Mary Poppins Chimney Sweep

The brickwork appeared to be done satisfactorily----no complaint. The problem came when they installed the top they built for the chimney. They must have not measured right, because the top was too small. They installed it, but it was too small for the edge to go over the chimney top, so one end sets on the top edge at one end, while the other end rests over the brick. It appears to function OK, but it was supposed to overlap the chimney brick slightly. I called the owner and she said they would make it right, but they never showed up. The custom top cost me approximately $700, so I felt it should be done right.

They came out to repair stone and install the custom- built cover. All went well, I thought, and I wrote a check for the balance of cost they had quoted earlier. I then noticed that one end of the cover fit over the top of the chimney, but the other end looked to resting on the top edge, indicating that the measurments were off just enough that the cover didn't quite clear the rim of the stone. I called the woman who owns the business and told her my concerns. She seemed to be responsive and said that the installers would get back to me to discuss what could be done. I didn't hear from them, so again called to be told the same thing again, but still got no response from the men. I dropped it, not pursuing it further, so the problem was never remedied. It is still there on top of my chimney, but does not look like it is evenly installed. I realized they made this custom sized, but believe they should have measured more accurately to get a better fit. In other words, I think it probably functions okay, but looks a little tilted where one end rests on top of the stone, while the other end rests over the stone as it should.

When there was an issue with the work, I called them and they said they were going to come out after several calls without response, but they never did come out. I'm still looking to have it fixed.

They performed the service, cleaned up, and then departed. I had used them before but this was a different crew. The first time I started a fire, smoke started to creep into the living room from underneath of the insert. I put out the fire and decided to have another sweep (DIFFERENT COMPANY) look at it. I explained the smokey behavior to the other sweep and he immediately removed the top plate in the insert. At least half a bucket of soot fell into the insert. Mary Poppins had NOT removed the plate and as a result the soot from the liner sweep had fallen down and collected on top of the insert. That blocked the normal smoke escape while burning a fire. I aked the second sweep to go ahead and resweep the chimney. At least another bucket of soot was removed - primarily from the area where the chimney meets the top of the insert. You could see the brush thru the front of the insert so you knew the whole chimney was being cleaned this time. I used the fireplace last night and it performed flawlessly. The other company charged me $20 less than Mary Poppins to redo their job.