Chimney Sweep reviews in Bethesda, Maryland

My wife and I have been very satisfied with Bethesda Chimney service. Inspector Zach and his colleague were very knowledgeable
accurate and professional and very nice people to deal with. They're real asset to company. They're did a very good job and took care about our issues. We are definitely recommending this company.

Bryan was excellent. He inspected our chimney and provided his professional review of what we needed to have a safe and productive fireplace. He spent the time we needed to explain the project. When we were ready to move forward he was able to schedule us quickly. The crew was on time, professional and courteous. They cleaned up afterwards and we were very satisfied with the entire project. I would use Bethesda Chimney again and recommend them without reservation to anyone who needs an inspection and work done on their fireplace.

I can't praise the work Bethesda Chimney workers did on our chimney. They had done a super job on a second chimney some time ago, so we asked them to do the same on a second chimney. They cleaned it and put in a new metal lining and much more restoration work. Little did anyone know that this chimney, which runs from the basement up three floors, was kinked and contained a lot of mortar which had accumnulated over the decades. Furthermore the weather was sub-freezing and often high winds. The team worked several more days than they had expected, and once again did a SUPERB JOB. I cannot thank them enough.

Bethesda Chimney was a joy to work with. After booking them for a quote they were extremely prompt in providing us with pricing details and options to bring our 130 year old wood fireplace back to life. Once we decided to move forward they scheduled the job within a week and completed work in a day. The crew was knowledgeable, professional, and worked safely removing the heavy original terracotta liner. I’d highly recommend Bethesda and look forward to using them again in the future for our second fireplace! It was so wonderful to have a roaring, and well drafted fire over the holidays and through the winter!

DO NOT USE BETHESDA CHIMNEY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. THEY ARE RUNNING A SCAM AND WILL STEAL YOUR MONEY AND DISAPPEAR!

Bethesda Chimney has stolen over $2500 from me and now I will have to hire a different chimney inspector to evaluate the work they did complete to make sure it was completed properly. Given their deceitful business practices, I would not be surprised to find that the labor is faulty.

I hired Bethesda Chimney to re-line my chimney, install a custom-made chimney cap, and install a new gas fireplace log set. After no-showing on the first day the work ws scheduled for with no notice they finally showed up to start the job the next day after my wife called them. The work seemed to go fine until the final work through after completing the job.

It turned out they did not install the gas fireplace log set we had ordered and paid a deposit for. Instead, they installed a much cheaper unit without telling us and we only caught when we asked why one of the features we expected did not work. They claimed this was an accident and that they would order the correct unit and install it in a few days. It has now been two weeks and they have yet to order the unit we requested. They almost never answer the phone and do not return our calls. If you do manage to get anyone on the phone it is an endless circle of excuses and blame on other employees but no one is willing to take the 10 minutes to actually order the unit we paid a deposit for. Finally, the unit they did install stopped working properly after only a week of use so I would assume they didn't even install a new unit. They probably installed a used fireplace and stole the $1500 deposit from me.

Even more egregiously, we accepted the inspector's advice to have Bethesda Chimney order and install a $2300 custom chimney cap. They said it would take 4-6 weeks to manufacture and then they would return to install it. We paid a deposit for the cap on January 17 and as it turns out 6 weeks later they have yet to order the cap. When we finally got the owner on the phone on February 24 he claimed that they need to take more measurements before they can order the cap but 2 weeks after the completion of work on our chimney no one has come to take the measurements. Further, the owner will not schedule a time to come and take measurements nor he will return any phone calls or requests to schedule a time to come and take the measurements. It has become increasingly they have no intention of providing the chimney cap that I paid a $1200 deposit for.

I found crack in my chimney and called Bethesda chimney. I was going to fill it with my caulk but Bryan did a thorough inspection with his long flexible video scope and my chimney needed more than a big tube of caulk, it needed a rebuild or it would fall off my home. The crew that came out to do the work were excellent and professional. They were respectful to my garden and left the job site spic and span. and If I did not call Bethesda Chimney I would have been left standing here with my caulk in my hand and my chimney on top of my Cybertruck.

DO NOT USE BETHESDA CHIMNEY! Unreliable. Appointment scheduled a month out. They told my wife to be home and ready for a visit 9-11am and then finally flaked on the visit at 2pm. After waiting for five hours for them to arrive, the company then told her that the next available visit is 24 days from now. Are you kidding me? Total flakes. Avoid at all costs. Had to give them one star to post a review but really they deserve 0 stars.

Could not have had a worse experience. Avoid Bethesda Chimney! From other reviews, I can see my experience isn't unique.

See for yourself. Quality workmanship and very smoothly operated company. Entire job from start to finish was seamless. Re-lined our chimney and did a great job re-building the chimney with new bricks.

Run, don't walk, away from Bethesda Chimney. I never write poor Google Reviews (I've only ever left a 5 star review), but I feel compelled to do so here because they have taken thousands of dollars from me. I paid them a deposit in December to complete a fireplace remodel, only to have the contractor that was supposed to do the work completely ghost me. They've held on to my $2,300 deposit. When I call the office, Carlos and Ross tell me any number of things (if they answer) -- first it was that my check is coming but their accountant is just bogged down in work and now it's most recently been that the owner Bryan Whitaker is going to call me to discuss, etc. Mr. Whitaker has never called and won't respond to emails.

