PROFESSIONAL CHIMNEY SERVICES

We'd been noticing over time that we were experiencing significant mortar loss in the above-the-roof portion of our chimney, enough so that one of us was getting paranoid that part of it might collapse. We contacted a couple of contractors before quickly settling on Doug. We were impressed not only by the reviews here, but the quick and complete response to our initial inquiry.
An estimate of $1500 was established and the work was done while we were on vacation. All work was completed as promised and it looks fantastic. Seeing that cap peeking out above the roof as we pulled into the driveway was such a relief. We did notice a pinhole leak into the attic (which may or may not have been pre-existing) during June 12th's endless rain  and when we informed Doug of it, he was back out within hours to recaulk. He also said to let him now if anything similar happened again.
Most of our contact was by email and he was always quick to respond to any concerns. Phone calls and face-to-face meetings were professional and informative. The estimate was within range and even a little less than others received and significantly less than one we received a while back when first looking into this repair.
He did end up going over estimate by $50 (big whoop), but the peace of mind of having it safe and fixed again--priceless.

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Prompt quote,   scheduled job and was completed  within 5 days of their proposal,    they explained scoped   adequately,  job was done as promised,  clean up was fine,

I  live out of town, and my parents in Albany gave me a call last weekend as their chimney was leaking during a rainstorm. They had called their roofer, who proposed replacing 7 rows of bricks. I used Angie's List and selected Professional Chimney,  Doug returned my message the same day and went to the house and gave me an estimate within a day or so.  His estimate was just slightly above the estimate my parents had received from their roofer butI felt that Doug and his company were more chimney experts,
and he deducted a crack in the flue that needed to be fixed. His estimate was reasonable for all the work involved and he agreed to start in just a few days.

I just called my father and he is very happy with the work Professional Chimney has done.  He said they replaced 11 rows of bricks (more than we thought needing replacing) and the bricks closely match the original bricks. My father was quite worried that the bricks would not match and he is very pleased. They also complete a  few other repairs so the chimney is in good order.  Of course we'll know for sure after the next large rainstorm if there is any leaking, but right now we are very pleased with the company's work and would recommend them to anyone needing chimney repair.

Doug came to view the job while we were out.  Then gave us an estimate. Communication was by phone and e-mail.   For the job,  Doug came when he said he would, and did what he said he would.  He made a point of taking care of the old bricks.  The job took 2 days.  We were pleased with his work.

Everything went very smoothly. Doug Bergen responded to my initial phone call immediately, made an appointment for the next day, and showed up on time. We discussed the work to be done, I accepted Doug's proposal, and he installed the scaffolding that afternoon. He and his assistant did the work in a few days, leaving everything in good order at the end of each day's work. Doug had told me that the new bricks would not match the original bricks, but that he would try to make the differences as inconspicuous as possible. He did a very good job on this, blending in the bricks that were closest to the original colors. The work came in at $200 below the estimate. Doug clearly takes pride in his work and was responsive and professional throughout the process. When further work on my roof turned out to be necessary for an issue that had not been resolved by the chimney repairs, Doug recommended a roofer, called him on my behalf, and called me twice to make sure that we had made contact.

They arrived when they said they would. Worked straight through for 4 hours until work was completed. Very professional. My husband was home while the work was being done and was very pleased with the work. Will definitely use them again if we need to and recommend them to others in our area who need this type of service/repair.

During our home buying process, we called Doug who happens to be the owner of PROFESSIONAL CHIMNEY SERVICES.
PROFESSIONAL CHIMNEY SERVICES came highly recommended by a close friend who had a wonderful experience from start to finish.

Doug was pleasant to talk to, arrived the next day and was even early to the appointment.
Doug and his team mate were very thorough in their diagnosis of the structures which we already knew was in a state of disrepair. He walked us through the concerns so we could see them with our own eyes.

Despite the snowy conditions, He was on both roofs inspecting the build style, and overall condition of chimneys, flashing etc.
Doug  also cleaned out the completely plugged chimney that had been neglected from many years of oil burning service.
All without hesitation, confidently allowing us to observe every aspect of his services.
Despite the mess the plugged furnace chimney was in, there was zero mess left behind for us to be bothered with.

All in all, this experience was a refreshing one.
Coming from the service industry myself, I can appreciate not only someone who comes highly recommended, but also someone who still loves what they do after so many years.
It shows in the quality of work.

His estimate was detailed and quite reasonable.
I had a couple of questions and was always able to speak directly with Doug regarding my concerns.
We were pleased to see his recommended services didn't contain shortcuts or temporary fixes.
This is good for us since well be living in this home and raising a family there for many years to come.

I look forward to bringing PROFESSIONAL CHIMNEY SERVICES back to perform the scope work required to safely use our newly acquired wood burning fireplaces.

Thank goodness there are still some honest businesses who aren't afraid to go the extra mile to ensure the customer is comfortable with the transaction.

A++ to you guys, thanks again!

Doug Bergman is the owner of this company.  He and his staff worked in very harsh conditions and they did an outstanding job.  They were quick but they did a fantastic job.  They worked under very challenging conditions.  The clean up was well done.  I would recommend them to anybody.  They are local and they did a fantastic job.

The repair went very well.  Doug was very responsive in providing a quote and the results look very good and functions perfectly.

Our  chimney is very old and was in very bad condition, and in in a hard to access area of the house with a slate roof..  Mr. Bergen needed to postpone our originally scheduled date for a few days due to family issues.  He called as soon as he was able and we set up a time.  On that day a worker came and set up scaffolding.  Tthe top 4-6 rows of bricks needed to be torn out  and  replaced, as well as some lower bricks and interior portions of the chimney.  A new cement and metal cap was also added.  I was very happy with the job he did -  he is very compentent and did a good job.  A roofer I had asked me for the name of the person who did the work as his customers sometimes ask him to recommend someone to repair their chimney..

