Chimney Doctor

Mr. Linkes said they would charge us $375 because the job would take them most of the day. He said he would try to find brick to match. (The fireplace is nearly 40 years old.) When they came back to do the work, the entire job took no more than an hour and a half---not "all day"---but the price was 370! I do understand they had to drive somewhere to find brick, but...wow! I should have asked what their hourly rate was. Also, some of the finished mortar was not neat and I had to scrape/file it into shape.

So far it's been a waste of time trying to schedule.

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I went very well. He was friendly and more than willing to be helpful.

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I called Mr. Linkes and he actually came out on Memorial day to inspect, clean and repair my chimney since my house was going on the market at the end of the week. He inspected the chimney, noticed repairs that need to be done and cleaned and repaired everything on the same day. His prices were very reasonable and the fact that he is a brick mason with 35+ years of experience was a real plus knowing that everything is done correctly.

He was very late for the appointment because he was lost. As soon as he started looking the chimney over he started telling me how it's in bad shape and could fall over at any time, was most likely causing damage to the home, etc. Typical scare tactics. Even said that the chimney blockage could quite possibly require him to break through the block foundation wall to repair. I know enough to know that the chimney wasn't that bad and didn't need to knock a hole in the foundation to repair. Said it would cost $4200 or more to repair and didn't give me a written estimate. ZERO professionalism. I called Mad Hatter, had prompt service, very quality work and cost $1150.

I chose him because of you guys. I set up an appointment, he was very very country, which was no problem whatsoever. Then I thought "Oh good he is available to do the job." He said he was a stone mason and he could do all of these different things if there was a problem with my chimney, but he did not show up. So I called, because I awaited and he called me back, very apologetic, said his wife is in the hospital and I rescheduled. Again, he did not show up. I was frustrated at this time, because I thought if they cannot even come for an inspection what will happen if there is a real problem. So, I had a very bad experience with one of those from Angie's List. I chose him specifically because Angie's List had him rated good. The second time when he did not show up and when I called him he was in Kingsport and had not really remembered that I had an appointment with him. He then said give me another chance and I was cold, because I did not really want to do that and I said you can call me tomorrow, but he never called. So, he was totally unresponsive and unreliable.

He was punctual and was firm with all information. The good thing is , he gave a lifetime warranty on his work. Beside chimney fix, he need to replace a lot of rotten 2x4 and support the structure in the addict. This was then a bigger job. The chimney after 4 days seems better but it was not raining up to now, so I don't really know. It is an A in all aspects. The price was for 4 days work with three people a little pricey but if the job is done it's worth it. In Nov. 2013 - just 2 month later - he needed to come back to fix another leak of his repaired chimney. He mentioned the weather would have been bad and this might be the reason. BTW the weather was very good in this time just rain but no storms or any other severe weather conditions. Also it was a hassle to get hold of him. He never responded on my voice mail telling already about the warranty issue. Especially when I called with my phone and I guess my number was visible on hos display nobody picked up the phone. Then I tried skype and my wifes phone and he was suddenly picking up the phone. There were a lot of promises but nothing firm up to a certain point when I told him to get him to court for his work. I understood he did not want to come out when it was raining or thundering when it was wet and ugly to work on the roof but the water damage in my living room got worse and worse at the same time. Then he came out and fixed it in November... However in November 2014 - a year later - the chimney leaked again and he is about to fix it. Will see how this goes.

Mr. Linkes knows his chimneys and isn't satisfied until he's determined and solved the problem- which isn't always easy with chimney leaks. On the facing part of the project, he was a pleasure to work with-- always brining options and being patient with the décor decisions. The work has been finished for about a month or two and we've had no sign of leakage and our fireplace looks wonderful. I would highly recommend him to others.

