendly and also addressed many of my questions that Jim was uninterested in answering. After he finished cleaning both of our chimneys, we asked him to go ahead and repair the hips and crowns for the price that the Jim had quoted. We did not get the chimney caps, just the repairs to the crowns/hips. We signed the agreement (which had a ?lifetime? warranty on workmanship) and doled out the money (~$1600) for the repairs/cleaning. Soon after the work was accomplished (maybe a week) there was a hard rain and we noticed that the crown sealer (which was used to repair the hips/crown) was starting to wash off the hips and run down the side of the chimney, we also noticed that our firebox was leaking and letting in water. We called DeWayne and he said he would be out to fix the problem the next weekend. The next weekend came and went, and no DeWayne. We gave a call to the Apple Chimney and left a note with the receptionist, but no call back. The following week we messaged DeWayne again and he said that Jim had fired ?everyone? and I would have take it up with the owner for the repairs. I was able to get a hold of Jim?s son (Michael) who has been helping his dad run the business. We sent him pictures (via email) of the crown sealer streaking down our chimney and the water in the firebox. He said that they would come out to fix the hips and firebox, but the weather would need to improve first. We have made multiple calls the past few months to Mike, Jim, and the office to no avail. Attempted to call back again recently, and the phone line has been disconnected. All we want is our chimneys properly repaired and the streaks washed clean from our chimney. It is a down right shame.

We lost our $600 since it didn't seem worth the fight. I hate the thought that he is doing this to multiple people...he needs to be stopped.

it was very difficult to set an appointment with this provider. When we did agree on a date, he actually got it wrong and contacted me by phone to say he couldn't come on that day. I reminded him of the actual date we had agreed on and he said he would come that day or the next. On the day of the appointment I had not heard from him and phoned him to see if I had time to run a very short errand. He did not answer his phone so I left him a message that I would be out a very short time and left him my home as well as my cell phone numbers. That was a week ago and I still have not heard from him. Obviously I am looking for a new provider.

Called Apple Chimney for a chimney cleaning. I was given a three hour block of time, 3-6, when they would arrive. They no showed. No phone call to say they were running late or would not make my scheduled appointment. Nothing. When I called the next day they were very apologetic, but gave lots of excuses (broken truck, short handed, etc). He said he would be out the following Monday at 9. Again, no show, no phone call. I called at 12 and spoke with Stoney. He claimed that he said he was going to call me Monday morning to make an appointment. Even if that was true, which it was not, he did not call me. He said he would be out between 2 and 3. Again - no show, no phone call. Three no shows and you're out!

They were really good. They were efficient, quick, and they kept everything clean. They covered up the fireplace and they swept everything out because I have allergies. They were punctual and answered my questions. When I called them and said I have to switch appointment, they were okay with it. Their price was really reasonable as well.

I was very pleased with them. I was pleased with the price. They cleaned up well.

The web page mentioned that they would remove and reinstall the dryer to do this. But when I called they said they do not do that, unless it's necessary. Long story short, they ended up moving the dryer and reconnected it better then I could have. Everything works great and they did a great job.

No response from the company.

Overall the experience was stress-free and without complications, etc. Done as soon as the estimate was completed. I felt the charges were a little excessive but they were probably in line with what others would charge for this repair.

It went well. He explained everything to me. Let me know prices of the repairs that were needed. He arrived on time and did a great job. The repairs are not a major deal just have to fix them before winter to use the fireplace. Which we will and will use him to do the repairs. Plus you get a credit toward the repairs from the inspection. My inspection was $78 and was quoted $450 to fix my chimney, but I would only pay $372 given the $78 credit. Very nice guy and very respectable.

They did a good job, but there were a couple of communication points that I wish could have been clarified beforehand. When we called to set up an appointment, we were told that the basic cleaning cost was $175. We made an appointment for two weeks later at 8-10am. Communication issue #1 is that Apple's appointment time is like the cable guy-8-10am doesn't mean they will show up at 8am and work until 10. It means they'll show up at some point within that two hour block. This wouldn't be a big deal, except that the chimney to be cleaned was attached to a house that has no heater, and we had to wait for a while on a cold morning. Communication issue #2 is that $175 is for your basic hole in the wall fireplace, and we had an insert, which costs extra to clean-and which we didn't know until they got there. I don't feel they intentionally misled us, but I do wish some extra effort had been made on their part to make sure we were all talking about the same thing beforehand. As for the work itself, the cleaning was fast, and the gentleman was professional and courteous.

Chimney was inspected. Bird nests were removed. Replaced chimney top screening.

30 minutes late. I had to call twice to find out where he was. He was angry when he arrived, told me there was nothing he could do for my fireplace and wouldn't inspect the chimney. He did suggest, he could charge me a lot of money to pull the historic brick fireplace out of my 1916 home and put a freestanding stove on the room. Unprofessional and angry. Then when I told him no thanks and that I couldn't recommend him, he slowly left my house and his foot was in my door. I called my husband as he left.

Apple Chimney did an okay job. They could have improved on their time for arriving, and done a better job on the description of the work.