Lakes Region Chimney Pro
 

My old chimney sweep retired and EnergySaves in Meredith recommended a company called Lakes Region Chimney Pro. These guys were just great to deal with!

Two younger guys came out to my house. I was impressed with how knowledgable and polite they both were. The owner of this company should be very proud of his staff.

So good to see the younger generation working hard and taking pride in their work!

I've used them a few times and they did a great job but every time they come out they try to upsell me something for my chimney. Just be aware because there's really no money in just cleanings.
It's like going to the dentist for just a cleaning, they always seem to find something else wrong to get you back again.

I had a great experience with them. Recommended!

I would disagree there is no money for the sweep in cleaning chimneys. In most cases, there are little to no supplies to be expended. For a nice round figure, let's say the sweep is charging $100 for the cleaning. My sweep uses an 8 in brush for the insulated pipe, and then a 6 in brush for the stove pipe from the stove to the reducer. Once that's done, it's inside to loosen the slip pipe and stove connecting pipe, slide it up, and open the stove pipe to vacuum out the chimney soot off the combustion blanket in the top portion of the stove. Chimney is inspected, and all is reconnected and done.
Whatever time is spent at the premises is mostly all profit, if you will. Our sweep schedules, to the extent possible, multiple appointments in the same community or area. Very little travel time.
Just my opinion. I could do the work myself, but I am not happy going up on the roof, working with the stove pipe in the house, and I like having our sweep checking out the chimney annually. Oh, and only once has he recommended something be done (chimney cap be replaced, told me I could do it if I wanted to, and did. ). I have been dealing with him for over 20 yrs.

Dave

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You obviously have never owned a small business and don't realize all the other expenses that go along with running one. Workers Comp Insurance rates for employees going on roofs have some of the highest rates. And if they don't have insurance you don't want them on your roof. There's a lot more expenses than a few brushes and a vacuum.

Actually I have. My wife had a retail shop and in setting up Quickbooks, in brief, we inputted expenses, the cost of the inventory, and various margins needed to bring a profit. This gave us the pricing for the items in the store, with some items having a greater margin than others. Some items were loss leaders, with low margins, acting as enticement to buy, and other items had higher margins and were the source of the profit.
Without going back 20 years, if memory serves me right, the cost of my cleaning over the years has increased by around $40 - $50 , which I'm sure was necessitated by a rise in expenses, and to ensure a continuing profit.
My chimney sweep wouldn't still be in the business for over 30 yrs if he wasn't making a living (profit).
Again, just my opinion, obviously yours may be different.


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My Workers Comp is $50 per week per employee and I'm not at the highest rate. It doesn't sound like a lot but when you add it up with all the other expenses, vehicle, repairs, tools, gas, taxes, there's not much profit in just cleanings. Running any small business is challenging today.

My friend Kris works at Lakes Region Chimney Pros. I had him install a chimney liner. Echo the positive reviews above!


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