Winston's Chimney Service

Got an appointment within a week, they gave me a 3-hour window (so much nicer than morning or afternoon). Showed up in the first hour, courteous, polite and professional. (Lenny & another gentleman) Very careful to avoid leaving any dirt, soot, ash, etc. Inspected chimney, fire place box, door, etc Lenny determined that the seal around the top of the doors was not intact and added some high temp wool to prevent smoke from leaking (o charge!) then went outdoors and eyeballed chimney and chimney cap. I was very pleased - I have used this company for 3-4 years and am extremely pleased with the quality of the work; appearance, professionalism and willingness to answer questions. Provided a detailed report that I can send to the landlord. I like them and strongly recommend them! Excellent service!

It went very well. They inspected the fireplace and the damper. And instructed me on the proper use of the damper saving me time and money.

Winston's was extremely thorough and the workers were very nice and polite. For the estimate, they explained why the things needed to be done and how. When we hired them, it took a bit to get the work scheduled because of one person's illness (not his fault and once he was semi-recovered he was back on the job!). Once it was started, they were clean (important when dealing with the nastiness of chimney that hasn't been cleaned in who knew how many years) and did a great job. The chimney was repaired and properly capped. We were able to safely light a fire for the first time in years. We were/are very pleased with their work.

I was very happy with Winston's Chimney Service because the two guys arrived to clean our chimney, inspected it and told me that it did not need to be cleaned. I was not surprised because we had not used it much last winter, but their honesty was very refreshing. I asked them to go ahead and clean out the ashes, which they did. Overall I was very pleased.

The woman I spoke to gave me a very high price. She was not a pleasant person and I will not be calling them again. I told her I got her name from Angie's List and she acted like she had no idea I was talking about.

Workers made what appeared to be a cursory examination of the inside of the chimney and inspected the masonry crown and roof flashing at the top of the chimney. Telling us later that although the chimney flue looked "satisfactory", we needed to have the masonry crown repaired ($429.00) and new flashing around the chimney ($129.00) They were here no more than 10 minutes. Our chimney flue hadn't been cleaned in years. We were expecting this to be done. Instead we were left with a bill of $89.00 for those 10 minutes of effort and a document that states that the company is not responsible for "hidden or concealed defects." So, does this mean that the customer is responsible for finding these problems in the chimney? Isn't this why we call in the so-called experts? Very unsatisfying.

I have used Winston's twice in the past year to have the gutters cleaned on my house. Both times, they have done a fantastic job and have even removed debris from the roof as well. They have done such a good job with cleanup on both occasions, that the only evidence I have that they even came (beyond the invoice) was the lack of debris in the gutters and on the roof! The first time I used them was in late November/early December 2009. I called to schedule an appointment and was told it would be about two weeks, weather dependent, until they would come out. More than two and a half weeks later, they still hadn't come out. Since we were about to leave the country for a few weeks, I called back to see if they could prioritize our request, and they came the following day! Most recently, I called to request a gutter cleaning and was told that visits were currently running approximately one week out. Two days later, they came to clean the gutters! Very quick, good, and responsive. I will definitely use them again.

I had scheduled a video inspection of my chimney a couple of weeks in advance, and after the lady I had spoken to in the office had failed to register the first appointment I had made. It was important for me to get this done then as I was only in DC for a day. The guys arrived when I had nipped out to the hardware store. Workers renovating the house let them in, as requested. The Winston guys saw that there were a number of boxes in front of one of the fireplaces (though the other is in a near-empty room). They took a photo of the one with boxes near it and left - and got the office to call me later and say it was impossible for them to work. They refused to come back that afternoon. This was really not helpful. Why did they not ask the workers to move the boxes or call me? I was just a few minutes away. There is easy access to the roof and the other fireplace so they could have started. A few boxes in front of one fireplace is not an excuse to do nothing - even if this was the afternoon before the Labor Day weekend. I will find someone else to do this work. On the plus side, Darryl who had come over to initially look at the chimney was very pleasant and helpful.

I have used Winstons since I moved here in in 2008. The workers are always polite and honest. They do not make a mess, very tidy, very professional. I am extremely pleased with the service they provide

Richard came out to do an evaluation and took lots of time to explain the problem and two recommended solutions. He followed up with a written proposal. I got 2 other estimates and both prices were much lower that Winston's. However, I was much more confident that Winston was going to do the job right and stand behind their work, so I went with them and the higher price. I was glad I did because the job was failry involved and I didn't want to have shoddy craftsmanship where fire and boiler exhaust are involved. Because of difficulties tearing out the old tiles, the job took 2 more days than originally estimated, but they still honored the price. The work team was very professional and careful to keep the house as clean as possible (it's a dirty job with lots of dust, mortar, garbage, etc). They busted their tails despite the brutal 100 degree heat. They did no damage to the inside of the house and thoroughly cleaned the outside worksite.

The company never showed up to do the work. I assume they are so over-worked that myself and perhaps other customers slipped through the cracks.

Originally called in November 2009, but was asked to wait until Spring because of weather issues. I did contract with them to do some weather caulking around the flashing, but it rained on the day they were to do the work. This is my only issue with them as there was no follow-up, so I did the work myself - based on information their estimator had given me. They showed up later unannounced to do the work. The problem was at the office, not with the workmen. In fact, the recommendation they gave me saved me $190. They recontacted me in April 2010 and scheduled the work for May. It rained on the day scheduled and they called me right away to re-schedule - but were not able to fit me in until June (3 weeks later). They arrived as re-scheduled and in discussions with the workers I realized I had misunderstood their proposal and that damaged bricks would not be replaced. The team lead said no problem - there was an estimate for the work and that they would simply do it, although they did not have the bricks with them. I had a stack of used bricks from an addition put on 20 years earlier and they selected ones from my supply to use. The finished work is beautiful. My chimney looks better than it has in years, is safer, and with their workmanship, there should be no structural issues for many years. Except for the communication glitch last Fall, I found Winston's very cordial to deal with and their workman to be very professional. They held to their proposal even though by the time they did the work it was 8 months old.

