Christman Chimney Repairs

He did very good work. The fact that I haven't had any more problems and there's no leaking and I don't get any sort of water leaking down into the basement from that so quality is good. I would recommend them for their integrity, reliability, quickness of work, and their quality.

<p>I called for an <strong>estimate</strong> and made an appointment for 9:00 am on Saturday, Nov. 15.  John showed up about 8:15 with his 2 young workers who checked the chimney in the basement and then went on the roof.  The chimney had some missing bricks but other than that, needed nothing... the liner was in fine condition.  John told me they could do the job immediately for $785.  I said, how about $750 and he said ok.  They were there for about 40 minutes, re-cemented the missing bricks and put stucco all the way around the chimney.  </p> <p>I made a check out to John Christman Chimney Repair but was told I had to make it out to him directly so I had to rip up the check and make out a new one.  </p> <p>I really had only wanted an estimate since I had no idea if that was a fair price but felt I was caught off-guard and agreed to have him do the job.  After he left I decided that the price seemed very high for the amount of work that was done.  I tried to stop payment on the check but it was cashed IMMEDIATELY.  The next day I called a few other chimney repair places and they told me that the price seemed high for the amount of work that was done. </p> <p>I suppose the lesson learned here is ALWAYS get at least 2-3 estimates before committing to having the work done.</p> <br />

THEY CAME TO GIVE ME AN ESTIMATE (ARRIVED EARLY).  ONCE THE ESTIMATE WAS GIVEN, OFFERED TO FIX IT ON THE SPOT, SINCE THEY WERE THERE.  WE AGREED AND THE WORK WAS DONE IN LESS THAN AN HOUR.  THEY EVEN CLEANED UP THE BASEMENT FLOOR ONCE THEY WERE DONE.  GREAT JOB!  VERY PROFESSIONAL AND COURTEOUS. <br />

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Chimney was crumbling into its self.  My only concern was that he had to leave to go to a plumbing supply store to get a part that I felt should have been on the truck since he didn't mention it was unique and had to be purchased on a case by case basis.  That caused a delay in completing the work.

Professional, quick and complete. <br />

Called Christman Chimney Repair on Wednesday. They arrived on Thursday. <br /> After inspection and cost estimation, I agreed to the work and price, and the crew started that afternoon. <br /> A medical emergency (not job related) caused the work to be interrupted. They explained the circumstances and promised to finish the job the next day. <br /> The next day they arrived, finished the job, billing exactly what was quoted. <br /> The work  looks good, the flashing repair stopped the leak, as evidenced by the lack of leaking  during the Hurricane, and things appear to be in a good state. <br />

A project I had been thinking about for years was completed in two hours, no muss or fuss.  John Christman and his crew showed up the day after I called. We discussed a price on the spot, and his crew got the job done in short order.  Amazingly smooth.

I called Christman Chimney Service on Monday, 10/24 and left a message to schedule an inspection and cleaning of the chimney and fireplace.  John Christman returned the call the following day and the work was scheduled for the following morning.  The crew arrived about 8am.  After an inspection of the chimney, fireplace and pipe from the heater to the chimney, they reported the fireplace was in good condition, but the portion from the heater up the chimney needed to be replaced; it was rusty.  After discussing the work needed and quoting me the price, I agreed and the work was done.  They were very clean (they moved furniture and covered the hearth and rug with drop cloths before working on the fireplace) and all work was completed that morning.  I am happy with the job that was done and feel the price was fair.  We have used Christman Chimney Service in the past and plan to continue to do so in the future.

great

John came prepared to complete work (needed very high ladder) did inspection and provided multiple solutions at different price points and allowed us to make choice about solutions. His work was thourough, quick and he was very polite and gave tips about care and maintenence. I would recammend him and will call him again if more work is needed.

It went wonderfully. We were able to have a fire in our fireplace after living here for one year and having the former company screw up our chimney! Would recommend this company any time. Extremely professional, fast and what they quote is what you pay!

At the recommendation of my appraiser, I had a liner installed in the chimney that vents my gas boiler and hot water heater. At the time, I thought they did a fine job. Fast forward 4 years later, and I discover that they only installed a PARTIAL liner. I didn't know this partly because I was new to the homeowner thing and didn't know what questions to ask, and partly because I didn't understand exactly what they were doing. And I even watched them work. Apparently my chimney is full-sized from the second floor up, but on the first floor the previous owners, to avoid having a bump-out in the party wall, had removed the original chimney and replaced it with 2 x 10ish terra cotta stacked tiles--too narrow for a liner to fit into. Christman only installed the liner from the top to where the chimney is offset on the first floor. I did not realize this at the time; their invoice even says "install liner to offset" but I didn't have a clue what that meant, and I take responsibility for not asking. However, they did not bother to explain any of this to me at all, and I now feel completely hoodwinked. They were also extremely messy where they installed the liner in my second floor bedroom - they cut into the chimney to (I suppose) pull the liner down from the top. In doing so there was brick dust all over the room--they didn't put covers over anything and didn't suggest that I do so. They slapped some cement over the hole they made and then left--it looked terrible after it dried. The entire process probably took them 20 minutes, which should've been a red flag to me right there. Now that I'm better versed in home renovation, I now know to ask better questions and get a full understanding of what is desired, planned, and actually done with any project. I feel Christman completely took advantage of my lack of knowledge and naivete. Live and learn.

