Colonial Chimney Sweeps

Excellent from start to finish.

Great-he even showed us some parts that needed repair on our woodstove and removed an old antenna from our roof. Very helpful!

All done without any mess.

Great. They were careful, clean, fast, honest, and did a great job getting our wood stove ready for winter!!! Would definitely hire again and recommend.

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Lynn arrived at the scheduled time and inspected the chimney from the roof as well as inside the house.  He prepared the living room for the cleaning and was finished within an hour or so.  He had one other man helping him with the job.  He noted that the chimney cap was in good working condition and the fireplace had been built with quality materials.  Lynn pointed out the flue and the best way to open and close it.  After completing the work, he packed up his tarps and equipment.  I was very happy with Lynn's work and information about chimneys and would call him again for similar jobs.  I would not hesitate to recommend him to someone in the future!

Lynn returned my call to schedule an appointment quickly, and arrived promptly. He did a very thorough chimney sweep and inspection, keeping the work area the cleanest of any service we have ever used. He found a couple of potential problems, and after showing me pictures, thoroughly explained possible solutions. He was very knowledgable, pleasant, and professional. No pressure for additional work, and his price was very reasonable. We will be using Colonial Chimney Sweep again.

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I recently bought a 1960s home in Newark, and I wanted the chimney cleaned before I felt safe to use the wood burning fireplace this winter.  Lynn arrived on-time and was very professional.  He informed me that the flue liner is visibly cracked in two places at the very top of the chimney.  He explained, using pictures that he took of the cracks, that it was therefore not safe to use.  Lynn also took the time to explain my options with a broken liner and even took measurements of the fireplace which I was able to then use to purchase gas logs.   I look forward to having him install these new gas logs!
It is worth noting that my home inspector did not see the cracks at the top of the chimney, and I highly recommend all new home buyers have a professional like Colonial Chimney Sweeps perform an inspection before using your fireplace.

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Arrived on time and went straight to work.  Showed me the soot build up before and then again after they swept.  I hadn't used the fireplace at all after I bought the house 10 years ago and wanted it checked first.  Good thing I did, they found that the top of the chimney was blocked with a metal plate for some reason.  They removed the plate and now I'm good to go.  Answered all my questions about the fireplace and didn't leave any mess.  Very good value.

Lynn was very responsive and personable when we called to set up the appt.  He was prompt and friendly.  He made sure to spread a cloth to wipe feet on when coming in and out of the house. He also put down a tarp in front of the fireplace and put on a coverall while standing on the tarp to keep from spreading soot inside the house. He listened to my concerns about taking care with the new chimney cap my husband installed last year, and had a diagram to show what parts of the fireplace he discussed with me.  
Lynn cleaned the fireplace from inside the house while his assistant worked outdoors on the chimney from a ladder.  They were able to work despite bad weather and completed the work on time and for the amount quoted. I highly recommend Colonial Chimney Sweeps and would definitely use them again. 

When he pulled the stove out, which was quite a job for him to do, the pipe crumbled so he had to replace that.  He was very reasonable and very nice. He was on time for both appointements.  I would definitely use him again.  He brought a thermometer to put on the stove so we knew when it was as hot as we needed it.

We were quite pleased with their punctuality, cleanliness, thoroughness and professionalism.

We needed an estimate for repairs for a chimney on a property we are getting ready to sell.  We found Colonial Chimney Sweeps on Angie's List.  Lynn (owner) set a time to come and inspect the chimney.  He arrived right on schedule.  He looked at the chimney and told us that the repairs that were needed would need to be done by a mason.  He did not charge us for his time (and this property is in the country).  He was very professional and friendly.

We had a raccoon family in our chimney. Once we evicted them we needed a cap to keep other unwanted animals out . Colonial Chimney Sweeps gave us a reasonable estimate and did excellent work. He was very professional, friendly and explained to my husband and I exactly what he needed to do and our options. We highly recommend this company!

Overall it went OK.  I would give an A- or B+ if that were an option on Angie's list.   It took 3 visits to complete the install our satisfaction, which is where the pipe did not leak when it rains.  Lynne (owner) did not charge again for extra visits to correct problems with the initial install.  Below is a summary of the good and bad points for this install.

Good parts

1. Lynn Livingston (Owner) is very nice guy.  Easy to talk to, easy to get along with.
2. Lynn provided a lot of helpful advice to us for where to place our stove and how to maintain it.
3. Good communication and always showed up when he said he would.
4. Respected our requests to be very careful on inside work when penetrating ceiling
5. Did not squabble over returning to correct water leaks
6. 12 foot stainless chimney has been installed very solid.  He anchored the chimney to house and roof.  Time will tell on the roof anchors.  I am hoping they are are properly sealed and will not allow water to penetrate our metal roof.
7. Cleaned up after himself and did neat work.

Bad parts

1. Selkirk chimney cap leaked water in a blowing rain.  I ordered a better cap from the internet and Lynn refunded the cost of the cap to us.
2. Storm collar around stainless pipe allowed water to penetrate and leak down side of pipe into house.  Lynn returned to work on problems #1 and #2.
3. After second visit, we still had water coming in around storm collar.  Lynn returned for a third visit, added a second storm collar (at no extra charge) and added extra FlashSeal sealant around the pipe to prevent water from coming in.  It's raining hard today (over an inch of rain in last 24 hours) and no water is coming in.

Overall, I would recommend Lynn.

This is the second year that we have used this firm. They were referred to me by a good friend who has used them for over 20 years. We have used two other central Ohio sweeps in previous years, but neither has been as thorough or as professional as Colonial. When Colonial came out in 2010, they discovered that the reason we had had some smoking from our woodstove firebox was that the previous year's sweep had pushed in the flange of a section of stove pipe while screwing the sections of pipe together. This reduced the draft and caused the smoking. Colonial fixed the problem and also re-gasketed our stove at our request. When they (actually only the owner, Lynn Levingston) came out in July of 2011, he did a great job of sweeping the chimney and cleaning out the stove. He also sealed the chimney cap with silicone seal after we mentioned to him that we occasionally got some water dripping from the stove pipe after a rain. They are very thorough and professional and take care not to leave any soot or dirty handprints behind - all for considerably less than we were paying for Columbus-based sweeps. I highly recommend them.