Safeside Chimney & Duct Cleaning

Due to age, our chimney was in bad shape and we were starting to find pieces of brick on the deck. We obtained estimates from three companies, including Safeside. We found them to be very professional both during the estimate and in follow up phone calls. We signed up with Safeside and they came out to do the work two weeks later. The three man crew were courteous and seemed to take pride in their work. They finished the job in a day and a half. It looked great when they finished and still does two months later. We are very satisfied.

Derek and Matthew called about to say they'd arrive in about 20 min and they did so. Very nice of them to give me a heads-up. Once they arrived, they set about their business: the two gentlemen were beautifully choreographed---each knew his tasks and both worked together. In about 45 minutes, the chimney (for oil fueled furnace) was cleaned and Derek showed me the photographic evidence of his inspection. I viewed the video and photographs and Derek explained that the gaps in chimney mortar could allow CO to leak into the house since the venting system was compromised. He provided options and we went with a gap-filling mortar. He also showed the chimney crown which was severely cracked. He recommended the water proof membrane seal to keep water out of the cracks. I had this membrane applied previously on another chimney and was very happy with it. I opted for both repairs. When I asked what the timeframe was for me to schedule a folowup appointment for the repairs he said he and Matthew could do it right now! WHAT??! I was THRILLED. They had all necessary supplies and equipment on their truck and were done in an hour. Unbelievable. I didn't have to lose another chunk of time to the chimney: I had only this day off from work. Thank you thank you thank you Derek, Matthew, and Safeside. I've used you before this service and would use you again without hesitation. I'm sure you'll get a bit of work from good word of mouth in my neighborhood. :)

In a nutshell, I have serious reservations about Safeside's competency in their chosen field, their professionalism when it comes to conducting business as well as their customer friendliness. I will not engage them again. Outlined below is the story on how I came to this assessment. Our house has an oil-fired furnace that is located about 6 feet away from the chimney. Consequently we have a horizontal flue that connects the furnace to the chimney. In 2012 during a quick inspection, a chimney sweep pointed out that there was a constriction in the horizontal part that should be removed. He also determined that the chimney liner was old and needed to be replaced. I engaged Safeside to perform this work at a cost of $2800. About a year later later the engineer performing regular maintenance on the furnace noticed that it had very poor draft (about 400 ft/min as later measured by me). The engineer also pointed out that the records attached to the furnace indicate that the draft was never very good to begin with. He suggested that the chimney liner was too small but indicated that only a chimney sweep can say for sure. I consulted with Safeside as well as another chimney sweep company. I disclosed to both of them that the furnace never had good draft in the recent past. Representatives from the other chimney sweep company also said that the new liner (5.5in diameter, round) was probably too small. However, Safeside disputed that the liner size was the most likely cause of the problem. Apparently there are no hard-and-fast rules on the design of flues and chimneys, so it is not straightforward to pinpoint the source of poor draft. Given that there was evidence of problems even before any changes, I was willing to entertain their more experienced advice and work with them while trying to solve the issue. After some back and forth Safeside suggested that a flue extension could be installed on top of the chimney to improve the draft. This is a simple metal addition that is put on top of the chimney. The extension was installed in December of 2013. All they did was to put up the extension but nobody from their side tried to measure the effect(*). There was also no follow-up from them to find out what my experience was. Over the course of the winter and spring of 2015 I lost track of this particular issue as we pursued a larger construction project. However, when the engineer came back last November to perform the annual furnace cleaning, he determined that the draft had gotten worse - if anything. Given this situation there I determined that there was a risk of the furnace emitting significant amounts of carbon monoxide (CO) into the house and closed off the area around it. I called Safeside again and explained the situation to them, including that I perceived a risk of CO emissions into the house. I started to contemplate the construction of a separate chimney. This would would be essentially a metal pipe which would lead from the furnace to the outside in the straightest possible manner and then go up. The expected cost of that project was around $3000. At the time this seemed to be the only approach that had a reasonable chance of success. It avoided the most likely cause of the poor draft - the long horizontal flue. I discussed this with the representative of Safeside. From my perspective our conversations were never adversarial. Nevertheless, they continued to deny that the liner size was a potential source of the problem. As a first step I asked them to remove the flue extension at the top of the chimney. They did so within a week. After that I called them again to request a definite estimate for the installation of the new chimney. This was at the beginning of December of 2015. To this day I am waiting for a return call. I had been quite clear to them that I considered the problem to be urgent due to the risk of CO being emitted into the house. After two weeks with no movement I engaged a different company. They replaced the 5.5in liner with a 7in one. This solved the problem - decisively. By my measurements the draft went from around 400 ft/min to about 1000 ft/min. As far as I can tell this is pretty good. In summary, the liner that Safeside installed did turn out to be the problem but Safeside never considered changing it. Of course, doing so would have meant that they change it under warranty, i.e. at a loss to them (such liners cost at least $800). While dealing with them I did not pursue this point vigorously as there is no way of making a convincing argument. In the end I had to pay for two liner installations, each costing over $2000. However, I did ask Safeside for help to solve the risk of CO emissions into the house by installing a metal chimney. I was offering them a good business opportunity and also indicated that I considered this a safety issue and wanted it to be solved fast. As indicated earlier, they never called me back on this. * None of the chimney sweep company I dealt with so far ever tried to measure the draft in the same manner as the engineer did. It seems to me that that is not industry practice. From a customer's perspective it is certainly disappointing.

