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
AfterThe Top Hat Chimney Guarantee
Here’s the short version: if Wendell and his crew do work on your Bethesda chimney and it isn’t right, one phone call brings them back. No argument, no invoice, no “well, technically.” That’s the 90-Day Done Right Promise, and it’s stamped on every single job we finish. We’ve been doing this since 1999, not because we’re the loudest outfit in Montgomery County, but because the person whose chimney we swept last fall is the same person we run into at the grocery store on Saturday. Wendell signs his name to the work. He intends to keep seeing you around.
What’s Covered
Every job we book in Bethesda comes with specific commitments. These aren’t fine print. They’re what the crew works by:
- Workmanship. If a sweep, repair, cap, crown, or liner install isn’t done right within 90 days, we come back and make it right at no additional cost. That’s the Done Right Promise in writing.
- Parts and materials. We stand behind what we install. We work with DuraFlex, HeatShield, Gelco, Olympia Chimney, Famco, and Copperfield because those manufacturers have stood behind their products for years, and we don’t hang our name on parts we’d be embarrassed to warranty ourselves.
- Cleanup. Your hearth, your floors, your walkway. The site is left the way we found it, minus the creosote. If a drop cloth slipped and soot tracked onto carpet, that’s on us to fix, not on you to discover next Tuesday.
- On-time arrival. The sweep who shows up at your door gives you a real arrival window before he comes, and he calls if that window slips. You shouldn’t have to burn a vacation day waiting for a truck that might show up.
- Honest pricing. The number you hear on the phone before work starts is the number on the invoice when work is done. No surprise upcharges, no “while we were in there” add-ons you didn’t agree to. Upfront pricing, before a single tool comes off the truck.
Our Satisfaction Promise
If something doesn’t sit right after we leave, you don’t have to draft an email or dig through a warranty booklet. You call (240) 618-3233. A live person picks up, any hour, any day. It may well be Wendell himself answering. Tell them what’s wrong. Within the 90-day window, we schedule the return visit and make it right at our cost. No invoice.
And here’s the part that matters to us: you’ll know exactly what’s wrong before we ever ask you to pay for a fix, because on a second-opinion or repair call we bring the camera footage and a plain-English verdict. Every time. No exceptions. If a chimney can safely wait a season, Wendell says so plainly. If it can’t, you’ll see why on the screen, not just hear it from a sales pitch. That’s the promise: honesty first, even when the honest answer is “that can wait.”
Licensed & Insured Backing
A guarantee is only as good as the company standing behind it. Top Hat Chimney is licensed and insured in Maryland, locally owned and owner-operated since 1999. Not a franchise that rotated in last spring with a wrapped van and a national call center. Wendell Pike has a published address in the community, a license on file, and a name he answers to. If something goes sideways, you’re not chasing a PO box in another state. You’re calling the guy who lives down the road. Insurance means your home and property are covered while we work. The license means the people on your roof are trained, background-checked, and accountable to state standards. Together, they’re the real backing behind every guarantee we put in writing.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Bethesda since 1999.