Walter, the owner, is old school so far as sales tactics are concerned (he tries to spoon feed the needed work--and cost--and I would have preferred to hear everything up front), but in him I got someone who came out on a holiday day off, and then did the work on New Year's eve because he knew how important it was for us to have our heat restored. If you are looking for words, someone else might be sweeter, but if actions matter to you, Walter is your guy.
Our problem was poor draft due to a poorly designed unlined brick chimney paired with a modern oil furnace. Walter first cleaned the chimney and went the extra mile to get the existing chimney to carry us through the season. When black smoke started coming into the house he jumped at it but it turned out to be a furnace problem. We got him to install an external stainless chimney, and he absorbed the cost of the previous lengthy service call that involved another expert chimney construction guy, Ted. Now we have an excellent chimney with good draft, no more diesel fumes odor in the basement, and they rerouted the furnace exhaust pipe away from the wall where it was thoughtlessly installed by the furnace installers. More importantly, I can rely on someone who will go out of his way to help in case of a future problem. We already have him scheduled to replace the chimney cap on the old chimney, and to seal the fireplace through which the black smoke was coming.
When you call, you'll talk to Walter's wife who is a pleasure to deal with. She promptly alerted Walter whenever there was a problem. She even drove an hour and a half away to fetch parts that weren't shipped in time for the chimney installation.
Walter was featured in This Old House and when you talk to him you'll know why. He really knows how chimneys are supposed to work and carries with him a work ethic and attitude toward longevity and quality of work from an era when those things mattered. Highly recommended. read more