To the extent that I am knowledgeable about such matters, i.e., not at all, I can only assume that the services were performed as indicated, and that my chimney is properly cleaned. The only negative I can insert into this comment is that there were black, sooty handprints left on the various doorknobs. It's a small matter, but a but of attention to detail such as wiping the doors as they used them would have been a nice touch.

had to pay service providers, and call this service to obtain reimbursement, they stated they did not know anything about Angies List. Paid twice, unsat service

We were so impressed. After I bought the deal I called to make an appointment and the person on the phone was very clear about what the deal offered. She then followed up with an email about our phone conversation. They called to confirm prior to the appointment and the two men who came to perform the service were on time. They even called about 20 minutes prior to arrival to say they were on their way. I cannot say enough good things about the two men who came. Derrick, the lead guy, was extra thorough when cleaning out our pellet stove, which hadn't been used in some time, and showed us, complete with videos and photos, the issues they saw while completing the cleanings. There were brochures and information to back up his evidence of needed repairs, and his estimate was reasonable. They even completed the repair work while they were there. Everything was clean and put back exactly as it was when they left. I definitely recommend this company.

They were on time, very friendly and efficient. Pointed out a few concerns but didn't try to sell me on anything extra that didn't seem necessary.

Hassle free service provides quickly and efficiently

They did a good job. They gave a detailed, itemized breakdown. I would have gone with them had I not found another deal at a discounted price.

They arrived on time and got right to work. Because it was going to be a very hot day they started in the attic where I have a second blower unit. and worked their way down and into the basement. It took most of the day. They drop a heavy cloth at the entry way so that they try to keep any dirt from their shoes outside the house. They worked quickly and efficiently. I checked in on a few occasions and they seemed to be working well together(2-man team). There were some problems with the vents in my house, which they pointed out to me. It did not greatly effect their efforts. My only complaint would be that they left the door open for their entire stay because a hose had to come into the house from their van. Since the air conditioning was on and it was very hot outside, this was a little disconcerting. The pricing was fair for the amount of work involved.

They arrived on time and did a good job. They recommended an additional service that made sense, so we had them execute it.

The service went very well. They did a fine job. They covered both flues for my chimney.

They were both on time and quick with their service. The technician explained what he was going to do before performing the service and went over his results after cleaning the chimney and flu. They cleaned the work area after the service was completed. He also made a recommendation to have the flu liner replaced (it was a clay liner) because of the age of the existing one.

Very punctual, responsive, efficient and friendly. A no-brainer, as it should be!

Good service. Were on time and cleaned both chimneys in my home.

it went great! first, the scheduling and description of the service was spot on. At the time of the service, the technician was well mannered, responsive to all questions and provided detailed answers.

