I engaged Billy Chimney Sweep for a clean chimney and an honest safety assessment for my 1760 home…read more Instead, I received an inaccurate lecture on modern building codes, which an unaltered 1760 Colonial inherently cannot meet. The service focused on bureaucratic liability and upselling rather than a professional evaluation of historic masonry. The lead technician, John ("Jay"), asserted prior to any inspection that all five fireplaces were non-compliant and unusable based entirely on modern clearance rules regarding decorative wood trim within six inches of the masonry firebox opening. Under the Massachusetts State Fire Code (527 CMR 1.00/NFPA 1) and the Building Code for historic structures (780 CMR/IEBC), unaltered, grandfathered chimneys are entirely legal for continued use unless an imminent safety threat or "distinct hazard" exists. The code defines this as severe structural failure, like a collapsing flue, active fire, or carbon monoxide venting. My inspection confirmed that zero structural defects or hazards exist. Yet, Jay still declared them unsafe based solely on decorative clearances, stating "you cannot grandfather safety hazards." Based on his numerous anecdotes, this company successfully dissuades consumers from using legal, sound fireplaces because they do not meet new construction thresholds. Instead of evaluating structural integrity, Jay required a signed report acknowledging his assessment. He stated this form relieves him and his employer of liability, noting he can "overlook twenty-five structural issues but remain legally protected as long as the homeowner signs the form regarding the indifferent woodwork clearance." He also refuses to perform maintenance or repairs unless the chimney is brought to modern compliance. This misrepresents Massachusetts law; standard maintenance and component repairs are expressly permitted under 780 CMR without triggering a whole-system retrofit. Jay related multiple accounts of customers who disputed his code interpretations, citing a Vietnam veteran engineer in Boston and the President of the Marblehead Historical Society, who both told him his assessments were incorrect. He also mentioned a customer who ordered him to stop cleaning and refused to pay due to these code disputes, stating he compelled them to pay by threatening a contractor's lien on the home. The company charges a base rate of $375 per chimney. Jay declined to clean four of the five fireplaces at this rate, claiming one was too dirty for a standard sweep and the money for two others was better spent on a $2,000 "non-traditional sweep" for the dirty one. This required containment tenting and a temporary fan placed via bucket truck on the stack. Jay explained this policy followed an incident at a $15M Boston apartment where he failed to recommend this service, resulting in ruined furniture and a $7,000 insurance claim, stating he no longer tries to "be a hero" and mandates the higher price whenever he encounters heavy soot. The apprentice, Ian, who has cleaned for seven months, performed most of the physical cleaning. He was courteous and uninvolved in policy. However, on the first fireplace, I discovered he missed a corner of the stack, which he re-cleaned after I pointed it out. When Jay observed me taking photos and video of Ian, he specifically requested I not post them online. The number of local sweeps is limited, so I am not advising against them for standard cleanings. However, consumers should beware of unwarranted non-use recommendations, expensive upselling, and becoming another narrative added to their stories of dissatisfied customers who question their practices.

They did a great job mainly they help they diagnose a persistent gas problem. They're very…read moreconsiderate and they identified pretty much what I had to do and they verified that the chimney had nothing but nothing wrong with the chimney. I have really good things to say about them, they work for me 20 years ago, putting in a steel liner.

We highly recommend Bob and BGS environmental services for their efficiency and professionalism…read more We had a problem with mold growing in the attic due to poor ventilation. The whole process between first contacting them and finishing the project was so effortless. They kept on top of communications with quick updates and professional attitude. Bob not only dealt with our problem he gave us great advice on how to handle it in the future.

I had a dishwasher leak which damaged the wood floor in my kitchen. I reached out to BGS and Bob…read moreresponded quickly over Yelp. He evaluated the situation and provided a remediation estimate that was half of what ServPro quoted for the same amount of work. The actual job took two days with drying time overnight. Bob was able to cut out the damaged floor, remove the felt underlayment, and dry and clean the subfloor underneath. He also moved the appliances out of the way and put them back after the work was done. I'm very happy with the final results and I would recommend BGS to anyone looking for a water damage/mold remediation expert. - Alex S

