The Fireplace Man, Inc. was established in 1949 and continues to be a professional, friendly, family owned and operated company based in Houston, TX. We have 21 Live Burning Displays and the most realistic looking logs in the world. "We build new Fireplaces the old fashioned way, all brick... or factory built."
- G.Edward Birnbaum (Owner/Operator)
"It stated off bad, got a little better, then bach to bad. The estimate was $3097.00 + freight. This price was to purchase and install the fire box & the pipe that goes up through the ceiling/roof. My husband is a contractor and had already built the frame and installed the cement board. All The Fireplace Man had to do was set the box in the frame, add 12 screws and run the pipe through the roof. For insurance purposes we had to have a professional fireplace company do this part.
<br /> The estimate was about $1000 higher than their competitors estimate, but this wasn't the main reason we chose not to hire The Fireplace Man. The salesman who greeted us was Mike. When we told him we were looking for a wood burning fireplace, he said "You don't want wood burning. I'll sell you anything you want, but you don't want wood burning. They're only 10% efficient". I felt insulted and walked away. My husband continued to talk with Mike. Upon finding out that my husband is a contractor and he actually knew a little something, Mike changed his tune and became more helpful with information regarding the installation. However, in discussing options for our fireplace, he was quite condescending. We've had fireplaces in the past (at 2 different houses) and we walked into the showroom knowing what we wanted. It seemed that Mike had a negative comment for everything we liked.
<br /> Once we finally got to the written estimate, Mike asked the installer "how much for the installation (labor)?" He said $1200 since we live outside the city, ordinarily its $800". His tone was very snippy and he actually looked down his nose when talking to us. The competitor was only going to charge $550.
<br /> Needless to say, we walked away from The Fireplace Man and will never go back. My husband and I are both professionals making a very good living, likely more than either of these 2 men who talked to us like were not worthy of their time or services. Anyway, my husband, as a contractor, found another contractor who was able to install the fireplace we wanted at a fraction of the price. Our reward. Oh and I must add, the fireplace we purchased has an exhaust fan. This is an option Mike told us we didn't need. Anyway, It heats my home to 80 degrees. Quite toasty for 10% efficiency, lol.
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Brenda H. on December 2014