The whole operation seems like a complete scam.

Awful experience with Bethesda Chimney so far -- having not properly read these reviews prior to calling them. I paid $350 upfront (foolishly) for a chimney inspection and so far have had three no-shows. The first two times "the truck broke down". No answer on the phone to explain the third miss. Terrible customer service.

We recently purchased a home and the chimney liners needed to be replaced. We called Bethesda Chimney and they came out and gave us a detailed, competitive quote. We decided to go with them and couldn’t be happier. The team that did the work was great! They worked quickly and efficiently to get the job done ahead of schedule. We definitely recommend Zach and his team!

Recently had two gas fireplaces repaired. I went to utilize the fireplace in my office, 10 days after the work was finalized and it started beeping and the fire went out. No big deal, I’ll just call and have someone come out since the work was just completed. I called and left a message and was able to get a prompt call back. When I stated my gas fireplace was beeping the gentleman, I believe his name was Ross, told me Bethesda Chimney doesn’t service gas fireplaces. Cue screeching tires. I was thinking to myself, I just had them come out here. Who did this work then? Was it done correctly? Is my house going to explode? Did I just waste thousands of dollars?? I pulled up the receipt on my phone and gave the dates of service and Ross said ‘oh that must’ve been done by the owner. He’s out of the country until next week’. Soooo you do service gas fireplaces? You were just straight up trying to lie to me? I said ok you’re telling me I paid for this service in full, it’s broken and I can’t have it fixed until next week? There isn’t another soul on your team that can do this? You can’t even troubleshoot how to get the beeping to stop? As I grappled with this information, my beeping fireplace, and the potential to have to spend more money to fix this problem, Ross decided to let all customer service training fall by the wayside and talk over me, speak slowly to ensure I ‘understand’, and be very condescending. It made me wonder if this is how he would talk to my husband if he were to call. Anyways, I took the batteries out of some box and the beeping stopped. I also noticed a wire popped out of the same box (photo attached). My house might explode but at least my fireplace isn’t beeping anymore. I don’t plan on calling Bethesda chimney anymore to fix it.

Don’t use this company. The installation process was a nightmare. They sent out a sub contractor and tried to say we needed to pay twice. Now the fireplace doesn’t work (a year after installation) and they won’t return our calls. They have ghosted us.

Update 1: Avoid at all costs. I paid them $12,000 for chimney repairs in October, expecting quality work and reliable service. Recently, an issue arose, which I assumed would be covered under their warranty. I called for support, but no one answered. After trying over and over again for two hours, someone finally picked up. I spoke with the owner, who apologized and promised to come out on Saturday at noon to assess the problem.

Guess what? They never showed up, and I never received a call. This company is completely unprofessional and a joke. I will be filing professional complaints on them. Don't waste your time or money.

Update 2: after being ghosted for the first appointment I called today. Scheduled a second appointment and was promised they would show up. Got ghosted a second time. No calls or updates. When I call the line no one ever picks up. This company clearly does not give AF.

I do not recommend Bethesda Chimney. They installed a gas fireplace but it stopped working after only two years. I called Bethesda Chimney multiple times, leaving messages, but no one returned my call. Finally, I got through. The owner came out, and said it needed some maintenance. A maintenance worker arrived a week later, but he was highly of the original installation, stating that it was faulty. He didn't fix the problem and told me to turn off the gas. Bethesda Chimney said they would send out a crew (now the third appointment), but the crew no showed. When I complained, Bethesda Chimney said they said they were having labor issues and offered to have a crew come the following Monday. Monday came and went--again nobody showed and nobody called. Still haven't heard from them. Incredibly frustrated, I brought in another company. The new company was highly critical of the original work, pointing to various safety issues.

Avoid this business! I have been waiting 9+ months for a chimney inspection report conducted and paid for in Nov 2024. I have sent several emails and made numerous phone calls. Upon actually speaking with Bryan on the last call I was told; "we found the inspection file and will have the report to you this week..." That phone call was two months ago.

See the other reviews - steer clear of these guys. Over $10K invested and they don’t stand behind their work, don’t have dedicated service employees on every call. They deserve to go out of business and based on these reviews won’t be too long.

This guy is a complete scam artist! To review: he overcharged us for a chimney replacement and gas insert, then tried to charge us again by requiring us to pay one of his subs. The remote they installed never worked. Now just two years later the entire insert needs to be replaced AGAIN! I would never do business with this guy!!!

Do not hire these people! They are scam. They took our money and never showed up. We called and rescheduled several times and each time they did not arrive. When we asked for a refund, they said the check was in the mail and stopped answering our calls.

Zero stars if possible. I have never worked with a more unprofessional and unethical company. First, they were three hours late (after two calls to say they were 11 minutes away). I was charged for both an inspection and a cleaning and they did not perform the cleaning. It took over a month and multiple calls, texts, and emails to get that money refunded. And despite additional calls, texts and emails, they have yet to provide me with the inspection report. So I paid more than $300 for absolutely nothing. And, when they were here they said repairs would cost more than $20k. Absolutely horrific.

Bryan the owner of the company came to my home in Potomac Maryland and he spent 1 hour checking out all 4 chimneys. He was polite knowledgeable charming and the chimneys were realigned and the brick work was done to perfection. Now all my friends in Bethesda and Potomac use his services