Winston's Chimney Service

An appointment was made for the 20th of January, almost two weeks after i made the appointment. The expectation was that they would repair the part if they could, and replace it if they needed to. I was given a window of 12 to 2 pm to undertake the work.On the 20th, the workers arrived a few minutes after 12 pm and parked in front of the house. They called my phone, but never rang the doorbell. I saw the truck in front the house, but did not hear the phone ring. I even opened the door, assuming they were preparing themselves to arrive. The next thing i know they had left. I called back the company, and they agreed to reschedule for the 23rd. Once again they arrived in time. They informed me that the damper was indeed damaged, and in fact was no longer in the chimney. They did not have any damper for the chimney. They took a few pictures, and left. They asked me if they should clean the chimney, and as I was quite perplexed i said no. They told me that the company would be back in touch with me for the next steps.Today I got a call from the company. They told me that they did not have the damper part, and had never seen that chimney type before. They suggested I call the manufacturer and get a replacement. No more information than that. I told them that the chimney had come with the house, so I did not know how to get to the manufacturer. They said they did not know either. They apologized for the inconvenience and informed me that there would be no travel charges. I picked this company on Angies list exactly because they advertised no travel charges.Bottom line, I lost two days of work for no reason. Nice people, very polite, but not particularly informed or professional.

The sweep went fine, but we were told it would be dangerous for us to use the fireplace in its present condition: a $3,500 repair (by Winston, of course) would be required. Not sold on this news, we subsequently had the fireplace inspected by a competitor whom we asked to advise us whether it was safe to use the fireplace amd whom we did not tell about Winston's opinion. The new inspector calmly told us our fireplace was in good condition, we should have no qualms about using it, and that it did not need cleaning (Winston apparently did a good job on that). So, use Winston is you like, but beware if they tell you a new metal flue is needed before using the fireplace again.

They came on time, were extremely professional in all their efforts, and cleaned up fully once the work was completed. A four-star effort from Winstons.

Winston answered my call on the first try. The woman on the phone was very polite and answered all of my questions. She also scheduled me for the next available inspection and cleaning about a month later. I was a little disappointed in how long I had to wait for service but it is understandable at this time of year. The serviceman arrived on time and worked on both chimneys. I was a little concerned by how fast the work was completed (35 minutes for a cleaning and two inspections?!?) but it is a brand new house and fireplaces had only been used for one season so perhaps that is why it was so fast. The serviceman recommended installation of a stainless steel cap to keep out rain water and animals. I called to scheduled this installation which took another month. Again, they came as promised and I appreciated the recommendation further research confirmed that this is a good idea. Winston's prices are reasonable but I did find better prices with other providers. However, because they have a good reputation and were reliable/easy to reach, I would use them again. I would recommend calling well in advance of when you want things done, however, because they did have quite a busy schedule.

Excellent experience from beginning to end.

As usual with Winstons, an outstanding experience.

Estimate and work were both timely and punctual. They took before and after pictures to document conditions which were extremely helpful. They cleaned up the work site very well. Fortunately, I had saved a few bricks from the original construction (34 years ago), and they did an excellent job matching the color of the mortar. I would definitely recommend and consider using them again.

I am a repeat customer of Winstons. I found them to be professional, thorough and reasonable.

Winstons did a great job and we will definitely use them again. They inspected our chimney and then another team came several weeks later to clean and inspect our gutters. We had our gutters cleaned in the spring by another company and they told us we needed repairs. We wanted a second opinion so we had Winstons come out and it turns out the downspout was totally clogged. They cleaned it out properly and no repairs were necessary.

