Lords Chimney

I have a leak that 3 different roofers could not located.  The 3rd roofer speculated the chimney vent cap being at a slight angle might be the cause the leak, so i called Lords June 10th.  They made an appointment and inspected the vent.  They were dubious that it was in fact the skewed vent cap causing this occasional leak, and suggested to replace the roof jack.  I had to try something, so I instructed them to proceed with replacing the chimney roof jack.  They scheduled a future appointment to do the work.  Lords had a couple of conflicts with the scheduled time, but called and rescheduled each time and that was acceptable.  The work was finally done on July 10th.  It took them 1.4 hours to do the $600 job.  (8:25am - 9:50am per security camera).  This is why I gave them a "B" on price, as $600 for 1.4 hours seems a bit steep, but we should never equate speed and efficiency of a worker to price.  Another company might have taken 4 hours to complete the same task.  I, for one, am happy if a contractor can get in and out a quickly as possible.  The problem is, I don't know how long it should take to replace a roof jack, so I believe a "B" was a fair grade on price.  
Time will tell if this plugs the leak I am after.  I still think the skewed chimney vent may be the cause, since the leak only occurs when we have a westerly blowing rain (the cap is skewed to the east thus water can enter under the cap from that angle.)  However, Lords Chimney has more experience than I, so I went with their recommendation over mine.  I hope they got it!

We've had our dryer vent serviced about 5 years ago because I suspected tint buildup -- burning smell, slow drying time etc... I didn't want that to happen again, so I scheduled an appt for maintenance reasoning. Lee came out and inspected the vent.  Everything checked out, no lint buildup etc.... this go round:)  If you want peace of mind, give them a call. Lee actually arrived early -- he called first to make sure it was okay. He was our technician 5 years ago too which says a lot about this company.  Their prices are a little higher than some, but you get what you pay for.

I have converted my fireplaces to electric. I have 3 chimneys and they fixed them all. They closed the tops off so no water or animals can enter. I would recommend them!

Lord's was very good to let me know when they were coming.  They met the terms of the service and did a good job.

I was very pleased with their service. They were very thorough, very courteous, very clean and followed through phone calls. There were no surprises when they came out and catered very good service. Their work was very good. He was in our house a couple of times just taking measurements just to make sure the proper parts to order. They charged fair prices which depended on the work done.

They did well and I was pretty impressed with them. I wasn’t here and my wife was actually here. She said that they did a great job. They were very professional. After looking around they were pretty comparable to everybody else on price for what they did. They were able to get up there really quick. I am pretty sure there were right on time. I am pretty sure they were here when they were supposed to, if not little bit early. 

They were very professional and on time, but they were too expensive.

I called the company and was politely greeted by a gentleman who indicated that he had another client on the line, but took my phone number & promised to return my call, which he did promptly within a few minutes. Our conversation was jovial as he inquired as to the nature of the work that I was seeking to have done. I indicated that I wanted to have my chimney inspected and cleaned as I was planning to start using it, after not having done so since the purchase of my home several years ago. We scheduled the appointment within a 2 hr window for a week later, and he advised as to pricing and the name of the technician scheduled to perform the work. On the scheduled day, I received a call 30 minutes in advance advising of estimated arrival time, which was well within the 2 hr window, and the two-man team arrived as expected. After confirming the work to be done, they explained what they were going to do, covered their feet, placed a covering over the floor, and got to work. The whole thing probably took just under 30 minutes, during which time they were friendly and polite, answered all of my questions and inquiries regarding the work they were doing as well as other things that I was considering. In the end, they advised that I did not need a cleaning, and advised of the modest, though fair, reduced fee since no cleaning was required. I will definitely ask use their services again, and recommend to friends.

