Embers West

I am reviewing Embers West's installation of a Mendota FV44 sealed combustion gas insert (combustion air comes from outside & fumes vent to the outside). The product has a remote with a thermostat & ability to control the flame height, circulating blower speed & a dimmable halogen light. There is electric ignition (no standing pilot flame) & a battery-pack to light the flame in case of a power outage. If you're in the market for a gas fireplace, look no further. Save your time and come here first. You'll be glad you did. We chose Embers West because they had the highest Yelp rating of the several local fireplace businesses (well-deserved - with over 3 dozen reviews). My wife & I had researched gas fireplace inserts online before calling EW & were partial to the Mendota brand. When we met with Francois Tiab (owner & chief technical person), I provided photos & measurements of our 1955 brick fireplace; he agreed that Mendota was our best choice. Francois impressed us enough that we saw no need to check out any other businesses (so I can't comment on his pricing versus others). He was personable, professional & extremely knowledgeable & we enjoyed working with him. Francois made it clear at the start that our project needed several visits from them but I did not ask for a schedule; the project took 3 months & cost a bit over $8k (actually $500 less than the quote- Serryn (office manager) emailed us to say Mendota was having a sale- we would not have known otherwise). If your project needs to be completed quickly - then you should discuss that with Francois up-front. A few times, I had to call to find out the status - Serryn got us an answer right away each time (also when I had tech questions). The installation encountered a snag & Francois quickly resolved it. This is all normal for custom work. The gas line & electrical connection were installed before EW started. Mario was the installer & he was great (friendly, punctual, took time to do things right, brought tarps to protect the carpet & wore protective booties over his shoes). He used a "sniffer" to check for gas leaks. Payments were easily handled online via their website. Their showroom had sample installations to help select finishes & the artificial logs. The finished job looks great & I'm very happy with the results. I definitely recommend Embers West.

First, I reached out via website contact form, twice – no response. I went to their showroom and got two quotes onsite, they were very busy on a Saturday. A week later I phoned in the order and paid the 50% deposit. Three weeks later I called the office to get and update. The parts were in, but I was not notified. Scheduled an appointment to install. Installers were friendly, professional and quick. They gave me a new valve flange, which was nice. Forgot the vermiculite, installer work order was incorrect, still waiting for them to come back with the vermiculite...

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We could not have been happier with everything.  We were given a detailed and clear estimate of what needed to be done, and they were timely with getting us all the information on what needed to be done. 

They fit their work into our busy schedule (which was very important to us), and the completed everything as scheduled.  Their workers were timely, polite, and kept all the surrounding area clean.

We recommend them highly.

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I couldn't have asked for better outcome. Professional, polite, informative.

Francois recalled in detail what I had installed a year earlier. When he came today he fixed the error quickly, cheerfully and sympathetically at no charge.

The installation was nearly a year ago.  His price was very competitive, excellent unit, very clean workers, and the job was done on time.  He was always very concerned if we happy about the progress of the installation. He came back nearly a year later (no cost) just to check how the unit was doing and were we still happy and satisfied.   He even cleaned the glass inside and out.  Since there were batteries for the electronic remote control and internal unit, he changed the.  Francois clearly stated to call anytime if there's a problem.  Very concerned as to our satisfaction. 
Both my wife and I highly recommend Embers West, Inc and Mr. Francis Tiab.........you will not be disappointed.

Great experience from beginning to end.  Francois came to the house to check out what we wanted.  He was friendly and direct to the point.  He has a lot of experience doing this and helped us decide on what we wanted.  There were several changes along the way with regard to the gas line location and details of the fireplace frame.  They were great in adapting to those changes without affecting overall cost.  Max, the framer is awesome.  He was very punctual and did a great job listening to us and accommodating our requests.  The job took a bit longer than expected but I don't attribute that to the vendor...it just happens.  They were clean and neat and always did their best to minimize the disruption in our house.  Overall we love the result and had a great experience working with both Francois and Max

really fantastic experience from start to end. If only more companies offered this level of service!
Max was attentive to our very specific requests about selecting fireplaces that fitted in with our decor and would be installed with all relevant LA permits and inspections. (very important to us).
The whole process was probably 6 weeks, including ordering kit and final city inspections.
Max did everything himself which was a little surprising, but the quality and craftsmanship of both installations was excellent.
He always took great care to clean up and to make sure all aspects of the design fitted exact to our original vision.

great experience and very happy with results.

Very courteous on telephone and in person. Quoted prices on telephone. Were exactly the same as he charged. Work very neatly and cleaned up afterwards. Explained work well.

Max arrived on time the first day.  He immediately put paper/plastic covers down to protect the areas that he would walk on from our front door to our bedroom.  He took the time to really plot out where the wall would be, the angle, etc.  He then explained what he would be doing and got to work. The first day, he pulled back part of the carpeting, framed the wall and set the fireplace to make sure I was happy with its location.  He then removed the fireplace to allow me to run the electrical lines, which I was going to do myself.  The second day, he ran the gas line across the attic and down to the area of the fireplace.  He reinstalled the fireplace, vented the wall, and hooked everything up to test it.  Once I was satisfied with it, he unhooked the gas line from the unit and placed a pressure gauge on it for the mechanical inspection. I wanted to be there for the job, so he didn't come back for a few days (mutually agreed upon schedule).  In the meantime, the city building inspector came out for the mechanical inspection.  The inspector was very impressed with what we were doing and it passed inspection with no problems. The third day Max came out, he hooked up the fireplace again, including installing the remote receiver in a custom-made cubby hole that he built, and tested everything to make sure everything was working well.  He then drywalled the new wall and began the process of taping/mudding.  It was looking very good at that time! The final day, Max returned (on time, as usual) to finish the job.  He began by reinstalling the carpet, finishing the mudding and, once he had it smooth to his liking, he textured the wall.  At the end of the job, he cleaned everything up, received his final payment, and left us with a beautiful new master bedroom.  Now, it's my turn to finish up the painting and trim work. We are very happy with his work and would recommend Max/Fireside By Design for anyone who wants a new fireplace or wall installation!