FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
Every chimney is a separate entity unto itself and is therefore as unique as its owner. This can therefore affect pricing by causing it to go up or down. This would mean that your price could be more or less than the individual down the street from you. Another thing that dictates price is the size and type of appliance being hooked into a chimney. For example, an 8" pipe will cost more than a 6". We try to be as accurate as we can on our pricing but occasionally, hidden damages are found deep within the chimney or walls of the home. This of course is more common in old homes where codes never existed during the initial construction of the home. If we do find hidden damages then the price would of course increase over the original quoted price as we would have to include extra labor and materials to bring everything to current codes. We are never willing to sacrifice safety for cost so we would show you detailed photos of the hidden damage and explain why we are having to add to the bottom line of the budget.
- What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
This truly depends on the customer and the job. For a sweep and/or inspection it is as simple as getting them on the schedule and doing the job. With estimates, we need to make one or more trips to the home to get all our measurements and design ideas in place. With redesigning a fireplace we typically get our measurements and get to know our customer's tastes by presenting them with a random montage of sample pictures. What they become most excited about helps us to start in the right direction for the final design process. This may take multiple visits to the home by our on-staff designer.
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
The owner has a degree in Residential Design and a degree in Business Administration. She has also completed many courses in real estate and HIPPA compliance. She specializes in upcycled design and historical design. She is in charge of the office as well as designing customers' homes and fireplaces. Our tech, the husband of the owner, started his career in the stove industry working for Abundant Life at the Rainbow Mall in Portland Maine back in the 1970s. The rest of his life, well over 45 years now, has been dedicated to the stove and chimney industry. Their son has been doing chimney work with his family part-time since he was a young child. He mainly installs liners, Metalbestos, and woodstoves but has shown excellence in masonry as well. He is currently enrolled in PATHS in Portland Maine and has earned his refrigerant certification. He is studying HVAC and plumbing. He will soon be OSHA certified and will be graduating from PATHS in 2024.