Let There Be Light Chimney Sweep

We now know why John gets all A's. The man loves what he does and is very good at it. We have two fireplaces and after inspecting the first he said you that we don't need to have this cleaned. The second fireplace is 2 sided. John took the time to explain how best to use this fireplace, how to build ash around the fireplace to help push the air flow back to the logs. He explained that by doing this you can extend the during of the fire 3x more then if you don't. He explained the in's and out's on each fireplace and also how many fires you can have before you need to have it serviced. Provided info on Duraflame logs and lastly made a small fix (nut and bolt) on the chimney flue handle at no charge. Very pleasant and very knowledgeable. We just moved into this area and I can tell you he will be our chimney sweep moving forward.

John did a great job on the chimney sweep, then went above and beyond when I told him that my oil company wanted to charge me an exorbitant amount to replace my draft regulator. He fixed it and when the oil company came for maintenance the efficiency had gone up from 75% to 80%.

If there was an A+ rating, John would get that. I have very tough standards, and John exceeded them with his service and responsiveness. He is very thorough and diligent in his work and explained what he was looking for and why. We just purchased this home a few months ago and have never had a fireplace before. John was incredibly generous with his time and knowledge. He happily and thoroughly answered my questions, providing many tips on how to optimize our experience with the fireplaces. John's phone number is already in my contact list for next time. I won't hesitate to recommend his services to others.

John was courteous and explained what he was going to do. He finished the job in a professional and timely manner.

I called Let There Be Light to request a level 2 inspection, as recommended by our initial home inspection. John quickly returned my call and we spent the next 30 minutes reviewing the findings in our home inspection report. John explained the various types of fireplaces (we had no idea ours was pre-fab, meaning pre-built at a factory and assembled on-site), the types of issues we were seeing on the inspection report, and several possible resolutions. At the conclusion of our call, John indicated that he actually thought there was someone who had more experience with our very specific problem and referred us to another professional! After the call, I was disappointed that I wouldn't have a chance to work with John, because he was extremely knowledgeable, personable, and honest. Thanks John!

John was wonderful. He is very knowledgeable & came fully prepared. He explained what he was doing & what needed attention. His pricing is fair & he made no attempts to overcharge me. I definitely would use John again in the future.

I couldn't have asked for a better experience. John was prompt, knowledgeable, honest, and thorough. I would recommend him to anyone.

The service was friendly, on-time and very professional. John took time to explain what he was doing and offered some advice on cleaning the exterior brick on my fireplace and what to look for when I hire someone to repair brickwork on the exterior part of my chimney.

What can I say, John is an exceptional person and he has to be one of the most knowledgable people in the business. We called John a few months ago as our heater was not working and our heating contractor thought that we potentially had a blocked chimney, leading to an airflow problem. I called John on a cold December Friday night in a panic since we were without heat and we have two young children. John called me right back, diagnosed our air flow problem over the phone and gave me an easy fix that worked. Seconds later, our heater kicked back on. John wanted nothing in return for diagnosing and fixing our problem. That's the kind of guy he is. This month, we finally got around to scheduling John to inspect and sweep our traditional wood-burning fireplace and inspect our natural gas insert. In the 40 or so minutes that I got to spend with him, I felt like I received an education. John took me step-by step through the inspection process. He confirmed that the fireplaces were in good working order and confirmed that our fireplace would be able to have a natural gas insert installed (I previously had our TV installed above the fireplace and wasn't sure if we could get a natural gas insert). John even made all of the measurements and recommended his favorite gas fireplace store to go to. I am very glad that we called John. He is truly a great person and I would bet he could fix any chimney issue. It really is good to know that there are people like him out there who enjoy what they do and do it so well.

