Mr. Lawler was the lowest bid that I had for the work, but since he was recommended by my uncle's roofer, I decided to go with him. There were some issues with him showing up when he said he was going to at first, but he had many family issues to deal with, so I understood. The chimney got built as promised--but it was noticeably crooked. I didn't make a big deal out of it as long as it didn't leak. However, a few months later, the interior painting job that I had done around the chimney seemed to be showing signs of water damage again, so I called him up. It took me nearly a month to get him to call me back. I called the roofer to try to get in touch with him and they said "he is no longer working for us". When he finally called me back he told me he had another death in the family that he was dealing with. He came over and said he couldn't find anything wrong with it, but he put some more caulk on it. Fast forward a year to Oct 2013: My inside wall around the chimney is really looking terrible; cracks, buckling. So I went up on the roof and inspected the chimney--there was moss growing under the flashing and when I poked at it, loose mortar came out. I knew this was not right, so I called the pro I should have gone with in the first place (for only $700 more). He just gave me his report: the entire job has to be done over because it was done incorrectly. The flashing is not installed correctly and he is not sure how the new chimney is constructed under the shingles so in order to guarantee his work, it all has to be done again. So my $3000 chimney that is just over a year old will have to be replaced by a $4000 chimney. This news really made my day. I should have questioned Mr. Lawler's credentials when he said he had attended chimney school for 2 or 3 days. So my recommendation is that although Mr. Lawler may be a chimney sweep, he is definitely NOT a chimney repairman. I am $3000 poorer because of his work and I am sorry that I didn't join Angie's List sooner!
Description of Work: He tore down my chimney (which had mortar issues and was leaking) and built an entirely new chimney.
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
1.0
value
4.0
professionalism
3.0
responsiveness
1.0
punctuality
3.0
$3,000
Luz B.
12/2010
2.0
chimney repair
+ -1 more
The unit works but not as well as my friends, which is what we should have gotten. We don't know what we can do.
Description of Work: Hired him to clean my fireplace chimney. He had done a friends, got name from friend. He responded & came in timely manner. Cleaned chimney but showed pieces of claylike pieces that had come down with cleaning, showed me areas in bottom of fireplace where areas where separating making it dangerous to use fireplace. He suggested getting a wood burning fireplace insert. Quoted 4500.00, showed me pictures of a beautiful unit. Gave him a 2000.00 deposit. This was in september 08. Didn"t hear from him for several weeks. We called several times, said the units were backordered.Finally in December he called & installed a unit. Left no paperwork or written instructions. Several weeks later we realized why. He installed a lesser quality unit from different company. Never told us what he was doing, did not give us a choice or reduce the price. To make things worse he installed the unit with the registration # in back of unit, so we couldn't register the unit. He did the same to our friends. He protested so much, that Frank finally came back & installed the unit that was paid for.We tried to get him to do the same for us but he's not responded. Beware of this guy, I plan to contact the better business bureau in the future.
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Service Categories
Chimney Repair,
Chimney Sweep
FAQ
FA Lawler Chimney Service is currently rated 1.5 overall out of 5.
No, FA Lawler Chimney Service does not offer free project estimates.
No, FA Lawler Chimney Service does not offer eco-friendly accreditations.
No, FA Lawler Chimney Service does not offer a senior discount.
No, FA Lawler Chimney Service does not offer emergency services.
No, FA Lawler Chimney Service does not offer warranties.