Ye Olde Chimney Sweep

Met Dan for the first time today. He was on time, friendly and really knew his stuff. He knew the codes, how to properly light a fire, venting and pretty much everything about fireplaces. Dan was honest and said I didn’t need a cleaning and charged me for an inspection only. The only time I do Unilocal reviews is if I have great service to rave about otherwise I don’t bother. I highly recommend Dan.

Always a great experience. Used them for both fireplace cleaning and clothes dryer vent cleaning. He is a current firefighter and who else to better ensure your fireplace is up to safe standards? He gets really geeked out on proper fireplace usage so be prepared to chat a bit about that.

Had Jim come over to investigate the alleged crack in our firebox reported to us during home inspection at purchase. Determined it was not needing a fix and gave lots of great tips, advice and recommendations for future use. Great professional service and useful and honest details from Jim. Will use again if needed (but according to him, it won’t be) and recommend to friends.

Excellent service! I would recommend Mr. Murphy to all of my friends. He cleaned our chimney, installed new universal brick and gas dispenser. All around great experience.

This was one of the worst customer services experiences I have ever had. I made an appointment on October 19 for an inspection of our 4 fireplaces/​chimneys. Dan came by, seemed very nice and knowledgeable. He recommended modifications to 2 of the 4 fireplaces. When the appointment ended, we agreed to schedule the follow-​up visit to complete the work. He said his office manager would call us — this never happened. I tried to call their office multiple times and never got a live person — only the recording from Jodee. When I finally did reach her at one time, I was told our file was in Dan’s truck and that he knew what work needed to be done and that he would do the scheduling with us. This also never happened. When I did reach him on the phone to ask abut the follow-​up, I was told that he was too busy with other work and that an appointment could not be made and that he would call me when the back-​log of work cleared. It is now January 30 (3 months later) and I am giving up. My personal view is that this was a scam to take a quick $ 200 from us for less than one hours’ worth of work inspecting our fireplaces and that there was never any intention to come back and complete the work. Now I have wasted $ 200 with nothing to show for it and will have to go search for, and hire another company who will also want to charge me for an inspection before any work is done. DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY.

We made a mistake. We used them again. We had a chimney that worked fine for 10 years, but wanted to deal with a small issue with the chimney. However, when they were done, this chimney no longer worked (smoke started coming into the house!). Instead of offering to come out and look at the problem, we were told that we needed to learn how to light a fire (even though we have never had a problem like this in the past). I should have known better. Note that this company apparently changed ownership in the past year or two (or so).

Had dan come out and sweep the chimney of the house we bought 2 years ago. He was prompt, clean and did a good job. And he was honest, said we could get by with a cleaning every 3 years because we don’t use it much.

We had an ongoing issue with water getting into the walls around the chimney. Had the roof around the chimney sealed with a liner but the moisture kept leaking into the walls. We thought we might need a liner so had Dan from Ye Olde come out to inspect. We did need a liner he determined and also checked to make sure we had a working carbon monoxide detector. (He is also a fireman and his commitment to safety shone through.)
He ordered the parts and came out a couple Saturdays later with One assistant to install. Everything went smoothly until they ran into a skinny dislodged clay liner brick about 10 feet from the bottom. It was wedged in good. It took both of them quite a bit of time and effort to push that brick back into place but they finally got it. They redid the vents from the furnace and the water heater also. Everything was great. I can’t recommend Dan highly enough.

I had a similar experience as others. Lindeman took one look and said I needed a liner for several thousand dollars, but it felt wrong. I double checked and I was right, it was wrong. Ye Olde Chimney gave me a fair inspection and did not try to upsell me. They were honest and professional and nice.

Professionals of the best kind. Not knowing anything about the fireplace in my new home I had Dan come in and check out the setup and make sure everything was in working order. He did just that and took the time to explain all of the elements, how they worked, how to maintain them and even how to convert to wood burning if I chose to. He was on time, efficient and honest with his pricing. He could have easily taken me for a ride not knowing anything about fire places and chimneys. Thank you so much.

I had a similar experience to J.P.from Wilmette. Lindemann came out last season and told me I needed to reline my chimney and remove and replace the damper – to the tune of $ 4750. I believed them, but did not have the money to do the work so we just stopped using the fireplace. Boy, am I glad I went for another opinion!
Dan from Ye Olde Chimney arrived and had much better news. He explained that dampers sometimes do not operate properly because they become unseated due to either creosote build up on the smoke shelf and/​or improper damper handle operation. These problems are easily cured with a chimney cleaning and instruction, which he provided. He also reseated the damper– all for under $ 200. He suggested adding a fireplace cap, which I plan to do. Oh– and our existing clay tile chimney liner – it’s in excellent condition! Thanks Dan! We couldn’t be happier.

When I called these guys up the first time to have a chimney cap installed, the person I spoke to was very nice and said that they’ll have someone swing by in a couple of days to look at the chimney and give me a quote. The best part is that I didn’t need to be around for any of this. Unfortunately, a week goes by and I don’t hear back.
So I call them back and ask what happened. Apparently, there was some mix up and they forgot to call me. Well, it happens, so I let it slide. They had looked at my chimney and gave me a quote. This guy will install it while I’m at work, and then leave a bill in my mailbox. So another week goes by and I don’t see a chimney cap installed.
So I call them back and ask what happened. The woman on the other end was very apologetic and would contact whoever was supposed to install it. About two hours later, I hear from the chimney sweep and he asks me how many chimneys I have. At this point, I’m wondering: shouldn’t he know this? Apparently not! I get a new quote that’s twice the original! Clearly, he didn’t visit my house and just pulled some number out of thin air.
At this point, I should’ve just let the whole thing drop, but decided to give them yet another chance. I agree to the quote. However, I’m told that the specific cap is out of stock and needs to be ordered. It was supposed to only take a few days. So another week goes by and I don’t see a chimney cap installed.
So I don’t bother calling back. Eventually, they leave a voicemail to confirm the installation… over a week later! I haven’t called them back, nor will I.
This whole painful process took over a month. This company is going well out of its way to not accept my money.

