Our Guarantee & Warranty - Top Hat Chimney

The Top Hat Chimney Guarantee

We’ve been cleaning and repairing chimneys in Alexandria since 1999, and the guarantee we stamp on every job is simple: if it’s not done right, one call brings Wendell back. That’s the 90-Day Done Right Promise, and it’s in writing on every single invoice. No fine print, no phone tree, no “that’s technically not covered.” You call (571) 521-4837, a live person answers, and we make it right at no additional cost. Wendell Pike puts his name on the work because he’s been running into the same Alexandria neighbors on Saturday mornings for nearly three decades. Ask anyone on your street.

Call (571) 521-4837

What’s Covered

• Workmanship. Every sweep, repair, cap, crown, and liner job is backed for 90 days after we pack up the truck. If something we touched fails or wasn’t done right, we come back and fix it. The number on your invoice is the promise.
• Parts and materials. We install and service products from DuraFlex, HeatShield, Gelco, Olympia Chimney, Famco, and Copperfield. If a part we installed is defective within the 90-day window, we handle the fix. We don’t point you at a manufacturer’s 800 number and wish you luck.
• Cleanup. A chimney sweep shouldn’t leave your living room looking like a soot bomb went off. We lay drop cloths, run HEPA-filtered vacuums, and leave the hearth cleaner than we found it. If you find soot where it shouldn’t be, that’s covered too.
• On-time arrival. When you book, you get a real arrival window from a real person, not an automated text. If the schedule slips, you get a call from the crew, not a silent no-show. That’s part of the job.
• Honest pricing. The price you’re quoted on the phone is the price on the invoice. No surprise line items, no “while we were up there we noticed” upsells. You approve the number before a single tool comes off the truck.

Our Satisfaction Promise

Here’s how it works if something doesn’t sit right. You call (571) 521-4837, day or night, and you get a live person. That person may well be Wendell himself. You tell us what’s wrong, and we schedule the return visit. No arguing about whether it’s covered, no making you prove your case. The 90-Day Done Right Promise means exactly what it says: if the work wasn’t done right, we make it right. Our own dime, our own time. That’s been the rule since we started in 1999, and it’s why we still get calls from homeowners whose chimneys we first swept when they were still renting. The camera footage and a plain-English verdict come with every job, so there’s no mystery about what we found or what we did. You’ll see it with your own eyes before you sign off.

Licensed & Insured Backing

The promise only means something if the company behind it can actually show up and do the work. Top Hat Chimney is licensed and insured, with a published address and a local owner who puts his name on every invoice. Wendell has carried the proper licensing and insurance from day one, because chimney work is real work, and real work needs real backing. If something goes wrong on the job, homeowners aren’t left holding the bag. That’s not a selling point, it’s the bare minimum, and we’ve done it for over 29 years. Your flue doesn’t care how the fire looks. It cares how it breathes, and we back that breathing with paperwork that holds up.

What the 90 Days Actually Mean

Let’s be plain about what a 90-day workmanship guarantee does and doesn’t cover. If we swept your chimney and two months later you find creosote flakes behind the fireplace doors, that’s on us. Call. If we installed a chimney cap and a storm knocks it loose two weeks in, we’re back out. If we rebuilt a crown and hairline cracks appear before the season’s first real freeze, one call fixes it. What it doesn’t cover is normal wear and tear from use, damage from a chimney fire we warned you about in writing, or issues unrelated to the work we did. Wendell will tell you the difference straight, because he’s the one who has to look you in the eye at the grocery store.

Why This Guarantee Exists

Chimney companies in Alexandria have come and gone since 1999. Franchises roll in, spend a season on advertising, and vanish when the slow months hit. Wendell built Top Hat Chimney one chimney at a time, and the guarantee exists because a warranty is only worth the longevity of the company that wrote it. Anyone can print “satisfaction guaranteed” on a flyer. Very few can still be reached at the same phone number 29 years later. That’s the real test, and we pass it every time you call and a person answers instead of a voicemail box.

What to Expect When You Call

• A live person answers. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Not an answering service, not a call center. Someone who knows chimneys and knows Alexandria.
• Upfront pricing. You’ll hear a number before work begins, and that number won’t change unless we find something serious, in which case we stop and show you the camera footage first.
• No trip charge inside the county. If you’re in our service area, the visit to assess doesn’t cost you a dime.
• A free second opinion. Got a written estimate from another company? Bring it. We’ll look it over and tell you straight if the work is needed, overpriced, or flat-out wrong.
• $40 off any repair over $200. That’s a standing offer, no coupon clipping required.
• 10% off for seniors and veterans. Always. Not a seasonal special. It’s the least we can do for the people who keep this community running.

How Often Should a Chimney Be Swept?

Once a year, burn or no burn. Chimneys break in the off-season too. Water gets into a cracked crown during the summer, a bird builds a nest in the spring, and by fall you’ve got a real mess. The National Fire Protection Association recommends an annual inspection, and we agree. First-degree creosote is a brush job. Third-degree is a glaze, catch it early. A yearly sweep catches the brush job before it becomes a five-thousand-dollar reline. Call (571) 521-4837 to schedule, and we’ll put you on the calendar for a real window, not a four-hour guess.

Do I Really Need a New Liner?

Maybe. Maybe not. We’ll never tell you that you need a liner without showing you the camera footage that proves it. Cracks, gaps, or a liner that’s separated at the seams are real problems. A little surface rust on a 15-year-old liner might be a “keep an eye on it” situation, not a “tear it out today” emergency. Wendell’s crew uses HeatShield and DuraFlex products when a liner does need replacing, and you’ll see the before and after footage before you write a check. If another company has already quoted you a liner job, bring us the estimate. The free second opinion exists exactly for this moment.

What Actually Happens If I Skip It?

Creosote builds up. Creosote is flammable. A hot fire sends sparks up the flue, the creosote catches, and now you’ve got a chimney fire. Best case, it burns itself out and you’ve cracked your liner. Worst case, it spreads to the house. That’s not scare-selling, it’s physics. On the carbon monoxide side, a blocked or damaged flue can send exhaust back into the living room instead of up and out. You can’t smell it, you can’t see it, and it can kill you while you sleep. If your chimney hasn’t been swept in over a year, call (571) 521-4837. The sweep costs less than the alternative, and the estimate is free.

Standing Offers That Never Expire

• $40 off any repair over $200. Mention it when you call. It’s not a secret handshake.
• Free second opinion on any written estimate. Bring the competitor’s paperwork and we’ll give you a straight read.
• No trip charge inside the county. We show up, look, and quote free.
• 10% off always for seniors and veterans. Say so when you book and it’s applied. No proof of service required beyond your word.

Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Alexandria since 1999.