Answering female was going back and forth between me and manager(?). At the end she passed refusal to do free estimate and stated that I need chimney inspection for $80. Also I was asked to give them detailed description of scope (beyond that I already mentioned in description section) but I couldn't because I just bought a house. She told me that they don't do gutters and advised me to call different number of affiliated company. (This service was mentioned as service offered on company website). I won't call them anymore believing that they didn't earn my business.

Initially contacted them in November 2009 shortly after purchase of a previously owned home. Got an estimate, chimney inspection and gutter work done fairly quickly. The gutter work was never completed - there was a problem with the drill attachment used to fasten the gutters - a few bolts were left loose - and still are to my knowledge. The repointing masonry work could not be scheduled for six weeks after my initial estimate in November 2009. Then it got too cold do masonry work, then the big snow storms hit. I was put on a waiting list for work in the Spring. They never called back. Finally I called them and got scheduled for the work. By that time they had forgotten all the little repointing that needed to be done. Had to have them come back again to finish up. They made a mess with the new mortar dripping down onto my gas meter and AC unit.

I have used them several times and they have done well with everything. They did what they told me that they would do. They told me that they were backed up due to the weather and they exceeded their expectations. They billed me and I mailed them the payments. I wasn?t standing there watching them, but everything seems to be fine. I think if something was wrong then the neighbors would have called me since it?s a townhouse. I would use their services in the future too.

They were fabulous all around. We had a chimney fire and they did a very thorough inspection. We didn't end up needing a repair.

They were really good. It was tough to get scheduled initially but they guy that came out was really nice. I didn?t do a lot of price comparison but it seemed fine.

I have a full brick fire place, which is 60? wide. The interior box is 35? wide. They were referred to me by my neighbor. The reason I used them was also to inspect the condition of the fire place. The cleaning work cost me $149, which was pretty high. Later they grouted and re-pointed 75% of the fire box floor and two large vertical joints. That cost me $379. The external cleaning cost me $289. They did a good job, but I might use another company the next time around. It was easy to make an appointment with them. They showed up on time and were courteous. They explained what they were doing and even did a follow-up because I wanted them to do some acid wash. They came back without any hassles. I would recommend them, if price is not an issue. I liked everything about them, except the price. I might use them again, if I needed something specific done.

I used them two times in March. Their price was very competitive. They were very friendly and explained everything very professionally. They worked very quickly and were done in a few hours. They were supposed to come back and finish it and they forgot to do it.

They were prompt, d the job and I spent about $200.

Fantastic! Professional, knowledgeable and couteous staff. Arrived on time - made no mess. Explained each process.

After multiple re-schedules (on my part) because of snow, we finally received the services. They came on time and did a great job. They were really professional.

Great experience. They were prompt, polite, professional, tidy and very good about explaining what they were doing and what they were finding. I expected to have to pay for a sweep/cleaning, but they said there wasn't a lot of build-up and that we didn't need one. They did find a fair amount of damge to the flue tiles and mortar in 2 of our flues, which they recommend relining (either with sheet metal or a "heat shiled" process). They were unable to get into the 3rd flue (for the furnace) to visualize the state of repair/damage, but given the state of the 2 fireplace flues they feel confident that it needs relining as well. We had a wonderful experience with Winstons and have a lot of confidence in them. Although we are actually considering not relining our flues and going with vent-free gas logs (we've wanted gas logs for a while anyway so we can just turn our fire on and off and don't have to keep wood on hand, carry it in the house and get things dirty, clean up ashes after a fire and leave the damper open for hours afterwards), if we do decide to re-line the flues and keep the fireplaces as wood-burning, we will go with Winstons for the work.

New house - had no idea the condition of the fireplace, but our inspector told us that the flashing around the chimney was poorly done. Called Winston's, and they were available to be out within a couple of days. Day arrived, and technicians ended up coming 2 hours later than the window they gave. Techs were apologetic and I wasn't inconvenienced too much, since I had other work crews showing up to work on the house. They found that the chimney was relatively clean, with only a small amount of build-up. I figured that since I had them out, I'd go ahead and have it cleaned anyway. Techs answered all of my questions (like how often should I get the fireplace cleaned -- "If you go through a cord of wood a year, you should have it cleaned every year, but 20 fires now and then spread throughout the year, you can probably get away with cleaning it every 2 years." and "The amount of creosote build up depends on the kind of wood you burn. Burning green, unseasoned wood will cause more build-up in the chimney." and "One of the things you have to watch out for, especially in our climate, with the hot, hot summers and the cold, cold winters, is that the mortar between the bricks inside the chimney starts to degrade and fall out.") My fireplace was still full of old ashes from the previous owner, and I unfortunately, really had no way to clean them out. The techs cleaned it all up, including the creosote from the chimney. Even though we had no furniture to protect, they were careful and laid down a tarp and vacuumed up all of the ash and debris. The chimney flashing did need some repair, and while the tech was on the roof, he noticed that the flashing on the chimney for my furnace was also in need of repair. He told me that he normally charges $89 per chimney, but since he was up there anyway, he'd do both for that price. Except for keeping me waiting for them for hours and hours, I'd have left a higher grade for the work.

We are very happy with the price and service and will have them come again next year.