Now THIS is how it's done. Surprised to be the first reviewer for these guys. Since I moved into my…read morehouse 6 years ago, replacing the entry door has been the looming project that never made it past the planning stages. This is partly due to the door being a 7' door which is an odd size, replacement options are limited and hard to find. The other factor is that, being a handy man, I needed someone who I felt was capable of doing the job better than me. It was also important that whoever I hired would put the care into the job that I would. I had several contractors scope the job and I either didn't get the impression they knew what they were doing or they were so far beyond my budget it was ridiculous There are a TON of crappy contractors out there, unfortunately I've hired many of them. Brewster Remodeling "nailed" it. Paul scoped out the job and I was impressed with his professionalism, knowledge and fair pricing, he's also a really nice and funny guy. We talked about framing down the raw opening so I could get a 6' 8" door and Paul was all over it, no problem at all. Over a few weeks of back and forth phone calls regarding part numbers for the doors etc, we got the doors ordered and set up a date for the install. They were here on-time, worked fast and were ridiculously clean throughout the entire install, I mean my steps and my foyer were cleaner than they've ever been. They finished up in a day and a half and I couldn't be happier with the finished product. They did a fantastic job and I'll certainly be hiring them again in the future. Brewster Remodeling is professional, clean, quick, smart, courteous and conscious of quality. As Paul said during the estimate "we keep the overhead low and the quality high". Nice work.

I recently had my kitchen renovated by Brewster remodeling. Paul from Brewster gave us a 5 week…read moretime frame for job completion and he was right on target. He was extremely punctual, was on the job each and every day and always professional. It was such a positive experience and my kitchen is now beautiful! I would highly recommend Brewster remodeling to anyone who is interested in remodeling their home.

George Painting services provide extremely diligent, reliable and quality painting job. Their price…read morestructure is very affordable. I got 15-17 responses from Yelp and George was the best in price and timeline. He went above and beyond to make sure he delivers what we asked for. We did pick little different color - he first painted part of it and face timed us - since we were not at home that duration - to make sure we liked it and we should go with it. Also, even though we were not home most of the time - when we went to inspect the work - house was kept dust free and tidy. I highly recommend this service to you. Thank you George for work well done!

responsive clear communication. cost competitive with others. listened to my requests and made…read morequality suggestions. kept workplace clean.

I see a lot of negative reviews but my experience has been good…read more System - They installed a large (52 panel, 12kW) system back in 2016. System design was good - the owner is a technical expert - and installation was quick and professional. Output exceeded the guarantee by a small margin and still does. Service - Over the last 9 years there have been a few minor technical issues but these were electronics-related not installer issues. They've always responded to calls - sometimes it takes a few day but they've never ignored me - and the issue always gets addressed. No one is perfect and Invaleon is no exception but they supplied a good system at a fair price and have performed work to contract.....and been pleasant to deal with. As part of my day job, I deal with big industrial contractors and in comparison with many of them Invaleon has been a pleasure to deal with.

They will not respond to you after setting up your system. Unless you are willing to hire a lawyer…read moretheir warranty is good for nothing. Recently, when seeking repairs I was able to get through to Invaleon's answering service, which referred me to Silvermane Solar, a company run by Sven Amirian, the same person who was on all my Invaleon paperwork 3 years before. The office manager at Silvermane told me that Sven started Silvermane after leaving Invaleon in 2018, but that timeline makes no sense since he was on my 2022 paperwork. Unless I get information to the contrary, I'm assuming they started Silvermane just so they can still (over)charge people for repairs while refusing to honor the warranty. Please use any other company but Invaleon.

We quoted out a roof job with several vendors. Furtado came back not necessarily the lowest price-…read morebut what APPEARED to be the best job quality and expertise. WRONG!!! The only expertise they have is in fraud. Paid a significant down payment towards work to begin (over $5000), they cashed the check the next day and now they are nowhere to be found. We are out thousands and have sought legal action. DO NOT USE!!!!! CONSUMER BEWARE!!

We got ripped off by Furtado & Sons roofing. They took $4k deposit and then NEVER showed up after…read moreweeks of telling us to wait. If ANYBODY has ANY type of info on them besides their disconnected #s or site? Any other names from the company, where hes from, what kind of truck he had, ANYTHING would help! Thanks so much!

John Is absolutely right I have used Mastercraft for…read morewindows In my home. 100% satisfied cannot any more happy with Job and the quality of the windows. Looking forward to the patio door. If I ever move from this home, Mastercraft will do the work on the next house.

Unfortunately unable to comment on quality of work done because Mr. O'Brien "wrote down the wrong…read moretime" for the appointment to give an estimate for a new roof, not once but twice. He didn't seem too disappointed that I chose not to try for a third appointment. I can only assume he doesn't need the work. He gets two stars, one for answering the phone and the second for acknowledging I was on the schedule.