What Alexandria Homeowners Say About Top Hat Chimney
Reviews matter in a city like Alexandria because chimney work is invisible until it isn’t. A sweep either gets the creosote out or he doesn’t. A repair either holds through burning season or it fails in February. When you call Top Hat Chimney, you’re calling a company Wendell Pike started in 1999, and the people who write these reviews are neighbors who’ve had him in their living rooms, up on their roofs, and back again when the 90-Day Done Right Promise said he’d return. Here’s what they actually said.
Recent Reviews
Wendell came out to our place near Del Ray in November. We’d bought the house in spring and the inspector said the chimney was fine, but the first fire smoked us out of the family room. His sweep pulled out a creosote buildup I could scrape with a thumbnail and then showed me the camera footage so I could see it for myself. He said the flue needed a sweep and nothing more. That same footage saved us from a liner pitch we’d gotten from another company. Fire burns clean now.
Nicole M.
Del Ray, Alexandria
We’ve used Top Hat for three years running now. The first time, Wendell knocked on the door, introduced himself, and walked me through the price before any tool came off the truck. The number I heard on the phone was the number I paid. That has never changed. He found a cracked crown during a routine sweep last year and told me plainly it could wait until spring. That’s the kind of honesty that keeps me calling. The $40 off repairs over $200 helped too.
Brian T.
Rosemont, Alexandria
Our flue had third-degree creosote glaze from years of burning unseasoned wood. The house is a mid-century in Seminary Hill and I assumed we were looking at a liner replacement. Wendell’s crew did the sweep, showed me the camera walkthrough, and told me the glazed section was isolated. HeatShield treatment took care of it same day. Total came in under what the other company quoted for a full liner we probably didn’t need. That was three years ago. Chimney has been quiet ever since.
Colleen N.
Seminary Hill, Alexandria
Called on a Saturday morning and a person answered. Not a voicemail box, not someone reading a script in another state. It might have been Wendell himself. He booked the sweep, gave me a two-hour arrival window, and the tech showed up in a uniform ten minutes into it. Our chimney in Old Town has an odd offset flue that two other sweeps said they couldn’t clean properly. The crew had it done in about an hour, bags down, floor protected, no mess at all.
Xavier G.
Old Town, Alexandria
Wendell did the initial sweep on our townhouse off King Street in 2016 and has been back every year since. Last winter we had a chimney fire scare in the neighborhood, and I called him at 11 p.m. because I was worried about what I’d seen. A live person answered. He walked me through what to check, scheduled us for the following morning, and had a sweep on the roof before noon. The camera showed first-degree creosote, nothing structural. He didn’t upsell me on anything I didn’t need, and that’s why he’ll keep getting our business.
Nicole M.
King Street area, Alexandria
I’d gotten a written estimate from a national chain for a rebuild I wasn’t sure we needed. A neighbor suggested calling Top Hat for a second opinion, and I’m glad I did. Wendell spent twenty minutes on the ladder, then showed me footage of the firebox and flue on his tablet. His take: a partial repoint, a new cap, and keep burning. We booked the repair, used the $40 discount, and passed his name to three people on our block already. Ask anyone on your street. He’s probably already been there.
Brian T.
Beverley Hills, Alexandria
Why Customers Trust Us
The reviews above keep coming back to the same few things, and that’s not an accident. Upfront pricing means the number you hear on the phone is the number on the invoice, every time. The 90-Day Done Right Promise is stamped on every job in writing: if it’s not done right, one call brings Wendell back. Camera inspection and a plain-English verdict are standard on every sweep, so you’re never asked to take someone’s word for a repair you can’t see. When a review mentions a liner pitch that didn’t happen, that’s the camera doing its job. When a review mentions a live person answering at 11 p.m., that’s the phones being staffed 24/7, because chimney problems don’t keep business hours. Wendell and his crew show up in uniform, background-checked, with a real arrival window, and they call if the schedule slips. People in Alexandria trust that because it’s been true since 1999. If your chimney needs a sweep, a repair, or just an honest answer about what’s actually wrong, call (571) 521-4837. A person will answer.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Alexandria since 1999.