Winston's Chimney Service

They were able to set my appointment within 24 hours.  They showed up on time, called me to provide me with an estimate when they arrived on, completed the job very efficiently.  It only cost about $100 to complete a 2100 square-foot home.  My only complaint would be that when they arrived they were supposed to call me and provide me with an estimate.  Which they did, but they didn't call me in advance, so when he left the best message on my voice mail, then he just left.  But due to the mix up, he came back first thing in the AM the following day.  Perhaps I should have been closer to my phone, but I was in a meeting.

I would use them again.

They came out within three weeks of making the phone call.   They arrived in the time frame promised.   They got right to work, and worked as a team.  They were thorough, honest, and professional.  They left us with a brochure and suggestions for improving the safety of our chimney in the future.

The technician (Lenny) was on time to perform both the estimate and the repair.  He explained the needed work thoroughly and also explained that I did not need to have the entire chimney repointed.  He offered a couple of alternatives for the repair and was clear and concise.  The work was performed in about four hours and Lenny and his assistant cleaned up all of the old mortar and were very careful and considerate.

We are disappointed with our experience with Winston?s Services, although we do appreciate their efforts to make it right.  Their work damaged our marble fireplace and left a huge mess. Although the company made an effort to address our concerns afterward by sending repair and cleaning crews, we just wish our property had been treated more carefully in the first place. We had selected the company based on its reputation for quality workmanship and service. While the workmanship appears to be satisfactory, it was overshadowed by the mess and damage they left behind. As for service, we do think the company was responsive to our situation, but again, we wish we never had problems with them to begin with.

COSTLY DAMAGE.  After 4 days of work, we inspected our fireplace and found that the crew?s work had completely damaged our marble fireplace surround. Not only is the header cracked from top to bottom, but there are gashes in the side pieces and smaller cracks all over the header (see picture). This is completely unprofessional treatment of a homeowner?s valuable property. The crew clearly did not take proper care to protect the delicate marble fireplace.

MESS.  The crew also left a massive mess. There was chimney dust left all over the rooms they worked in. On the first day, I asked a crew member if there would be dust and whether we needed to cover our furniture. I noted to him that we had a young infant in the house. He responded that the dust would be contained, and that the area we had cleared for them to work would be sufficient. However, they started their work without initially installing plastic sheeting to cover the work area. They only installed that later in the day. As a result, they left our living room walls, ceiling, and furniture covered with dust. We have a 2-month old infant and are seriously concerned about the air quality. Our furnace air filters turned black after the job was completed, indicating that there is an excessive amount of dust throughout the house. The rooms where work was completed smell acrid. In addition, the crew did not cover all work areas. So, they tracked dust and dirt all over our carpeted areas.

DISAPPOINTING SERVICE. While we appreciate the efforts of the president, Chuck Hall, and the general manager, Richard, to make it right, these efforts obviously did not completely restore the situation. Chuck specifically said that he would personally replace the entire marble fireplace surround. But two days later, we learned that they would instead send a repair person to fix the existing marble. The repair person was obviously unable to restore the marble to its previous uncracked condition. However, we decided against having Winston?s replace the fireplace, as we were concerned that they would only cause more damage. In addition, the cleaning company came a full week after we reported the mess, after we had already spent a great deal of our own time and effort trying to clean the mess. The cleaning crew was unable get the soot stains off the walls and they will have to be repainted.

UPDATE. We appreciate that Winston's tried to make things right, but this has been a time consuming, stressful, and expensive experience.  Although the company sent out a cleaning crew and a marble repair person, neither of these efforts fully restored our property back to its previous condition. But we do appreciate Winston?s taking the effort to try to remedy our situation.

Excellent job.  2 person crew showed up on time and were very friendly.  The whole service took about 30 minutes.  They explained the type of chimney that I had and confirmed that it was in good condition.  We don't use it a lot but didn't know if the previous owners had used it much or not. They worked quickly to clean it and went up on the roof to inspect it.  There was one piece on the roof that was showing a bit of rust but not yet in need of replacement or repair. They explained everything they did and before long were gone without leaving a trace.  

They actually lost money on us by telling us that the chimney didn't need to be cleaned...I was amazed at their honesty.  It's refreshing to know there are companies out there not just pushing sales and services that consumers don't even need.  When it comes time to do work or actually clean my chimney, I'll call Winston's.

I was very pleased with their service.  Their price was cheap.  I appreciate them because they fixed my HVAC system.  They were nice about their timeliness and quality of work.  I would use them again in the future too.

I had the chimney swept (by a different company) and they recommended the reparging as the smoke chamber (built of bricks and stone) had gaps and cracks.  Winston's also gave me an estimate that was slightly higher, so went with the first company. But, they could not do the work because my smoke chamber is small and the technician couldn't stand up into the smoke chamber.  I thought that the company when the recommended the service should have realized this. 

I called Winston's and they were experienced with using a "sprayer" to apply the material. Appointment made for following week. The work looks great and there was absolutely no mess left behind - in what is likely a messy job.  They left the damper open so the material would dry out.  The only complaint (very small) is they did not leave instructions as when I could close the damper. But, the next day, the company put me right through to the technician who did the work and he provided instructions. The ability to talk to the person who did the work was a big plus.  Additionally, they enjoyed my dog.  :-)

They restored my chimney in 1997.  They clean my chimney every other year.  They workers are well trained and efficient.

