I reached out on February 16th and Eli came out to "fix" my chimney leak on the 18th. He's come out 6 total times including assessing and attempting to fix, with no change to the flooding across a third of my living room.
Eli was late almost every time he came out. He once called me to ask when he scheduled me for. Another time he told me I would be his first stop at 0800 so I asked for the morning off work. I called him to ask where he was at 1000. He told me he was still finishing up his previous job.
I finally had enough on April 02, when he told me this was normal and that all chimneys leak so the only options I had were replace the whole thing, cap it off so I can't use it, or get a custom chimney cap made.
During his leak test, he used my hose directed at the outside of the chimney to watch for water leakage. When I argued the logic of where he said the leak was coming form, he sprayed water straight down my chimney multiple times to demonstrate his point, even though it didn't prove anything. "This is the interior, this it the exterior. Interior. Exterior." I ended up cleaning all the ashy water he pointlessly spattered everywhere.
Eli basically slapped some messy sealant around some areas of the chimney and wrapped metal sheet around the pipe. The sealant above the second story is sloppy enough to tell from street level. The metal wrap lessened the heat/air escape gap under the cap, and he screwed it into the pipe without sealing the seam or screws. I got 3 new opinions that each said the metal wrap/flashing was not fixing the leak but may allow more water through the unsealed seam and screw holes. I told him I was getting second opinions and he begged me to let him try his last fix. I let him come out and he threw a little fit about how I shouldn't have let the other companies pull his metal wrap off and he's done working for me. He probably needed an excuse out of a job that was beyond his capabilities.
My suggestion: don't waste your money. Spend it somewhere more reputable. I should honestly ask for mine back.
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I posted the above on Google reviews and in line with his trend of unprofessional behavior, he responded by calling me a fool and proceeded to lie.
If you go check out his response, know that the only time I rescheduled on him was the last when I called to fire him. He begged to try one more thing so I told him fine, but I had to reschedule. I had already made plans with my husband since I had planned on firing Eli. I suppose I and all the other people commenting on his lateness must be wrong.
He lied about the amount. We paid him $400, not $300. I've added my invoice to the pictures. He originally quoted me for $375, then changed it to $385 when he came back for the fix, which I accepted. My husband tipped him the rest.
I also never told him any guess on what the problem was. I told him where water came in and trusted his "20 years" of experience. The only time I argued about what I thought the leak was when he rushed his leak test. He hosed the inside of the pipe, then moved the hose. He tried saying, "see there's water coming down" from the new location, while it was still dripping from the previous. I argued about that not being conclusive.
When I called to fire him he asked what they said the issue was. I said the other companies all said the chase cover was one of the issues, at which point Eli interrupted, guaranteeing that wasn't the problem and proceeded to ask to come out one more time. I didn't even get to tell him any of the other problems they saw, all of which he missed during the 6 times he came out.
I guess my husband and I, along with the other companies that said his work was poorly done, are the fools. I certainly feel like a fool for having hired him in the first place.
If you had a poor experience with him, please review on Google AND Yelp. I wish I'd seen his Yelp rating before choosing him. read more