This visit was a kind of follow up to my chimney cleaning of the previous Friday (cleaning and safety inspection) during which they recommended a liner and crown coating for my chimney. I wasn't able to be present during the installation (a family member did so for me), so I'm sorry that I can't credit the individial workers by name. However, the workers were prompt (arrived at the early end of the 8-10 am time window of arrival) and efficient and worked well with another team of workers from another company doing carpentry at the house. They completed their tasks in about 2.5 hours or so. No problems, I'm happy to report and they provided a written receipt upon payment by check of the balance due for the job.

Safeside was great even prior to the service date. I had never purchased a service and did scheduling through Angie's List and I did so for the chimney cleaning service. KEvin was responsive and walked me though the prepay procedure. On the day of the service, Joe and Steve were GREAT. They were prompt, professional, friendly and courteous and shared information freely, showing me areas of concern on my chimney. Joe took photos and inspected the chimney from the roof while Steve swept from the bottom by the furnace. It was about 2 degrees outside, but it didn't seem to deter them. Afterward, Joe went through the findings, showing me the photos as he prioritized a few issues. They wrote up a very thorough and reasonable estimate for a crown coating and chimney liner and I am scheduled to have that done next week. I have had several chimney services in the past and NONE have been as pleasant and professional to deal with as Safeside. I later called and spoke with Dale to put the deposit for next week's work on my credit card and he coudln't have been more helpful. Each person with whom I had contat was top notch. I highly recommend Safeside.

Very friendly and explained everything by taking pictures to show the damage that needed to be repaired. I am very happy with the way I was treated. Seemed a bit on the high side, cost wise, but it had to be done and the work is guaranteed for a lifetime. The job was completed in less than an hour.

After already paying for the service online through Groupon, I saw that other companies were doing the same job for half price. next time I will shop before buying (my own fault). Cleaned the Flue and that was it. 30 minute job.

The service provided was very good. However, I think the price of the chimney caps and installation was on the high side.

At first I was very pleased with my experience with Safeside Chimney. Many neighbors recommended them, they were courteous on the phone and it was easy to get an appointment, even this late in the fall. Two technicians arrived promptly, were polite, explained what they were going to do and set about doing it quickly and relatively neatly. They were here for about 90 minutes in total. We recently purchased the home and do not have information on any prior maintenance or lack thereof, so we are prone to take the more cautious approach with the first of each service. I had one fireplace chimney cleaned; they did not "teach" me how to use my flues or clean up ash or give me any fire-building lessons, like some others have reported, but they did lay down a drop cloth on my area rug and vacuumed up after themselves. The "salesman" took me around my house, pointing out that we actually have 3 chimneys in use (1 for fireplace, 1 for gas furnace and 1 for a Buderus boiler and a defunct basement fireplace (double)). I was told that although the interiors were not cracked or ruined at the moment, if we did not put a stop to the water damage by capping 2 of the 3 chimneys, we would likely soon need stainless steel chimney liners, at a cost of about $3,500.00 each. (We have not had any water leakage or flooding that we know of.) I was already thinking that we would need chimney caps, so I agreed. I paid $149.00 to sweep the first chimney and $89 for each of the other two. Then, I paid $389.00 to cap the double chimney and $289.00 to cap the furnace one. Finally, for an additional $249.00, they put a few lines of silicone sealant on the furnace chimney. For "free" they added cement sealant around the furnace and boiler pipes where they enter the wall and go to the chimneys. They also gave me "free" L-brackets to attach the chimney caps because the tops of the chimneys were flush. I was feeling fine with all of this until I went on Angie's List afterward and saw that we appear to have paid at least twice as much as anyone else reporting the same services. Finally, what I feel is adding insult to injury, others have here reported having chimneys rebuilt from the roof up in the neighborhood of $1500.00. While I concede that my chimney has stone exterior, not brick, I was quoted just under $7000.00 and told that it needs to be rebuilt entirely from the roof line up and that as I continue to wait, I risk having to replace the entire stone side of the house. I was also told that, at this point of deterioration, there is no use in sealing any of it with silicone because the pointing is all falling out anyway. Of course, I will get more opinions, but I am left feeling taken advantage of and disappointed in the whole process. IF it is the case that these prices are justified, I would like to know why all of my work cost so much more than others are here reporting.