They even prioritized which they would recommend that was needed to be done first. They have sent me the digital photos and an online estimate. I paid around $176. They charged to inspect, and to clean the chimney. I will use them again in the future.

We had lost power in my area and in a lot of other areas.  There was power outage and they came anyway.  I had no heat and I couldn’t use my fireplace even though it was done because you have to let it cure for so many days.  I couldn’t use it right away.  The attitudes of the guys who came out were superb.  It was cold but they worked right through.  They were informative.  They told me what they were going to be doing.  That’s what I liked about them.  They came out initially and looked at what I had.  They went away and sent me an estimate.  They told me what they would fix and I went with them.  One team came out and examined it.  They had the camera up the chimney and they showed me the cracks on the chimney wall.  They sent me a detailed report of what they would do and the cost of it.  I scheduled a repair with them sometime later.  Then a second team came out and they did the actual repair.  So both teams were professionals.  Both the teams were informative and polite.  I didn’t have any complaints with any of them at all.  It was so cold and there was snow on the roof, and they got the job done in spite of the cold weather.  I work in a law firm and I took the price into my office, and I happened to work with an attorney.  He looked at the proposal that they had given me and there were two options which were there.  He told me that it was a fair price.  So I went with his recommendation about the fair price.  They also cleaned up after themselves.  They were just professional.  I scheduled the appointment and they came when they said they would come.  I didn’t have any complaints.  They were here in the window that they told me they would be here.  They were not late when they came to see me.  They were punctual.  I thought that they were very professional.  They were polite and informative.  They knew what they were talking about.  When the second team came, there was no power.  So they brought a generator with them.  I called them that morning and told them about the power.  They were able to finish up using the generator.  They didn’t charge me for the generator.  I was able to recharge my phone by using their generator.  I would use their services again in the future.

They were top-notch.  This company was excellent.  They didn't over charge me.

They were great. Showed up on time. Worked quickly and efficiently.  I could've easily been taken advantage of because I know nothing about gutters, but they didn't [I think!] take the opportunity.  The guys left behind a bit of sludge from the gutter cleaning, but otherwise they were fantastic.

Very well. Winston was the only company of three that videoed the interior so we and they see exactly what repairs were needed.

Darryl and his crew came the very next day after work which fit my schedule, They arrived as it was getting dark and in fact had to use a light to finish the job (which made me a bit nervous) but got right to work and finished in very little time. They revented the water heater which was going to be replaced a week later (thanks to Darryl's recommendation) so it would meet code. Overall I was very impressed with the company and particularly Darryl. Caveat to the story. Never one to settle for one estimate, the chimney company that had installed a new chimney cap last Spring arrived a couple of hours after Winston's left to give me a recommendation . The guy came in, looked at the wet walls, went up on the roof and came down with a $4400 estimate to tear the whole thing down. I still worry that tearing the chimney down will have to be the ultimate solution, but so far, after 2 heavy rains, NO WET WALLS, so I hope we have it licked for good. Thanks Darryl and Thanks Winston's

Despite having used them for gutter cleaning for many years, I will probably find someone else to do so in the future.

It was good. They were kind. They did a good job. I had some scheduling issues with them, but I think that was just a problem of communication. I intend to use them again in the future.

The crew of two was great. They were very knowledgeable about the construction of the chimney and proper usage. Even though the house was empty, they put drop cloths down to ensure the area around the chimney stayed clean. I would definately use them again for any future chimney needs.

They were honest, and did not do work that was unnecessary. They were great.

The two gentlemen they sent our were very nice. They cleaned out the chimney from the fireplace and then went onto the roof. When he came down, he told me about my chimney, and the condition it was in. No repairs were needed at this time, he said. Also, explained to me how my chimney worked. He was very, very nice and cheerful. Both had great attitudes. They were done in about 15 minutes, because my house is only one story. When I realized that the price charged (which was not the lowest in town by any means) was for two-story houses, I felt a little bit like I overpaid. Perhaps in the future the company will institute a lesser fee for one-story chimneys? Also, I was surprised that they did not clean the hearth at all - I felt like for $179.00 for 15 minutes, they could at least have wiped off the hearth. However this is my first time hiring a chimney sweep, and so I dont know if that is normal or not.

Great, it was an outside job. They arrived did the job and left the bill in our door, without disturbing us. The only slight downside was someone who answered the phone, one time, wasn't overly nice.

We had a very old crumbling fireplace that needed repair in our 100 year old home. When Winston initially came out to do the repairs, Winston realized that the masonry was in worse shape than originally thought. Winston told us that it was going to cost about $3500 to have it repaired. Because of the nature and time of the repair, Winston had to come back three days later to do the work. When they came back, they were very professional and efficient and did their best to keep the living room clean and brick dust free. They actually completed the work for less than the originial quote and our fireplace looks better than we could have imagined.

They were very honest and provided before and after pictures of all of the work. Their prices were fair as well. They were on time and professional.

A two-man team was sent to the house and arrived on-time. The team lead was very knowledgeable, inspected my chimney and fireplace, and talked to me about the type and quality of the chimney. He then gave me some recommendations on use and frequency of cleaning. After which, he and his partner executed a thorough cleaning of the chimney and fireplace which only took them 30 minutes since it is a small system. Though the price seems a little high, everyone I dealt with at Winstons was professional, curteous, and thorough. I will be using them again.