Level 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterMeet the Hamden Team Behind Hearthstone Chimney Co.
We’re the crew that shows up at your door in Hamden, uniformed and on time. Every one of us has passed a background check, but more than that, we’ve passed Russell’s standard: know your trade, explain it straight, and leave the place cleaner than you found it. Between us, we’ve got decades on Connecticut roofs and in flues from Spring Glen to Mount Carmel. What ties us together is simple - we plan to be here in thirty years, so we act accordingly.
Our People
Russell Haines, Owner
I started Hearthstone Chimney Co. in 1984, after watching too many homeowners in Hamden get sold repairs they didn’t need by guys who wouldn’t look them in the eye. Forty-two years later, I’m still on jobs when the situation calls for it, still climbing ladders in winter when a flue liner fails and a family’s got no heat. I hold a CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep credential and a Connecticut home improvement contractor registration, but the certification that matters most to me is the one I can’t frame: showing up. I live in North Haven with my wife, keep a small workshop behind the house, and on Sundays I cook breakfast for my grandchildren. The K.E.Y.S. code - Krafted right, Every time, Your home first, Standing behind it - isn’t a poster on the wall. It’s how I raised my kids, and it’s how I run this company.
Mike D., Lead Technician
Mike’s been with us fourteen years, and he’s the reason we can say “most jobs completed in a single visit” without crossing our fingers. He’s CSIA-certified and specializes in level-2 camera inspections - the kind where we send a camera up your flue and you watch the screen while Mike narrates what’s actually happening, not what we’d like to sell you. He grew up in West Haven, still lives there with his two dogs, and has a stubborn streak about doing things right the first time that matches Russell’s own. Last winter, he diagnosed a cracked flue in a Hamden colonial that three other companies had missed because they didn’t run the camera far enough. Mike did. That’s the job.
Teresa R., Senior Installer
Teresa handles our liner installations, crown rebuilds, and anything that involves scaffolding and a level. She’s factory-trained on DuraFlex and HeatShield systems, and she’s the only person Russell trusts to sign off on a liner job without a second look. Before chimneys, she spent eight years in commercial HVAC, which means she thinks about airflow and pressure the way most people think about the weather - constantly, and with real consequences in mind. Teresa lives in Cheshire, commutes with a travel mug of terrible coffee she won’t upgrade, and on weekends she restores vintage motorcycles. She’ll tell you a chimney liner is just a pipe until it’s installed by someone who understands how your house breathes. Then it’s the difference between safe and sorry.
Darnell J., Service Coordinator
Darnell’s the live voice you get when you call (475) 369-1614 at 10 PM on a Saturday because you smelled smoke in your living room. He’s been with us six years, knows every technician’s schedule and specialty, and has a preternatural gift for calming down a homeowner who’s staring at a dripping chimney in a thunderstorm. He’s not a tech, but he’s sat in on enough level-2 inspections to ask the right questions and spot when a situation needs escalation. Darnell grew up in Hamden, graduated from Hamden High, and still catches games at the high school field when he can. He keeps a notebook of every call that didn’t go right - not for blame, but because Russell wants to know where we failed before the customer has to tell us twice.
Alex K., Apprentice
Alex joined us two years ago, fresh out of a trade program at Gateway Community College in New Haven. He’s working toward his CSIA certification, currently assists on sweeps and basic cap installations, and has developed an unexpected specialty: chimney cap and crown work on the older homes in Whitneyville and Sleeping Giant where standard sizes don’t fit. Alex grew up in a 1920s house with a fireplace that never worked right, which is partly why he’s here - he wants to understand why. He asks more questions than some veterans find comfortable, but Russell insists that’s the point. You don’t learn this trade by pretending you already know it. Alex lives in an apartment in Hamden, bikes to work when the weather holds, and is slowly restoring a 1978 Chevy Nova that may outlast his apprenticeship.
One Standard, Every Job
The five of us are the Hamden face of a company that’s served Connecticut for over four decades, but the standard doesn’t change when we cross town lines. Every technician wears the same uniform, carries the same professional-grade tools and materials from DuraFlex, HeatShield, Gelco, Olympia Chimney, Famco, and Copperfield, and works under the same 90-Day Done Right Promise - in writing, no arguing. Russell put the K.E.Y.S. code together because he’d seen too many contractors treat “good enough” as a destination. We don’t. Whether we’re sweeping a flue in Spring Glen, rebuilding a crown in Mount Carmel, or running a camera inspection in Whitneyville, the process is the same: photos you can see, a plain-English verdict, and a square deal with no surprises on the bill. We’ll be there when we say. Done right - and we stand behind it.
Written by Russell Haines, Owner at Hearthstone Chimney Co., serving Hamden since 1984.