This job has not gone well at all. My first appointment was on the 11th of January. Lee came to determine why our fireplace was not igniting. He said it needed a valve and possibly a pilot assembly. Charged $99.95 for that news. They placed an order for the $625.00 valve and I paid the required half $312.50. I called on I/17/2013 and was told that their supplier for parts takes a long time. My next appointment was on 2/7/2013. Lee arrived with the valve and at that time discovered that it needed the pilot assembly because the line had been mysteriously cut. As of today 2/23/2013. I have not heard anything from them. All receipts from them indicate that any money I have paid is non refundable. I have no idea if the price for the parts are competitive. My house is 20 years old and I was told that this is the reason for the parts not being available. The parts must be on a really slow boat from China. My expectation to have a working fireplace for our short winter here in Houston has faded. So far I have a disassembled non working fireplace and have paid $412.45 for it. This job is not completed and I have no idea how much longer I will have to wait...

The gentlemn that came was very courteous, identified himself and gave me a buiness card immediately.  He spent a total of about 30-45 minutes at my house and that would come to about $300.00 - $320.00 an hr.  I think that is a little steep.   The service was necessary and it was done and I will probably try someone else next time to compare price.  The only bad part of the experience besides the price, was the girl that answered the phone and made the appointment.  She was very abrupt, almost to the point of being rude.  She made me feel like she was doing me a favor to answer the phone.  If I had not been in a crunch and needing the work done, I probably would have called someone else.

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The technician diagnosed the issue to a lose connection on the fireplace receiver. Fixed the connection, charged me the $100 to diagnose the issue/trip and left. Later that day I tried to run the fireplace again and the same issue persisted. Called the company back and they recommended to replace the bad remote/receiver. I asked if I did replace the part, will it be possible to credit the $100 (diagnosis fee) towards the repair (which to me is standard) and they said no. They were actually candid to say, "even if companies did that, the diagnosis fee will just be tacked on to the cost of the repair anyway".
Fine, I asked for an estimate of replacing the part and they said they will reach out to the manufacturer and get back to me. Didn't hear back for a week and followed up. The owner/person who answered the phone was apologetic and said that they would follow up right away, and did. Estimated the cost of just the part to be ~$350. Did not provide me with any additional information of make/model so I could actually get an idea of what I would be receiving. Did offer to drop it home (which was nice).
However, I  looked up the part on Amazon for the exact same remote/receiver I have right now and it was selling for $85. I can only conclude to say that they were trying to up-sell a fancier remote that I did not need. The technicians were knowledgeable but I didn't find them to be trustworthy.

Overall everything went fine. 

After calling two other chimney companies who did not have the right equipment and could not access our chimney as it is higher than most, I called Lords. They came out and had a 32 foot ladder to gain access. Due to the missing chimney cap, we had a family of raccoons who had taken up residence on the side of the chimney so Larry was very helpful in using their camera to see there was a mom and two babies. On the first visit, they suggested we let the babies grow and leave on their own versus extracting them. After 6 weeks, Lord's returned to ensure all animals were out and then repaired the chimney. We have had no issues since the repair, and do not wish to have any more wild animals share our home.  Lords people were polite, on time, informative and we were happy with their work.

UPDATE 8/17/12: After posting this review the company went out of their way to contact me and correct the situation as there was a miscommunication of the overall process and what I was expecting. Without my asking the company offered to refund the the charges minus the Chimney Cap and a few days later the check arrived in the mail - a real class act. They obviously care about their reputation and do in fact want the customer to be happy with their services. Base on this I would recommend this company knowing that if there is an issue they will go out of their way to make it right,

