Almost everyone is trying to save money these days, and with a vengeance. After all, the sting of various present day economic factors has given most of us a rash to one degree or another. Having delivered my services, first as a chimney sweep and later performing full-blown masonry repair, I am reasonably certain that I can give some advice that will save you, the homeowner, a decent amount of money in the near term and/or long term. My observation over the last 20 years is that in the Portland, Ore. metro area the chimney trade is divided up into 3 types of technical persons:
CHIMNEY SWEEP
A Chimney sweep typically only performs chimney cleaning and installation of raincaps and dampers. There are some very good sweeps around. There are also some that will make anyone who knows the business shake their head and wonder what the person could have been thinking.
Some chimney sweeps may write repair estimates with the intent the actual work would be performed by a mason within the company. In these cases the hope is that the sweep knew what to examine when the bid was written.
There can also be cases when they do not inspect thoroughly enough. (Like the chimney sweep I heard about who told a potential customer she needed a "stainless steel lining system" for her furnace chimney to remedy a carbon monoxide leak in her basement. They based their assessment on the "fact" that they could smell the carbon monoxide leak…).
REPAIR TECHNICIAN
Some repair technicians will also create estimates. Typically repair technicians will prefer to do the smaller, less technically involved repairs. Other work will often be passed on to a mason.
MASON
Masons will perform the large jobs. They also tackle the more technically difficult jobs.
Of course, there are exceptions, to listed in this article, but these 3 descriptions are commonly seen when dealing with the bigger companies on the block. In the case of smaller operations it will be an entirely different story. The key point is that it is critical to always make sure whoever is attempting to sell you a repair or service really knows what they are looking at. They also must have the integrity to do a thorough inspection and honestly recommend the work you need. Your money is wasted if you purchase a repair that you did not need or worse, purchased the wrong repair.
CHIMNEY SWEEP
A Chimney sweep typically only performs chimney cleaning and installation of raincaps and dampers. There are some very good sweeps around. There are also some that will make anyone who knows the business shake their head and wonder what the person could have been thinking.
Some chimney sweeps may write repair estimates with the intent the actual work would be performed by a mason within the company. In these cases the hope is that the sweep knew what to examine when the bid was written.
There can also be cases when they do not inspect thoroughly enough. (Like the chimney sweep I heard about who told a potential customer she needed a "stainless steel lining system" for her furnace chimney to remedy a carbon monoxide leak in her basement. They based their assessment on the "fact" that they could smell the carbon monoxide leak…).
REPAIR TECHNICIAN
Some repair technicians will also create estimates. Typically repair technicians will prefer to do the smaller, less technically involved repairs. Other work will often be passed on to a mason.
MASON
Masons will perform the large jobs. They also tackle the more technically difficult jobs.
Of course, there are exceptions, to listed in this article, but these 3 descriptions are commonly seen when dealing with the bigger companies on the block. In the case of smaller operations it will be an entirely different story. The key point is that it is critical to always make sure whoever is attempting to sell you a repair or service really knows what they are looking at. They also must have the integrity to do a thorough inspection and honestly recommend the work you need. Your money is wasted if you purchase a repair that you did not need or worse, purchased the wrong repair.
SHARE