Never got a call back although I was told that a home visit and job inspection was made.  Have called twice for follow up and have nev er received a return call.  Very unprofessionAL

I SCHEDULED DOUG BERGEN TO VISIT TO MY HOUSE ON AUGUST 12 AND INSPECT MY TWENTY SEVEN YEARS OLD CHIMNEY FOR STAINING AND MISSING MORTAR AROUND THE BRICKS NEAR IT'S TOP. HE AND I AGREED THAT THE PROBLEM WAS TO BE FOUND INSIDE THE COMBUSTION VENTILATION FLUE. WE DECIDED  FOR HIM TO INSTALL A STAINLESS STEEL CHIMNEY FLUE LINER AND THEN TO REAIR THE MISSING MORTAR. DOUG TOLD ME THAT ONCE HE OPENED THE MASONARY WALL EXPOSING THE CHIMNEY FLUE HE WOULD KNOW HOW DIFFICULT THE INSTALLATION WOULD BE. HE ESTIMATED THAT THE PROJECT WOULD BE NOT MORE THAN $2,500 FOR HIS COLLEGUE BOB AND HIMSELF TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT IN ONE DAY. I AGREED AND SIGNED A SPECIFIED CONTRACT FOR HIS SERVICES WHICH INCLUDED PARTS AND LABOR.
DOUG AND BOB STARTED THE PROJECT ON AUGUST 24 WORKING TWELVE STRIGHT HOURS  AND DOUG FINISHED IT HIMSELF ON AUGUST 25 WORKING FOUR STRAIGHT HOURS. THE MASORY CONTRACTOR WHO BUILT THE CHIMNEY IN 1984 HAD TO HAVE SOME OF HIS WORK DEMOLISHED BY THE PROFESSIONAL CHIMNEY SERVICES OF MY CONTRACT.
IN ORDER TO SIZE THE PROPER FLUE LINER TO VENTILATE THE BTU OUTPUT OF MY NATURAL GAS FURNACE AND WATER HEATER; THE PCS OF DOUG AND BOB HAD TO REMOVE THE UNDERSIZE CERAMIC FLUE. IN ORDER TO ROUTE THE PROPER SIZE VENT LINER INTO THE BASEMENT FROM THE CHIMNEY; THEY HAD TO DEMOLISH THE MIS-ALIGNED MASONRY IN THE CHIMNEY BASE. THEY WERE ABLE TO INSTALL THE PROPER SIZE FLUE LINER AND CONNECT IT TO MY APPLIANCES. THEY ALSO PATCHED THE MASONRY CHIMNEY CAP. THAT WORK TOOK THE TWO OF THEM ALL DAY.
DOUG RETURNED THE NEXT DAY TO REPAIR THE MASONRY EXCAVATION, INSTALL A PROTECTIVE COVER ON THE CHIMNEY FLUE LINER AND RE-POINT ALL OF THE BRICKS WHICH HAD LOST MORTAR DUE TO INTERNAL CONDENSATION OF COMBUSTION GASES INSIDE THE IMPROPERLY BUILT CHIMNEY.
I THINK THE ORIGINAL MASONRY CONTRACTORS'  WERE EITHER NEVER INSPECTED WHILE THEY BUILT THE CHIMNEY OR THE CHIMNEY WORK ITSELF WAS NEVER INSPECTED AFTER IT WAS BUILT. I WOULD SUPPORT LEGISLATION REQUIRING MASONRY CONTRACTORS TO BE LICENSED BY ALBANY COUNTY TO PERFORM THEIR SERVICES BECAUSE IT EFFECTS PROPER VENTILATION OF COMBUSTION GASES FROM INSIDE OF BUILDINGS. 

Last January (2011) I went to start my woodstove for the first time in two years. The smoke wouldn't go up the chimney. I had had a new liner installed by another company in 2008, but I couldn't get this other company to respond to my messages. So I called Professional Chimney in Schenectady. Doug called me back within 2 hours and we arranged for him to come out the next day. He showed up on time and climbed up to check the chimney flue. Sure enough, there was a squirrel nest in the liner. When he tried to push it thru, the whole liner collapsed - was not installed properly. Decided to fix it in the spring. He also advised me that my existing 30-year old wood stove insert was no longer approved by insurance companies. He recommended I replace it with a new high-efficiency stove and most likely, I would get a tax credit to offset some of the cost. Doug recommended a local dealer since he doesn't sell the equipment, but he would install it for me.
In April, we discussed installing a new stove, reusing the collapsed insert and fixing the chimney cap. Agreed on installation in late April.  The bulk of the work was performed at the end of April in one day by Doug and his helper. After the concrete for the chimney cap was cured, Doug came back to finish the job at the end of May. There were some delays due to weather, but Doug always kept me updated on schedule changes. Mostly, we communicated via email, but he gave me his cell number in case I needed to contact him urgently He even credited the cost of the January service call on my final bill.
I highly recommend Doug and Professional Chimney Services. I will continue to use this company for all my chimney maintenance needs.

I SAW THAT HE WAS WORKING NEXT DOOR SO I CALLED HIM UP. HE WAS HERE WITHIN A DAY. WE DISCUSSED WHAT I NEEDED AND HE CAME DOWN, WITHIN TWO OR THREE DAYS IT WAS DONE. IT WAS EXCELLENT AND VERY GOOD.

THEY DID A GREAT JOB. THERE WERE TWO MEN THAT CAME TO DO THE WORK AND HAD IT DONE QUICKLY. THERE WERE A COUPLE DAYS THAT THEY WERE A LITTLE LATE BUT THAT WAS FINE WITH ME.