It went well. They were very responsive. Fair price. Good quality.

Although Christman's price was reasonable and they were able to do the job soonest, we regret hiring them. Unfortunately, we knew nothing about chimney liners or proper venting procedure and thought they had done a competent job until last month (11/09) when we had a heating contractor do a maintenance check on our boiler. We learned that both our boiler and hot water heater were not venting properly and carbon monoxide gas, which is poisonous, was spilling into our basement. After consulting two other chimney contractors, we learned that Christman had improperly connected the ducts to the chimney liner so that there was insufficient draft to exhaust the boiler and water heater, and the ducts were not sloping upward enough to allow a good draft. We had to hire another contractor to replace all the ducts and the liner correctly, and when they opened up the wall to do so we saw just how poor a job Christman had done. The main liner was twisted too much to allow good air flow from the boiler, and the connection between the water heater duct and liner was nothing more than a large, roughly cut opening with the duct resting in it loosely. We're lucky our basement is old and drafty and allowed enough air in and out to keep the gas from building up and harming us or our pets.

Fast, helpful, and very responsive. We called at 9:15 and they were here at 10:15. The whole thing took about 20 minutes. Three men came in, looked at the chimney. Gave us some good advice about drawing the smoke up the chimney and gave us some bricks to prop up our log grate, since they thought more air is needed below. Friendly, fast, and super-efficient.

On Saturday I left a message about my interest in having a chimney cap repaired/ replaced & perhaps also of installing a liner. John returned my call within 15 minutes, asked when is the best time to come, & I said weekends, whereupon he offered to come the next morning -- a Sunday!! I was delighted. The next morning he arrived as scheduled with 2 workers. The 3 collaborated in a diagnosis with John making decisions -- to clean the chimney, install a metal flex liner, & top the flue with a flat gas flue cap. I agreed to the price, & they did the work right away, it took 3 hours. When checking out the basement furnace they discovered that the flue from it is L shaped, & in order to access the turn of the flue to get the flex throught it, they'd have to drill through a brick wall. As soon as they started to drill, John stopped that strategy because of the overwhelming amount of dust it would circulate through the house. On to plan B: insert a flex liner from the furnace to the L bend, and from the chimney top down to the L bend -- there was no way to connect the two liners. They also cemented the bottom of the cap and put roof muck to seal it and the seams of the chimney next to it. The quality of John's experienced problem-solving and the knowledge & skill of the workers impressed me. They used my camera to take before & after pictures, The downside is what they left in the basement: even after I gave them one floor blanket and offered more, they laid their drill with a greasey tip on the new carpet, staining it. While they were here I used a hand vac to prevent grinding the soot into the carpet, laid down more carpet covering, & left the dustbuster for them to use. They didn't, so they left grit, small dabs of wet cement, & black dirt on the carpet -- fortunately the dustbuster got that all up. Also, when they were finished in the basement, they did not move the heavy exercise equipment that they'd had to move back into place -- which I didn't see 'til after they'd left. It is too heavy for me or even John to move alone. So there it sits blocking the place where a chair & table usually are 'til I can get someone else to help move it.

I called Christman Chimney on a Friday to get an estimate on a chimney liner and cap. They came over about 30 minutes later to check it out (They were in the area already). They gave me an estimate which I was happy with. They came out the next morning to do the work. Everything went smoothly and I was very happy with their work.

It went very well. Extremely satisfied with their service. Very typical sort of a job that they did. Never had any experience with chimney cleaning. A lot of uncertainty that was cleared up fairly well by the workers and their business.

I was having a problem with my chimney not drawing smoke. Called for an appointment on Friday, got one the following Saturday. They had a cancellation so ended up calling me and coming out the next day. Assessed the problem and told me that I needed to raise the fire itself in the fireplace and also needed a liner. They picked up supplies and installed it that morning. Prompt and professional.

I called Wednesday morning and set up an estimate for 9 am the next day. John showed up 15 minutes early and his guys were on the roof in seconds checking it out. He explained what needed to be done (liner inserted and chimney capped and bricks patched up) clearly and quoted $785. This was cheaper than the $800 to $1100 estimates I'd gotten. I assumed I'd have to make an appointment for the following week but he said they could do the work immediately. Deal! They were quick, tidy and fast. They were finished and cleaned up by 10 am. Great work. Very professional. Great value.

It was a good experience. They did what I wanted them to do, and they got the job done within a reasonable amount of time. I found the company and it's employees capable and accommodating when it came to scheduling the appointment and the completion of the job.

I called Christman on Wednesday, July 2nd, left a message on the answering service and got no reply. I called again the next day, Thursday, left a message and got a reply later in the day. An appointment was made for them to come by the next day, Friday July 4, but they came by later the same Thursday and gave me an estimate. The following day, July 4th, they arrived a few moments early to do the job. They worked quickly. They were finished in no time at all.

Great. They responded quickly and they were very conscientiously clean.

We called. They came the next day, figured out the problems, and then fixed them. They were here just over an hour (a big part of the price was the chimney insert). They were pleasant and organized and cleaned up completely after themselves. We've asked them to come back next week to stucco the part of the chimney that runs through the attic. We're pretty experienced with maintenance and repair; we've lived in our old barn/house for over thirty years and we have a couple of small rental properties. So when we say this company is like some miracle from Maintenance Heaven, we know what we're talking about.