I have used Winstons since I moved here 3-4 years ago. I have never had a problem with them. I had received a coupon in the mail saying if I had the chimney cleaned before 30 Sep it would be $179 and after, $229. I called towards the end of Sep to make an appointment and Mr. Hall said even though it would be past the end of Sep I would still get the coupon price. I got a four hour window, They arrived about one hour into the window. Once again my technician was Lenny. He has been the primary tech since I moved here. He has always been super -- professional, knowledgeable, careful with my property and personable. Lenny and his assistant set to work. I wanted the chimney cleaned since we had the earthquake and it had not been cleaned since 2000 though it had been inspected. They cleaned it, used the "chimney cam" to inspect it. Found some cracks near the collar. He was very thorough in explaining the work performed, the damage he found and made several recommendations as to how to repair it. As a tenant I do not make the decisions so it wb passed to the landlord. It was a positive experience, I am very satisfied with their work and would recommend them!

Winston's came out to inspect our chimney in the house we just purchased, as the previous owners never used their fireplace and did not know its condition. The Winston's employees took one look inside the chimney and said it was perfectly clean, ready for use, and did not need service. They charged only the inspection fee. I appreciated that they told me it didn't need service and reduced the charge from what I was quoted on the phone. They also inspected the exterior chimney and gave me a reasonable quote for patching an area that has some rust and a minor hole. I will definitely use them again, perhaps sooner rather than later in order to repair the exterior.

They did a good job and they also came on Sunday. They were very careful about putting down mats so they did not get the floor dirty. They were punctual, polite, and professional. They also explained the bill very carefully.

I've used them repeatedly and they are good.

Price to clean 2 chimneys was reasonable; in-line with what I had paid to others in the past. One chimney has a stainless steel liner and a wood-burning insert, no problems, looked good & with the liner apparently easy to clean. The other they cleaned but reported that at one time recently it'd had a flue-fire. Yikes. That explains the odd landscaping fire we'd experienced recently, as a spark must have landed in dry leaf-mulch. They wrote up an estimate for a stainless steel liner, like the other chimney. Price was in ball-park of what we had paid for that one years ago. Explained the reasons, pros & cons, as well as ways to avoid chimney-flue fires in the future. We talked best types of wood for the fireplace etc... We are still getting a 2nd opinion/quote, but if it turns out to be the same price I would use these folks. Very professional & responsive.

DID GREAT WORK BUT LEFT DEBRIS ON THE OLD ROOF AND DROPED SOMETHING ON THE SHED ROOF THAT PUSHED HOLE THROUGH THE PLYWOOD SUB ROOF.. HAD TO REPLACE THE PLYWOOD AND PUT ON NEW SHINGLES,, CONTRACTOR NEVER MENTIONED IT TO ME,

I've never had any issues with them. They do what they said they would do.

Not sure whether I did pay for a house visit or whether the estimate was free. Both the estimator and the technician were very knowledgeable and identified the cause of my problem: the furnace was changed to a direct vent furnace and therefore there was negative pressure in the flue that originally had the furnace and the hot water heater vent and thus it sucked in fireplace smoke as it exited the fireplace flue. They also took pictures of the chimney and showed that it did not need a sweeping. I was very dissapointed, however, that they tried to convince me that the flues needed an expensive lining/sealing job when there was very little damage in two places which I'm sure can be repared with a simple spackle. They also did not have a viable solution for my backdraft problem.

Winston's service guy was nice, professional and we had no issues with him. I don 't doubt that the work would have been performed in a professional and acceptable manner. The issue really was that their estimate to reline two chambers (water heater and fire place exhaust) using stainless steel was absolutely outrageous. Their estimate of $6748 was $2000 dollars more than my second estimate with whom I subsequently contracted to do the job. I was more than happy with the second contractor. I suggest shopping around and finding a more reasonable company in terms of fair and reasonable estimates. Oh, the contractor I hired was also obtained from Angies List. The company I used begins with an "M" and ends with an "N." Believe me, it was sticker shock when I saw the estimate from WInston's.

They were able to set my appointment within 24 hours. They showed up on time, called me to provide me with an estimate when they arrived on, completed the job very efficiently. It only cost about $100 to complete a 2100 square-foot home. My only complaint would be that when they arrived they were supposed to call me and provide me with an estimate. Which they did, but they didn't call me in advance, so when he left the best message on my voice mail, then he just left. But due to the mix up, he came back first thing in the AM the following day. Perhaps I should have been closer to my phone, but I was in a meeting. I would use them again.