Friendly, prompt, fair, good. These guys are firemen! Sidenote: Firefighters do NOT get enough credit, they are totally heroic.
Anyway, we have two chimneys in our big old graystone and will definitely call them again. They came out last week and it was great service, no upselling. Plus, who knows more about fire safety than firefighters! a win win.

Dan howed up on time, was very nice, polite, and very helpful with tips and general info on keeping our fireplace in good working order. As new owners it was very welcome.
Inspection was quick, didn’t try to upsell anything we didn’t need, let us know what to be mindful of and when in the future he estimated we’d need a proper cleaning. Well worth their reasonable inspection charge.
See ya in three years — Thanks again!

Excellent! Informative, honest, on time, fair price.

I can not stress enough how wonderful Jim Duffy of Ye Olde Chimney Sweep is.
We recently moved into the area. When we purchased our house we were told by the house inspector we needed a new fireplace damper. Our realtor gave us the number of a chimney sweep company. They came out, and basically scammed us. They told me we not only needed a new damper but a liner for the chimney, chimney caps and liners for the furnace. Their quote to accomplish this was $ 6,000. They cleaned the chimney for us, even claimed a brick nearly fell on one of the guys heads! Threw in some scare tactics about being safe for our children, not wanting carbon monoxide, chimney fires and so on. Smelling a scam I didn’t bite.
Our local fireplace store here in town gave me Ye Olde Chimney Sweeps name. I called them and was able to make an appointment within a few days of the call. I explained upfront I did not want to be cross sold on what I deemed to be unnecesary items. I was told that many companies do that, they do not.
This morning, the day of the appointment, Jim called me to let me know he was on his way. When he arrived I was immediately comfortable and at ease with him. He listened to my abridged story, took one look up the chimney and said «you do have a damper, come here let me show you, you also have a clay liner, it is spotless and in excellent condition, your chimney is capped, all you need is a handle. If this was my house and my fireplace I wouldn’t do anything but add the handle, you don’t need anything else. If you have 2 fires a week you won’t need to have your chimney cleaned for 3 years»
Holy smokes! How unbelievably refreshing. He could have agreed with the first company, he could have said I didn’t need this but did need that, he could have said I needed him out here to clean every year and I would have been none the wiser. Instead he was honest. He attached the damper, showed me how to use it, talked to me about wood, and $ 101 later we are good to go.
Sadly these days honest service people are few and far between. Jim Duffy is one of those rare exceptions. I highly recommend him, you won’t be sorry.

When I have chimney /​fireplace issues, I’m calling these guys.
I’ve used Ye Olde Chimney Sweeps twice and on both occasions I’ve felt they’ve had my best interests front and center.
On the first visit, they told me the chimney didn’t need to be cleaned so they inspected the chimney and answered all of my newbie home owner questions. (They could have charged more to do a useless cleaning and I would have never been the wiser). Instead of telling me to do an annual cleaning, they suggested a follow up visit it two to three years – and told me that if I kept number of annual fires low, I may *never* need to clean the chimney! (I couldn’t believe a chimney sweep was telling me I may never need his services ! wow!)
The second time, they confirmed appt in advance, called when on the way, came early, left early, and were really, really clean. They cleaned the chimney, serviced the damper and did some tuck pointing to repair mortar in the firebox.
On both occasions, they were knowledgeable and professional and could use clues from the chimney soot and fireplace wear to made suggestions for better fires — wood, racking, burn temperatures, etc.
I trust these guys to inspect, clean, or do minor repairs for my chimney and fireplace. In my opinion, you get better, more reliable service from «small shop» chimney sweeps than from a larger firm that cares more about scaring you into buying an unnecessary stainless steel chimney liner.

This service is unprofessional, untimely and not able to carry out their promised work. I recently contacted this company and scheduled an appointment one month in advance and was provided a 3 hour window on a Saturday. It took 3 phone calls the week before to get confirmation of the visit. Finally at 7PM the night before the appointment, I received a phone call «Is your side street well plowed with ample parking? If not, I may need to cancel as my truck doesn’t park very well in the snow. I wanted to let you know that I will come by, but may not be able to make the appointment if I can’t find parking.» Bear in mind, this conversation took place 3 days after the most recent storm. This is CHICAGO, if you cant drive in the snow, find another business. And when is the customer in an urban environment responsible for providing parking? The most disappointing aspect was that Tim wasn’t the slightest bit apologetic. I would avoid this firm, they clearly don’t want the business.

I was so impressed with the attention & information that Jim gave one of my customers, that I called him to our home. Our fireplace had just been installed only 2 years prior, & didn’t need cleaning. His very reasonable inspection charge along with the information that he left us was quite a value. Three years later our chimney needed cleaning, & his fee is still very reasonable. He works quickly, and when he was finished, there wasn’t a stray ash anywhere. He will take the time to suggest ways to make your fireplace use more effecient, & is very personable as a bonus.
Thanks Jim Duffy Ye olde chimney sweep ! !