Over the past couple of months we have had birds nesting in our chimney. When the sound died down my wife recommended that we get the chimney cleaned so I checked Angie?s List and called Lords Chimney. I requested that my chimney be cleaned due to bird nesting and was told that they could not do that if the birds were still present ? checked again and confirmed that they were in fact gone whereas she set a date and time for the sweep.
My wife stayed home for the appointment and we had agreed that we would not buy anything except the cleaning (due to my past experience with contractors that are more interested in up-selling than actually performing the work).
The sweep showed up ahead of the scheduled and performed an inspection of the fireplace and chimney and went on to explain all the things wrong with the unit (new bricks, heat shield, pressure wash, mortar, crown coat, chimney cap etc.) that they could complete for a mere $3420. She called me up and relayed what the sweep had stated. Of course, another one of these contractors ? called to do one thing and come up with a dozen other things that they need to repaired/rebuilt.
I inspect the unit every season and if I thought there was a problem I would hire a professional to correct it. The issue that I wanted addressed was a bird?s nest infested chimney!
My wife and I discussed it on the phone and agreed on a cap and a cleaning. I burn a cord of wood a season with no issues other than the birds in the early summer.
The sweep installed a cap and stated that it didn?t need cleaning! Total cost $390.00! $129.33 (where does the 33 cents come from) for an ?inspection? that we did not need, want or request (on the invoice he crossed out cleaning and wrote ?insp?); $250 for a chimney cap; and $10.67 tax.  A 13x13 stainless steel cap for $250? Check the price of that cap online! $129.33 for showing up and looking at your chimney?
Basically, $400 for a chimney cap and no cleaning! What a waste.

We didn't have time to get estimates because it was a safety feature so we went with the first available. The receptionist was very good about following up.

Based on previous reviews, I called the company to ask them to come and give me a quote for brick repair work to the top of my chimney where several bricks had broken loose and fallen. Told them chimney had been inspected & swept recently with no structural/operational issues. I just needed about a half-dozen bricks replaced at the very top of the chimney.
However, I was informed that there would be a $99 fee for them to come give me a quote, which would be applied to the job (but how do you know if you want them to do the work if you can't get a quote first?). Two other brick masons are scheduled to come and give me  free quotes. What's up with a $99 charge for a job-quote? So, if they don't do the work, they still get paid? That gets an "F" in my book.

The work was well done and thorough. Prior to this test, several companies gave conflicting opinions on the source of the leak.  Lords conducted a series of tests and concluded that the flashing was bad and needed to be replaced. One person was on the roof spraying water while another was at the leak watching for water. I was present to confirm their results.

They used a camera that showed the insides of the chimney and after that they cleaned the insides using the wire brush/broom. When complete they cleaned out the fireplace and left the house with everything looking as it was. Great job!

 The serviceman, Larry, and his assistant were punctual, very professional and very helpful with suggestions regarding maintenance of the chimney.

The inspector was prompt, young, clean cut and professional.  He was the only chimney inspector we had who didn't smell like smoke!  He was very thorough in his inspection, using a camera.  He found several things not ideal about the fireplace and chimney and gave us some nice glossy brochures about the problems.  The estimated repair costs came out to over $3000.  We knew that our chimney probably needed some work, since it's in an older home and hadn't been looked at for at least 8 years. But we felt the estimated cost of the repairs was quite high and that we should get a second estimate.  Also, not knowing anything about fireplaces and chimneys it was unclear to us whether all the repairs mentioned were essential to make the fireplace safe to use or if some of the repairs were more to make the chimney more perfect and ideal.  Being in Houston and not using the fireplace much, we went with a vendor that provided less extensive repairs and charged less.

A three-man team arrived on time and presented ID just as their site promised. They were polite, not just to me, but to each other and took the utmost care to keep my home clean while doing the work. The estimate was thorough and I was given options to complete all or part of the work to fit my budget. Just awesome--they have already been recommended to neighbors needing work on their fireplaces too!

They came out and inspected my chimney and gave me an estimate to replace my fireplace. They were recommended to me by Angies list. They were very prompt and price quote was right on.

They did an excellent job.  My dryer vent was so backed up that it was as hard as the bricks.  It was close to starting a fire.  They did a superb job.  I hired them because they were the number 1 rated on Angie’s list.  They were very professional and they did the job correctly.  I spent $150 on their services.  I will absolutely use their services again in the future.

Vent was cleaned and dryer now works acceptably.