BROMWELL'S
About us
Bromwell's Fireplace and Fine Art Gallery is Cincinnati's oldest operating business. Established in 1819, Bromwell's has served Greater Cincinnati for generations. Our highly skilled and professionally trained installation and service staff is prepared to assist in the design, installation or repair of all of your fireplace needs. From gas logs and glass doors to whole-hearth makeovers, Bromwell's has the resources and skills to improve the appearance and performance of all your fireplace and hearth needs!
Accepted Payment Methods
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| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 87% | ||
| 7% | ||
| 2% | ||
| 0% | ||
| 4% |
My only complaint about both jobs was the length of time it took to complete them. The glass fireplace doors in the family room on the first delivery were not the right size and on the second try the wrong type of door, but the third try all was well. To Bromwell's credit they stayed with me and made sure I was completely satisfied and I am.
The vented gas fireplace I believe was started towards the end of February and final inspection was the end of May. All of the delays were certainly not the fault of Bromwell's as some were due to inspection delays. But having said that we had to have repeat inspections because of code violations and at times we were also waiting on Bromwell's fireplace installers. But once again this was a coordinated effort between their framer (who was excellent) and the installers (who were also vey good). And since this was their and quot;busyand quot; season the installers were not always available.
Over all I am very pleased with the final outcome and cannot say enough positive things about the workmanship on both jobs. I do not think one could find a better carpenter than Bill. The installers of the fireplace also did a fine job by me as I requested the chimney be routed to the back of the house where as the fireplace was in the front of the house and this was done through the attic.
Compliments should also be paid to Todd who coordinated this job and stayed with me from start to finish to make sure all my needs were meet and that I was completely satisfied. Which I am!
I would strongly recommend Bromwell's for their quality of workmanship but suggest one try to schedule them during the and quot;offand quot; season.
The framing of the fireplace took about a week. The gas line then had to be installed and the propane company came out to do their part. JT did a great job hooking up the fireplace and doing the roof work. The stone work was a long job. Bill carefully cut each piece and it turned out beautifully!
The crew was very polite and tried to keep our home as clean as possible. Cardboard was laid on the hardwood flooring and runners to/from the doors. Each night Bill cleaned up the work area.
My only complaints would be that the stone work took longer to complete than estimated (a month, instead of a week). The other was that all the materials were stored in our garage and I didn't have a place for my car for 2 months.
We are very happy with our fireplace as it is now the focal point of our room. It was good to have a fire this long, cold winter. The workmanship is outstanding and we've had many compliments. We would definitely recommend Bromwell's.
Since last summer, two issues have come up and Bromwell's has fixed them both. Thanks again.
"Thank you for this feedback . We have since changed our policy due to communication gaps such as yours . Our technicians are instructed to call the store after service has been performed and address any customer concerns , parts needed or new requests .This has really helped speed up the communication process and eliminate the additional steps we used to go through in getting back to the customer."
Here is the time line:
In the Fall of 2012 I called Bromwell's because the Pilot wouldn't stay lit. A technician came on time and was quite knowledgeable and repaired the system. It worked for a year but then the same problem happened again.
I called Bromwell's again in the late Fall of 2013. A and quot;bodyand quot; came and grouped around and said that we needed a new Pilot. I said go ahead and order the part.
I didn't hear from Bromwell's, so I called them and the person on the phone said that the product was back ordered. I thought it was funny that they did not give me a date when the part would be delivered. So I ask for the Manager and he said they were quite busy because of their Christmas business and the company that supplies the part normally .delivered the part in 2 weeks.
I got tired of waiting after 3 weeks and got on the ground to check all of the wire connections. The system worked after I did this. On Thanksgiving, my Son in Law, who is a Senior Electrician at Duke Energy, inspected it and said that all it needed was a Thermal Generator that cost around $5.
I waited for Bromwell's to call to install the Pilot and after approximately 8 weeks, on January 23rd they finally called and said that they were ready to install the new pilot. I told them that it was working and didn't need there services. I wouldn't call Bromwell's for any services again.
"I can understand how frustrating this would be . Unfortunately when you have an older unit it becomes more difficult to find the parts . We must use the parts supplied by the manufacturer and can not use generic ones due to liability and warranty . The customer in this case was not charged for the service call."
"The part was ordered and when it arrived we called the wife to schedule , she said she would call back to schedule and we have never heard from her , the part is still sitting in will call."
We went to their show room in late September and met Todd. He was very nice and showed us an option for an insert we liked very much. However, the fireplace was covered up by a stucco coating and faux brick that we wanted to remove. In talking with Todd, we thought we could do the demo ourselves and then call Todd to have him come out and give us an estimate.
