Complete Chimney

Mike, the owner/operator of Complete Chimney, was charming and personable. He brushed out my brick fireplace and then went up on the roof to inspect it. He told me that the tar that was spread around the base of my chimney to stop leaks was dangerous and might stop my insurance from honoring a claim in case of fire. He also told me that my chimney needed a third level creosote cleaning. The cost to remove and clean the chimney had we hired Mike would have been $1,600 in cash or $1,800 by check. My wife and I were afraid to be risk a house fire and certainly did not want to rise voiding our insurance because of an unsafe situation. But we both had doubts about what Mike told us, so I called my insurance and told exactly what Mike had said about the tar around the external base of the chimney. I was assured by agent that there was no problem whatsoever with tar around chimney in terms of my coverage. I also called the town building inspector who told me that although he thought tar was not the optimal to seal chimney leaks , there was not code prohibiting it and that it in fact commonly used. Having lost faith in Mike but still concerned about the safety issues involving my fireplace, I call another chimney service for a second opinion and paid them $135 to inspect my fireplace and chimney. The inspection included a video is canning of the inside of my chimney. (Mike's did not.) I was then told that the tar on my chimney presented not problem, but that crack in the chimney required a re-lining of the chimney and that the creosote removal that Mike hd recommended would not have made my chimney safe. I decided to delay all work on chimney until I can get a solid recommendation from a friend. Again, Mike is charismatic and quite convincing, but he either deliberately mislead or was woefully uninformed. In either case, I would not steer clear of Complete Chimney.