They came out within three weeks of making the phone call. They arrived in the time frame promised. They got right to work, and worked as a team. They were thorough, honest, and professional. They left us with a brochure and suggestions for improving the safety of our chimney in the future.

The technician (Lenny) was on time to perform both the estimate and the repair. He explained the needed work thoroughly and also explained that I did not need to have the entire chimney repointed. He offered a couple of alternatives for the repair and was clear and concise. The work was performed in about four hours and Lenny and his assistant cleaned up all of the old mortar and were very careful and considerate.

We are disappointed with our experience with Winston?s Services, although we do appreciate their efforts to make it right. Their work damaged our marble fireplace and left a huge mess. Although the company made an effort to address our concerns afterward by sending repair and cleaning crews, we just wish our property had been treated more carefully in the first place. We had selected the company based on its reputation for quality workmanship and service. While the workmanship appears to be satisfactory, it was overshadowed by the mess and damage they left behind. As for service, we do think the company was responsive to our situation, but again, we wish we never had problems with them to begin with. COSTLY DAMAGE. After 4 days of work, we inspected our fireplace and found that the crew?s work had completely damaged our marble fireplace surround. Not only is the header cracked from top to bottom, but there are gashes in the side pieces and smaller cracks all over the header (see picture). This is completely unprofessional treatment of a homeowner?s valuable property. The crew clearly did not take proper care to protect the delicate marble fireplace. MESS. The crew also left a massive mess. There was chimney dust left all over the rooms they worked in. On the first day, I asked a crew member if there would be dust and whether we needed to cover our furniture. I noted to him that we had a young infant in the house. He responded that the dust would be contained, and that the area we had cleared for them to work would be sufficient. However, they started their work without initially installing plastic sheeting to cover the work area. They only installed that later in the day. As a result, they left our living room walls, ceiling, and furniture covered with dust. We have a 2-month old infant and are seriously concerned about the air quality. Our furnace air filters turned black after the job was completed, indicating that there is an excessive amount of dust throughout the house. The rooms where work was completed smell acrid. In addition, the crew did not cover all work areas. So, they tracked dust and dirt all over our carpeted areas. DISAPPOINTING SERVICE. While we appreciate the efforts of the president, Chuck Hall, and the general manager, Richard, to make it right, these efforts obviously did not completely restore the situation. Chuck specifically said that he would personally replace the entire marble fireplace surround. But two days later, we learned that they would instead send a repair person to fix the existing marble. The repair person was obviously unable to restore the marble to its previous uncracked condition. However, we decided against having Winston?s replace the fireplace, as we were concerned that they would only cause more damage. In addition, the cleaning company came a full week after we reported the mess, after we had already spent a great deal of our own time and effort trying to clean the mess. The cleaning crew was unable get the soot stains off the walls and they will have to be repainted. UPDATE. We appreciate that Winston's tried to make things right, but this has been a time consuming, stressful, and expensive experience. Although the company sent out a cleaning crew and a marble repair person, neither of these efforts fully restored our property back to its previous condition. But we do appreciate Winston?s taking the effort to try to remedy our situation.

Excellent job. 2 person crew showed up on time and were very friendly. The whole service took about 30 minutes. They explained the type of chimney that I had and confirmed that it was in good condition. We don't use it a lot but didn't know if the previous owners had used it much or not. They worked quickly to clean it and went up on the roof to inspect it. There was one piece on the roof that was showing a bit of rust but not yet in need of replacement or repair. They explained everything they did and before long were gone without leaving a trace.

Their website is misleading in the service areas provided

I called them for an estimate for some work on two fireplaces and they wanted to charge me $109 just to come give me an estimate. The lady on the phone seemed uncooperative as well so needless to say I did not have them come and called two other companies I found on angie's list that were more them happy to come give me an estimate free of charge. This was in the middle of the summer as well so I can't imagine lots of chimney work going on. ?