Chimney Doctors

Steer clear. Never showed up on time, always 11am or later, canceled three times, failed to show up with necessary supplies for the job (ie no paint, no sealant, no 2x4s), took 2 hour lunches after starting late, measured the cap wrong so now there is a 2 inch gap all around and the chimney pipe is crooked. Steve has no desire to make it right.

pleasant, professional, will use again.

Terrible- a nightmare

I called and they were out there within a day or less. We set a date for them to come back. They came back on the date that we discussed. They threw in the free chimney cleaning in addition to the work that we were having done. It took them about four hours and we had no issues with the workers. The cleaned up after themselves.

Please see the attached documentation regarding our critique:
February 24, 2013
Attn:  Steven F. Skloff, President
Chimney Doctor Corp. of Virginia
As on February 13, 2013, we contacted Batchelder & Collins, Inc. to secure assistance with locating a chimney contractor to adequately provide repair services for reparation of water leaks in our chimney.  They referred us to your company, Chimney Doctor Corp. of Virginia. We assumed in speaking with you, that you would be able to adequately take care of our needs.  
It was our intent to hire your company to do the necessary reparations, including replacing of aged mortar, filling in the gaps and any of the existing cracks in the brick work.  To prepare the surfaces it would be necessary to grind the surfaces where the mortar connected to the  old and new part of the chimney.  We discussed this with you as we made our decision in hiring your company to do the work.  QUESTION: what good is it to apply the Crown Coat for $350.00 and the Water Seal Coat for $1400.00 if the above was not attended to first?  Was the work even checked to see if the job had been done properly?  **See following pictures taken February 22, 2013.
According to your invoice, an addition of a Flue Joint Smoke Chamber parge was handled by your technician for the amount of $525.00 with a 3 year warranty.   Also a new stainless steel chimney cap has been installed for the amount of $225.00 with a lifetime warranty.  Also, your invoice claimed the flashing was not properly designed and would have to be reinstalled by your contractor services.  As a point of interest, our roofing contractor observed that the existing flashing, in fact is properly installed, when the roof was completed in 2008. So there was no necessity of replacing the flashing.   
As you can see from our communication, we are not pleased with the outcome of Chimney Doctor Corp. of Virginia services as rendered.

We got an immediate response after contacting them, and service two days later. All three representatives we dealt with were courteous, efficient, and professional at all times. The inspection fee was waived after we agreed to have the work done and the price very reasonable, given the work and materials they had to put into it. They even did an extra procedure that needed to be done but was not previously discussed at no additional cost. They came when they said they would and did the job quickly, efficiently, and at a reasonable price. I couldn't ask for more from a company.

I had a poor experience using this company.  The process to resolve the leak aound my roof took about a month.  This company had to come out several times to repair the leak.  It took them three visits before they applied the correct material to stop the leak.  They eventually figured out the leak was the result of an improper seal on my flashing, not due to issues with the chimney.  Had this company had the knowledge to correctly identify the issu up front, they would have appropriately resolved the issue without having to stop out to my home several times.  Furthermore they did not feel liable for the leak damage that occurred in my home during the month they were trying to fix the issues.  I do not recommend them to others.

He finished the chimney, I wrote him a check for the full amount and shortly after the chimney started to make a lot of noise because of the wind. I called him, but he said that there was nothing wrong with it. Eventually he sent someone out to check it out and that's when I discovered that he did not get a permit. He went to the city to get a permit at this point and they made him tear all of his work out, put it back together and it is still has the same problem--not as extreme as before--but the problem remains. 

Now when I try to contact him he will not return my phone calls. I am still afraid to use my fireplace to this day. The outside of my house is still not finished.

This is an update. Chimney Doctors agreed to a partial refund, the amount was mutually agreed upon. I give Chimney Doctors credit for taking action which in my mind has 'made me whole'.

We scheduled the service and they showed up on time. They were very professional and they did a great job of cleaning up everything when they were done. We have actually used this company for the last 3 years to do the service checks on our chimney. They have always been very fair to us.