John placed a damper on our chimney top about 3 years ago to address an extreme air flow reversal problem. The damper failed and we asked him to service it. He discover that the problem related to faulty manufacturing issue that couldn't be repaired by him, but was covered under warranty. Although the warranty is between the owner and the manufacturer, at no cost to us, John immediately removed the old damper and replaced the defective damper with one made by a different manufacturer. We feel very fortunate to know John. He is an expert in his field and has an enormous sense of pride in his work. We believe he gave us service way beyond our expectations. We will definitely continue to use John to service our chimneys in the future.

I was beyond skeptical by the time I reached out to John. I knew my chimney's crown was badly cracked, which started a whirlwind of estimates from various chimney and masonry companies. I had estimates ranging from $300 to $3000, and I didn't know who to believe. Recommendations ranged from just a simple patch job to replacing the liner, taking down the entire chimney and building it back up. John spent a generous amount of time on the phone listening to my history. He knows everyone in his industry, and agreed that I had dodged a couple of bullets along the way. His suggestion was to clean the chimney, inspect the liner, and go from there. My furnace is old, but works well for its age. My home's former owner had rigged up an energy-saving contraption on the furnace that was no longer operational but had the potential to block the exhaust pathway. John immediately modified that to remove a dangerous manual flap. Because of cracks in the lower part of my chimney, John's recommendation was for a full new metal liner to fit inside the original clay liner. My chimney never had a cap, so the new liner included a cap, too. I remained skeptical as the workday progressed, praying that this chimney person was not also taking me for a ride, but all went well. My oil/furnace guy needed to come out to make a minor repair to the furnace itself, so they were both there for a time. My furnace guy confirmed that he thought John did a nice job and everything was recalibrated by the time they both left. As mentioned above, John does not currently do masonry work, so he suggested a mason he frequently collaborates with. John also knows a lot of other service people, and was able to provide starting contacts for some other work on my To-Do list. John also gave me a follow-up call to see how everything was going a few days later. He's a talker, generous with his time. John's final assessment is that my heating system will now keep at least twice the amount of heat inside the house instead of sending it up the chimney, which should do wonders for my oil bill. Fingers crossed.

John arrived on time for the appointment. We immediately struck up a rapport as John was professional, courteous, and possessed an old school charm and sense of humor. He went to great lengths to ensure that he protected my property during his service work. Given that this was my first fireplace, John also took the time to go through the basics of use and maintenance with me and answered all of my questions. He also made a number of recommendations on other small improvements and repairs that I could make on my own, as well as where to get supplies and parts. Additionally, I found the price for the service provided to be very reasonable. Overall, this was the best experience that I have had with a service contractor, and I would highly recommend Let There Be Light to others looking for a chimney sweep.

John arrived promptly. All work was done in a clean and professional manner. John is a pleasure to work with. We would highly recommend John to our family and friens

WOW! John was prompt, professional, extremely thorough and helpful. He squeezed me into his schedule the following day. He discovered some significant problems to our chimney liner (a hole!), furnace drafting, and chimney waterproofing, all which our home inspector had missed! Bad news in that there were problems, good news was we found them before anyone got hurt. John spent hours checking everything out, and still only charged me the standard sweep fee. WOW. That's service! Very friendly, very knowledgeable. Would definitely recommend John and Let There Be Light.

JOHN CAME OUT TO INSPECT THE FIREPLACES IN A HOUSE WE ARE LOOKING TO PURCHASE. JOHN IS A GREAT GUY WHO KNOWS HIS STUFF. HE WAS VERY THOROUGH AND WALKED MY HUSBAND AND I THROUGH EVERYTHING AS HE INSPECTED. HE GAVE GREAT ADVICE AND WAS VERY PROFESSIONAL. EVEN MY REALTOR LOVED HIM AND SAID HE LEARNED A LOT THAT DAY FROM JOHN. I FOUND JOHN ON ANGIE'S LIST SO MY REALTOR IS NOW GOING TO RECOMMEND HIM TO OTHER CLIENTS.

went well. prompt, professional and friendly. discovered some unknown-to-me problems in the fireplace and repaired them.

John was very thorough and was more than willing to share his knowledge with us. The price for thorough inspections was quite reasonable. We would hire John again for any fireplace-related work.

