TOP HAT CHIMNEY SWEEP & REPAIR

The owner of Top Hat came to our home to inspect the fireplaces and chimney. The provider was late. When he came he cleaned out the fireplaces and then he spent some time on the roof to look at the chimney. He filled out paperwork saying that all was fine. A couple of weeks later we saw the chimney cap fly off the chimney and considering the size and force, we were lucky that it didn't hit anyone. My contractor looked at the cap and climbed the roof to see the chimney. He said that it had been yanked from its frame and needed to be re-welded. He suggested I call Top Hat since they were only ones who touched the chimney. I did call and the owner was very angry and defensive, saying that it wasn't his fault etc. and repeatedly said that I was unreasonable for suggesting that he would damage the chimney cap. He said it will cost us hundreds for him to come out and replace the cap. We addressed the issue  ourselves and a found a place to re-weld the cap and solved the problem. I would not hire or recommend this company again mainly because the owner is difficult to deal with. If he at least was easy to talk to I'd give him the benefit of a doubt. Unfortunately he is ornery and shirks responsibility in a combative way which makes recommending his service impossible.

Work was done on time and with excellent attention to detail.

The company's owner and an apprentice showed up almost an hour late but did let us know they were running late.  The sweeping itself went fine, and if that had been all that was done, we would have given this company a very satisfactory review.  We did also ask them to inspect the back firebrick in our fireplace since it had developed cracks, and as expected, the owner said that firebrick (refractory wall) would need to be replaced.  He offered to do it on the spot with third-party materials cut to size, and we accepted the offer.  It would have cost a little under $400.

However, we watched them spend more than two hours trying to pry the firebricks out of the box with a crowbar, holding them up with kindling sticks and the grate retainer clips, and the already-damaged back wall was further damaged in the process. We offered multiple times to give them dimensions and instructions that CAME with our fireplace, but the owner insisted he didn't need to see them, he was an expert and had been doing this for years, etc. At one point, he seemed completely baffled by the frame holding our glass doors on, insisting it wouldn't come out. I got a screwdriver and pointed out the mounting screws to him, undid one, and worked with his apprentice on getting one of the glass doors out. He continued to insist there was no way to get the firebricks out and tried to sell us on simply attaching new brick walls over the existing ones to cover up the cracks (which I now want to get independently verified before I even consider doing). We ended up with the fireplace more heavily damaged than when we started and with our entire evening shot, and the man only apologized for not being able to finish the job - when we pointed out that the fireplace was now further damaged than when we started, he insisted it was already damaged and any additional damage wouldn't matter.

It was basically all we could do to remain polite with this contractor - we paid for the chimney cleaning and agreed on not paying for any extra service (I would have refused to pay at all if he'd charged us for time wasted). At this point, I cannot in good conscience recommend this company at all - this is by far the worst service we have ever experienced for any sort of home maintenance project.

The very next morning, I inspected the fireplace more closely and found new damage to the side walls of our fireplace - new cracks directly opposite the chips and dents made by the owner's crowbar. This means all three walls will have to be replaced now, not just the back. I took photos of this damage and left the owner a voicemail about it, as well as filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau over the fact that the attempted repair caused more damage.

And to add insult to injury, the owner called me later in the afternoon and called me and my wife "absolutely despicable", accused us of setting up a booby trap for the express purpose of trying to cheat him, and threatened to take us to court and rake us over the financial coals.

This is beyond poor customer service. This is just outright crookery at this point.

Punctual, neat, and efficient. Very pleasant.

Did a pretty poor job in my estimation. I'm a single woman and probably he thought he didn't have to expend much effort as I'd never check the work. Take a clue from the insert installers and don't use this company.

There was a charge for the work, despite the short inspection. The sweeper was very apologetic about the required charge. He was professional however he was too chatty and stepped over the line in his personal discussions, making us a bit uncomfortable. The inspection however was worth the piece of mind to learn the chimney was safe and we will us them again, if we need a cleaning.

VERY PROFESSIONAL WORK, DONE WHEN PROMISED. SEEMS A BIT OVERPRICED, BUT MAY BE WORTH THE COST IF PRODUCT/SERVICE CLAIMS HOLD TRUE.

THEY WERE ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING! THEY WERE HONEST, ON TIME AND ON BUDGET! WE WOULD DEFINITELY USE THEM AGAIN FOR ANY SERVICES INVOLVING OUR CHIMNEY AND FIREPLACE.

MR. HAGEN WAS CHOSEN TO THE WORK BECAUSE HE WORKS ON BOTH WOOD STOVES AND OPEN FIREPLACES. HE WAS ALSO VERY REASONABLE FOR HIS FEES IN THE INSPECTION AND THE CHIMNEY SWEEP. HE WAS A VERY NICE CHRISTIAN MAN. HE PREACHED THE WORD OF GOD WHEN HE WORKED HERE. I PLAN TO REHIRE HIM IN THE FUTURE TO DO FURTHER REPAIRS ON MY WOOD STOVE AND TO BUILD US A MASONRY FIREWALL.

MY NANNY DEALT WITH AND SHE RECOMMENDED THAT I TRY THEM. SO I CALLED ONE DAY. I DIDN'T SPEAK FACE TO FACE TO THEM. WHILE OVER THE PHONE THEY WERE VERY COURTEOUS AND ANSWERED ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS THAT I HAD.