Hudson Valley Chimney Service Inc

The service went good.

Called to make an inquiry. Took my email to get back to me. One week later, no response. I called back to find out whether there was an answer to my inquiry. I was told two things: Could not help me, which is okay, and they were too busy to get back to me, which is not so okay. Glad to hear they are so busy and prosperous that they don't care about keeping customers.

Job went terrificly, very professional, workmen took time to do job right. I was very pleased.

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Did it quickly, thoroughly and for a fair price.

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I have used this company for several years and I have found Jonathan and his crew to provide professional, reliable service. He is very knowledgeable in his field. He communicates fairly well and responds promptly to phone calls/emails. Scheduling is a little difficult as he is typically booked out several months for cleanings/work repairs. His prices are somewhat greater than average.

Everything as expected. Chimney cleaning, inspection and animal screens installed

How'd it go you ask??? It has bee a complete NIGHTMARE!!!

Hudson Valley Chimney Services (HVC) was contacted a little over a year ago because my chimney was leaking down the surface of the fireplace on the hearth and back side (Cathedral ceiling with fireplace reaching to the peak in center of room). I was told an inspection would be required at the cost of $125.00 + tax. I scheduled the inspection. A Service Manager came, inspected the chimney, and said the flashing was tight and not the problem but the chimney was as it had tar on it and a small "y" crack that let air in. He also said that caps, a new damper and heat shield would be needed to prevent the water leakage and make the fireplace safe. His inspection report states this. The chimney would cost over $7,000. I asked him if he was sure that it would fix the problem and he said "Yes, I am absolutely sure and we stand behind our work." A new chimney was built from the flashing up and the first time it rained after it was built I hear DRIP, DRIP, DRIP and every time since, when it rains that chimney leaks as bad as the one it replaced.   Now the nightmare really begins. Countless calls are made to HVC about their leaky chimney. They send men out to caulk a few times. The bricks were white that the chimney was built with and only red after it rained and stayed red for days. I questioned the bricks they used. They sent someone out to "acid wash" them to cut down on their florescent property. The chimney continued to leak bad.....up to 14 layers of bricks soaking wet, pails needed to catch the water on the other side. In January I insist that the same service manager return and conduct another inspection as now I have a new chimney built upon his previous inspection that has not at all done what he guaranteed me it would do. He comes to the house and this inspection concludes that the bricks need to be "sealed". However it can not be done until April. April comes, the bricks are sealed (no verification it was actually done as no one was home and no paperwork left) and the leaking continues...no change. Now it gets even better! I am starting to become very frustrated. The service manager tells me to call his friend who is a consultant of HVC to see if he can shed any light on this problem. Meanwhile he is wrapping the flashing in plastic. I call his consultant and he explains to me the process and price involved in determining the cause of a chimney water leakage problem. None of this did the HVC service manager do. He calls the service manager and tells him not to wrap the flashing, wrap the chimney in a tarp. He does this and it rains and the chimney continues to leak. I am so disgusted in this company, their false advertisement and incompetent service manager that he tells me he will talk to his boss about what they can do to rectify this as they have a reputation to uphold. I do not hear from him for several weeks. He then starts to leave messages at night on my work phone when I'm home and on home phone when I am at work. Clearly he is avoiding speaking to me. He will not return my calls, answer his work cell pone number he gave me, or be reached at the store. I leave a message for him to just leave a message as to when the repairs to the chimney will begin and the expected time frame. He leaves a message at 7pm on my work phone that the water leakage problem is the flashing and it is the responsibility of someone else not HVC. Clearly the chimney never needed to be replaced in the beginning and the inspection of the flashing was wrong.

I call the owner/president of HVC and try to tell him that his service manager guaranteed me the chimney would not leak and he informs that his men just got back from training and are trained not to guarantee water problems or say a fireplace is safe so his service manager would have NEVER have said that. WELL, HE DID!!! Then when I question the benefit and cost of an inspection when it was clearly wrong and the chimney was built based on that inspection he yells in the phone "We are not plumbers (HVC) so if you want your  water problem fixed CALL A PLUMBER, CALL A PLUMBER, CALL A PLUMBER!!!! YOU AREN'T GOING TO GET ANYWHERE WITH THIS!!!! and hangs up the phone on me.   WOW, what a way to treat a customer who just gave him over $7,000 worth of business. Needless to say I have asked for a full refund. He is blaming the leak on whoever in the past did the flashing. It is absolutely irrelevant who or when the flashing was done as, HVC was hired to inspect, remove and replace the flashing if that was the cause of the leak. Failure, incompetence and unprofessionalism  all around; from the top down. Hudson Valley Chimney replaced a leaky chimney with a leaky chimney and "they stand behind their work." At this point due to this gross incompetence all their work needs to be inspected and evaluated for safety and the water leakage problem still needs to be addressed.

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Cleaned main house chimney which needed thorough cleaning. Inspected two other chimneys in two other  houses on property.
Chimney cleaning price was certainly fair.

Made recommendations on correcting problems with old flue in second rental cottage. Seemed very competent and my farm manager thought work was warrented, but we were able to install a new stainless steel flue on our own at a better rate.  This was only because we have had experience with flue construction recently when we built another house on the property.