He is fantastic. I had no problems with him. I could just leave him and his guys to work and come in another house, and had no problems. He is just a funny little crater. He is honest, he is neat, he is clean and he knows what he is doing. I had a good experience with them. I had no complaints with them regarding pricing, because part of that included getting the special cover for the fireplace, made in North Carolina, and of being stainless steel. They cemented it, but I can unscrew it from the top and take the top off. It is of better quality than what was there.

Alan came out and assessed the condition of my chimney and flues. We determined that my foundation did not include a footer beneath the chimney. Alan and his team under cut and excavated below the chimney, drilled horizontally into the house foundation, attached rebar and poured a new footer. Now the chimney is stable and I'm confident that it won't continue to try and lean out from the house. He then fixed and replaced mortar along the chimney and house's brick facade. He also made minor mortar repairs to other parts of the exterior of the house. He cleaned the flue and inspected it for worthiness. This was a big job because the house is three stories tall plus an attic space. That's a lot of chimney. Other companies wanted to skip cleaning and sell me on a $5000 liner installation to make one of my fireplaces operational. This would not have addressed the structural problem that my house was suffering from. Alan explained to me how I can install an insert in the basement fireplace and be operational as well. I'll do that myself knowing that if I run into any snags, Alan can help. This man knows fireplaces and chimneys. He won't sell you anything that isn't necessary. He's trustworthy and fair.

He never showed and therfore no work was done.

He was delayed several days by bad weather, but he covered up the chimney and bricks. He called when he couldn't come because of rain and gave me a date which he felt he could complete the brick repair with good results. He repaired a crack inside on the hearth. He basically calked the hairline crack with black sealer. That work I am not happy with, but it is safe from fire and that's what I cared about inside. He and his crew cleaned up the area, the roof and washed sand down the driveway. I didn't feel it was very cheap, but didn't have anyone to compare prices with. Very satisfactory overall.

We knew him already. We had one little leak afterward, and we called him. He came right back to fix it.

It took my a couple of calls to get in touch with Allen, but the second time he called back , he was able to fit me in the following day because he was going to be one street over from my any way. He was about 10 minutes late arriving, but called to say he was on his way. He and his assistant were professional and quick, and were very good about making sure they didn't get anything inside the house dirty. I was very satisfied with the job they performed. While they were cleaning by wood stove pipe, they also inspected my masonry chimney. Allen told me it was in need of repairs due to a cracking crown and the bricks needing to be re-sealed. They quoted $2,800, which I think is on the high end, but I believe they would do a quality job.

Don't waste your time with this person. He never showed nor will he return a call. Original appointment was 9/26, no call and no show. New appointment was supposed to be 10/3, no call, no show and no return call. New appointment was 10/10, no call, no show but returned the call saying. "Oh I will be out there for sure next Saturday (10/17) and I will call you Saturday morning at 9AM to let me know what time he would be there as he had a Noon appointment and it would either be before or after that one. I followed up with him on Thursday to make sure he was coming and all was good at that point. Guess what? No call, no show and no return call to the repeated calls to his phone. This guy is a joke and a crook or this has to be some kind of scam. If you don't believe me, call his number. I will bet that he will NEVER answer and he will only return your call. Don't waste your time, call someone who is listed.

Called Allen on Friday to arrange the work. Was called back on Monday, but he didn't leave a message. I called him back on Wednesday to arrange work for the following Friday at 11:30. He arrived on site at 11:10, and called my wife, who wasn't at home yet. He waited for her to arrive before beginning work, having set-up already. The work was done quickly and well. He even sealed a section of the chimney with caulk which was supposed to have been done by the installers. Was very tidy.

It took him three days to do the job so he was thorough and hard at it with his helper. They gave me a lifetime guarantee which was good to know. They had to pour a new cap on top of the chimney and did some patch work because whenever it rained I would get leak in my attic. The price was a little high, but he did a considerable amount of work on it and it seems to be holding up fine.

Chimney Doctor was very respectful. He took his shoes off before he came into our home so he wouldn't track on our white carpet. He used this extraordinary filter that didn't get dust all over our white furniture. He really took pride in his work.