A week later, we had the demo done and called Todd to come out. The fireplace was shallow, but we had looked at it and was sure we could knock out a layer of brick in the back to make the insert fit flush with the front. We didn't want it to stick out into the room. Todd agreed they would look at that. We also discussed how to vent the fireplace. It was a double chimney and again we thought with some work, we could tap into the other side of the chimney since it was unused too. It was agreed and Todd went off to do the quote.
Two weeks later, we got an email with the quote. It was now latter October. We went down to the store again and met Todd to pick out the new mantel and make a down payment. We were told that Todd would have his plumber contact us about getting the gas line run to the fireplace and we went home happy and looking forward to maybe a new fireplace by Thanksgiving.
Well, two weeks went by and no word from Bromwell's. No call to let us know when it would happen, no call to give us a name of the plumber. Then the plumber finally called and came out. He ran the gas line, but when he was done it looked like he had an erector set and had fun in the basement. There was a gas line within 3 feet of the fireplace that would have been a straight run to the fireplace, along a wall and up against the ceiling. Instead, he chose to tap into the furnace supply and wrap pipes around the furnace, hanging the pipe from the furnace duct. I hope we don't have to do any furnace replacement soon because now we have a web of pipe around it. Not to mention that you have to duck under the new gas pipe as you pass by it. I wasn't happy, but at least it was progress.
After the plumber, I expected Bromwell's to call and let us know when the installation would then take place. But again, no call. Another week and a half passed and I finally called them. It seemed to me they had no idea that the gas work was done and I was informing them. Not a good sign. So we scheduled a date the following week for them to come out and do the installation. They also told me that they still didn't know if they would have the mantel ready yet.
Unfortunately, I had an appointment that I couldn't miss the day they were coming, so my wife stayed at home to let them work that day. I returned home from work, excited to see out new fireplace. I get home and wow.... it was not right. The insert stuck out into the living room 4-5 inches and the venting into the chimney didn't happen. The new plan was to build a metal box sticking out into the living to cover up the insert and we now had a hole cut through the side of the house to vent the fireplace. It was like all the discussion I had with Todd about how to do it, what we wanted, never happened. It was apparent to me these guys did whatever was easiest for them. No attempt had been made to cut the rear bricks out, no attempt had been made to feed the vent pipe up the chimney or tap into the second chimney. I was livid. I called Bromwell's and left a message that night. Todd called me the next morning and to his credit he came out the next day to look at it.
It was too late to do anything about the hole in the side of the house, but I wanted that insert tucked back where it belonged. Todd agreed to have his crew come out in a week and take the bricks out. We are now in well into December. This time I made sure I was here. The crew came back out and they were polite and pulled the extra layer of brick out and tucked the instert in. It looked so much better. There were some gaps around the insert so they needed to make a metal plate to go around the insert and cover the gaps. They took measurements and off they went.
Finally in the second week of January, we were called to tell us the plate was ready. Again, I couldn't be here when they wanted to come out, so I told my wife, do not let them do anything other than drop the plate in place. We had been waiting since October for them to finish the insert to put new bamboo flooring in and it was now in and I suspected they would want to cut some of the flooring to get the panel in. I knew I could adjust the brackets on the insert to avoid this, so I didn't want them touching it. So they ended up dropping off the panel and just leaving it. I pulled it out of the box when I got home. It was sheet metal that had been bent and cut to fit the opening and then spray painted glossy black. I had expected cast iron to match the fireplace insert, especially with the $250 price tag for this piece of metal. It didn't match the insert in color and looked odd. So I went down to the hardward store and bought a $4 can of high temp paint that looked like cast iron and repainted it. Made a big difference. Then I adjusted the brackets and installed it myself. Extra work for me.
Two weeks later, Todd called me and asked if we were ready to have them install the panel. I told him it was done. I had done it. So he asked and quot;Should I just charge the balance on your card?and quot;. After all that had gone on, was I just going to let him charge me without seeing the final invoice? After all the original quote had all the materials for venting it out the chimney and that never happened. I just envisioned them charging me for that and having to fight to get that money back. So Todd emailed me the new invoice within a few minutes. It was accurate, so we didn't complain, we just wanted to be done. It had now been 4 months to get a gas insert.
We love it. It is beautiful. If you choose Bromwell's be prepared to supervise, call them to get info, and be there when their working so you can make sure you get what you want.
"This was a very difficult install and we were working with an existing fireplace that needed alterations to make this work . This took a lot of communication and multiple trips to complete to customers satisfaction . In the end the customer was pleased with the result. You will not find another fireplace company that could do the job turnkey . We take the good with the bad and try to make all customers wishes of having a great fireplace a reality . My only comment is that the customer was never there when we were doing the work and small details can get lost in translation ."
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