Mr. Wisnewski is exceptionally knowledgable, professional, and brings a charm that makes his visits memorable. I have used his services for over ten years, and will continue to do so until one of us goes out of business! He has my full faith and trust, not only that he will make sure my chimney system is safe and functional, but also that he is honest and trustworthy.

Usually, this is an industry that you dread dealing with but that is not the case here! John clearly knows is stuff and is worthy of the trust and faith you have to put in someone to tend to your chimney. Our questions and concerns were addressed without being sold products and services we didn't need. We are thrilled with the results! We used to get smoke coming in the other fireplaces whenever we used one, and John identified the problem quickly and installed dampers to fix it. Not only is that problem fixed, but our drafty old house isn't so drafty anymore! We can use our fireplaces with much more efficiency now.

john did a great job with cleaning out my chimmney

We bought this big ole house a little over a year ago and one of the first things I had to do was get the chimney repaired and lined. John came out and did all that admirably and there's a report here about it all. But now it's close to our second winter and I find myself in the position where I need to bring professional people back in to do things like annual check-ups on house systems. In the case of the fireplace it was an annual cleaning and inspection to make sure we'll be safe to use it again this year. So, when I say that I am delighted to have found John and Let there Be Light, it's not just because of the fine job he does, whether it be the big jobs, like the liner or the small, like the check-up. It's also because of the huge piece of mind that he gives me. I now know I can count on him year after year to continue to do that job admirably. David Lansdowne, PA

John has become my regular annual chimney sweep for my hardworking woodburning stove. This stove will have a continual fire going in it for three months, and I want to know that it's safe and properly set up for its work. He's a true professional, knowledgable and thorough in his work from start to finish. He answers all questions and will offer intelligent suggestions about safety and proper use and maintenance. He leaves the job site spotlessly clean.

John reviewed the maintenance history of the furnace to determine the draft rating, examined the condition of the stack, examined the condition of the chimney (inside and outside in the house), cleaned the chimney, replaced the stack, examined the condition of the chimney above the roof, and installed a chimney cap. As part of the inspection, he took digital photos of the chimney before and after the cleaning and above the roof. He explained what the draft rating meant and how it impacted the function of the furnace. His professionalism and knowledge of chimneys are superb.

John responded to my phone call looking for a chimney sweep and an evaluaiton of the state of my fireplace (I just recently purchased my home, and the previous owner had not used the fireplace at all... so I was wary of its condition. We had a good conversation about my needs, and he listened to my situation in great detail. Then, after some discussion of my needs, he told me of a way to heat my home in the winter that I had not considered -- but based on how I live, it was a perfect fit with my lifestyle. When John came out, he was early (but called first to make sure this was okay), thorough, professional, courteous, friendly, kind-natured, upbeat, and thoughtful. He gave me a detailed report on the state of my chimney, showed me how to assess it myself, explained why I didn't need to buy a chimney cap from him or anyone else (he could have easily sold one to me -- but John is honest if he is anything, and he knew I didn't need a cap because of the placement, shape and size of my chimney.John proceeded to confirm his advice about the ways I could use the fireplace to efficiently provide heat to my home without losing more than I was creating through a backdraft. This information will, I am sure, save me a lot of money as I go through this winter and others, and it also will help me feel more comfortable in my home environment. I came away from John's visit feeling like I had learned a lot about chimneys, fireplaces, and my options based on my home's structural aspects and my own needs combined.I think that John is an asset to his profession, and that this service call from "Let There Be Light" will prove to be one of the best investments I've made in my home for a small and fair price. He approaches fireplaces as an art form, but brings all the expertise of the highly experienced and knowledgeable fireplace professional that he is. John is also, by the way, a darned good chimney sweep!

John arrived on time which is unusual these days. He cleaned one of my chimneys and inspected the other two at no additional charge. John is extremely knowledgeable, courteous and friendly. He provided good tips, too. I would highly recommend him.