BOO-BEARS CHIMNEY CLEANING

These guys were prompt and honest. The cost was reasonable.

GREATJOB NO ISSUE.

They seemed very competent.

Perfect. Would highly recommend. Very honest. Not overpriced for services performed. Protected floor with mats. Very happy with Boo Bears.

Appt went well no complaints would use again

I was caught off guard. We bought the house 4 years ago and the home inspector did not mention the chimney. I am going to check my inspection report to see if he checked it. Boo Bear seems very knowledgable and conscientious. Judging by his other reviews , he seems to do very good work. I will be giving him a call to do the chimney refurb. He only charged me $30 for the trip and inspection, even though he couldn't do the sweep.

unknown

In October 2007, Boo-Bears cleaned and relined our chimney, replaced the firebox with a Bellfire firebox and replaced the damper and some insulation. The job was expertly done and the fireplace has been used and enjoyed, although not extensively, since then. On January 29, I attempted to open the damper, which felt like it was frozen, and the cable used to open it broke. I contacted Boo_Bear on January 30. Mr.Brandy responded immediately, ordered the new cable, which took a week to obtain, and installed it on February 6. He said that the manufacturer had used cables made in China during the period that our firebox and damper were installed, and had apparently received a defective batch that have been breaking after about 6 year's use. He has been called to replace them regularly in the past few months, three in January alone. He said they are now using, and he is installing, cables made in the U.S.A. I am very pleased with his responsiveness, his work and the coverage by the warranty.

I called Bruce, of Boo Bear, at 9:10 am Friday. He called back at 10:45 am that day. I explained my problem and he said he would be out the next day. He arrived approx. 40 minutes later than he said he would. He stated traffic was a problem. I had no reason to not believe him. He scanned my furnace quickly to eliminate any possible problem that would cause my chimney to not have a good draw. He next went to the roof and looked down the chimney to see if the problem was there. He discovered a bird had built a nest in the chimney. He told me that due to liability issues he could not remove the nest. One problem was the age of the chimney and its construction. He stated recent fire or building code regulations prevented him from doing any kind of corrective work that would solve my problem. He gave me a few options that I could pursue to solve the problem, but he could not help me that day. He charged me less than the going, listed visit price. He spent less than an hour at my house and he was on his way. I felt comfortable knowing I did not have a problem with my chimney. Even though he could not fix the problem he found, his revelation as to the most probable cause of my problem was a relief to me. I just had to figure out how I was going to solve it since it is winter time. After giving me a written explanation of what he did and found and possible corrective action I could take, he left.

They did a careful and reasonable job on the cleaning. After they were done a wire chimney cover was left on the ground that looked as though it should go on top of it. I tried calling them about that as well as more paperwork, but I never received a call back.

I didn’t have them do the work because of the cost, which wasn’t their fault. I liked what they did and said to me. The technician came out here with his son. They told me that I shouldn’t use my chimney and that it would be dangerous. It’s an 82-year-old house. They said for $9000 they could fix it, for $5000 they could fix it for gas only rather than wood. They also said they could fix it for $2000 where it would take airless gas. I believe them. I was charged $45 for the visit and they seemed to be honest.

I called Boo Bears to get an estimate on a chimney repair job. The job entailed replacing the top three rows of bricks, adding a new crown, and adding a new chimney cap. Bruce at Boo Bears initially was very responsive and provided a competitive estimate. I called to move forward with the job several days later but was unable to reach anyone at the company. After about three weeks, I received a call from Bruce indicating that he had been injured on the job and was out of commission for about a month. Bruce indicated that he was still interested in the job if I could wait until he was back up and running. I called back about a month later to find out that unfortunately Bruce had another setback and would be out another month. Again, he indicated continued interest and asked if I could wait. I told him that as long as the job was done before the weather started to turn in the fall, I was in no hurry. In mid-September, I began calling again looking for a status update. I've been calling for two weeks and have received no response of any kind. I'm now left to scramble to re-bid the job during what may be a busy season for chimney places as folks prep their chimneys and fireplaces for the coming winter months.

His responsiveness is horrible. I ended up taking off of work, assuming that he would show. He never did. I also missed church waiting for his arrival. Still, he never showed. I have to find someone else to do this job.

Except for a delay with some materials coming, everything was on schedule. I was shown all of the work, and everything was cleaned up at the end. So far so good as far as the repair.

We had four estimates, ranging from Boo-Bears at $1080 to as high as $5000. It was clear that the other estimates were unreasonable and they tended to be accompanied by some mumbo-jumbo. Bruce was straightforward and reasonable and was able to set an appointment within 10 days and got everything done on time. He even cut the cost a bit to $1000, since he ran into no problems. Very good experience.

They said that they may not be able to install the liner without invasive work on the base of my chimney to make it fit. That did not seem right to me. The company I hired had no problem at all installing the liner.

Much to my surprise, after they examined the crown, they talked me out of replacing it, indicating that it wasn't in that bad of condition. We discussed the options of replacement or repairing with a special compound that is applied over the existing concrete, but they suggested waterproofing it and sealing where the concrete met the bricks below as all that was needed. Additionally they cleaned and examined the interior of my chimney.

He cleaned the built up soot, which is what I wanted, and then inspected with his video camera. He found minor imperfections in the chimney that he completely blew out of proportion. He tried to frighten me into very expensive repairs ($4000-$5000). I just wanted my chimney cleaned. After I questioned him about the danger of the supposed "separations" he admitted it was a one in a million chance that they would cause a problem. My chimney is less than 10 years old and the area he said was abnormal was barely different that the rest of the chimney.

We were very pleased with the work performed. The chimney sweep job was excellent. Boo-bears also performed a very thorough inspection, inserting a camera up through the chimney.

I HEARD ABOUT BOO-BEARS FROM A FRIEND WHO WAS SATISFIED WITH SIMILAR WORK (CAP AND LINER) THAT THEY DID ON HER HOUSE. WHEN I LEFT A MESSAGE TO SCHEDULE AN ESTIMATE, BRUCE THE OWNER RETURNED MY CALL THAT SAME NIGHT AND SCHEDULED AN ESTIMATE WITHIN 36 HOURS. HIS WORKERS ARRIVED VERY PROMPTLY FOR THE ESTIMATE AND VERY EFFICIENTLY SURVEYED THE SITUATION. THE WORKERS WERE VERY ARTICULATE AND SPECIFIC IN DISCUSSING THE WORK THAT NEEDED TO BE DONE AND HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE. THE ESTIMATE WAS VERY REASONABLE. WE SCHEDULED THE SERVICE FOR AGAIN, WITHIN 36 HOURS, AND EVEN ON A SATURDAY! BRUCE AND HIS CREW ARRIVED AND GOT RIGHT DOWN TO BUSINESS. THEY WORKED VERY HARD AND WERE IN AND OUT IN NO TIME AND I HAVE A 15-YEAR WARRANTY. BRUCE AND HIS CREW ARE VERY PERSONABLE.