Bethesda Chimney has gone through a complete overhaul and have honestly exceeded every expectation from start to finish. In a space where trust and quality matter, their team delivered both with professionalism, honesty, and craftsmanship that truly stood out. They were punctual, knowledgeable, incredibly respectful of our home, and took the time to explain everything clearly without ever feeling pushy. What impressed me most was the attention to detail and the pride they take in their work. It's rare to find a company that combines expertise with genuine customer care the way they do. The entire experience felt seamless, and you can tell they've built a reputation in the community for a reason. If you're looking for a company that values integrity, communication, and exceptional work, Bethesda Chimney is absolutely the team to call. Highly recommend. read more

Do not even think about using this company. They have ripped consumers off consistently. I paid for services (they push you to use Zelle), they never showed up, never return calls , and have not returned my money. they have done this to numerous clients. Filed with BBB and taking them to court. if they ripped you off also reach out. Will include you as evidence. read more

1-Star Review - Do Not Use Bethesda Chimney - They Took My Money and Ghosted Me I have never written a negative review for any company in my life, but after what happened with Bethesda Chimney, I feel I have to warn others so they don't get ripped off like I did. I called to schedule a simple chimney inspection. They told me I had to Zelle $299 as a deposit just to book the appointment. Against my better judgment, I sent the money directly to the owner, Bryan. They scheduled the appointment for Wednesday afternoon. I waited at home all day -- no one showed up and I never received a single call or text. When I called Bryan, he apologized and rescheduled for noon on Friday. Again, no show and no call. I called him a second time. He then said they could come at 8pm Friday night. I told him that wouldn't work because I had plans starting at 6pm and asked to just cancel the appointment. He immediately said I would lose the $299 deposit. After I pushed back on how ridiculous that was for a service they never provided (or even attempted), he finally agreed to refund it. That was weeks ago. Despite multiple follow-up calls, Bryan has still not returned my $299. The money is simply gone. This company used to be excellent. I previously had them rebuild two chimneys with zero issues -- they were professional and did great work. When I asked Bryan what happened, he admitted they have "a lot of new people now." **Bottom line:** Do NOT send any deposit to Bethesda Chimney, especially not via Zelle. They may show up for bigger jobs, but for scheduling even a basic inspection, it appears they have no problem taking your money and disappearing. Consider this your warning. read more

I used them to replace a chimney crown and brick work in May of 2020. Today had some roof work down and they took pictures of my cracked crown and mortar missing between the bricks. I would not recommend. read more

Non responsive, tried to do our walkway, they have no idea what they are doing with masonry.

Do not use Bethesda Chimney! They demanded $400 payment upfront and then did not respond to texts ; voicemails, and failed to provide an estimate of the work required. Completely unresponsive. Took the money and ran. I urge others to run from Bethesda Chimney. read more

Just absolutely inconsiderate of clients. I had to call THEM after waiting three hours to be told technician wasn't going to make it out. Wow. Just wow. Zero stars! read more

Avoid them, seriously. They didn't show up the first time we had an inspection and later sent out an inspector (two months ago) and charged us hundreds for the inspection. But despite multiple phone calls (and promises to send the report soon--that was a month ago), they have never sent us a report or estimate for the work we wanted done. They also have stopped answering phone calls. Recommend finding someone who is responsive and actually delivers. read more

What on earth happened to these guys? They re-lined our chimney and replaced the hearthstones a few years ago. It wasn't cheap, but they did a good job and were friendly and accessible. Then, this past Christmas Eve, our flue failed and nearly ruined a family gathering by smoking us all out of the house. Okay, crappy timing, stuff happens, whatever. But since then, I have tried to reach them every possible way - emails, voicemails, through their website, even responded to one of their instagram posts. Nothing. Not one single response. If it weren't for the fact that their Insta account is fairly active, I'd have to assume they all were abducted by aliens. How tf do you run a business when you ignore your customers? Booooo. read more

This is a ripoff company, their prices are ridiculous and their service is terrible. Don't use them. They were supposed to come do an estimate for us within a two hour window. By the end of the two hours they had still not shown up. When I called to inquire, the operator said they would get right back to me to tell me when the technician was coming. They never showed up and they never even called me back. I will never use this company again. They are the worst. read more

I don't know what has happened to this company. I used them 4-5 years ago for service and they were reliable. I've now had two appointments scheduled with them over the last few weeks and no one has showed up or called me to tell me that they can't keep the appointment. I was a returning customer but I will take my service elsewhere. read more

I called for an estimate to install a chimney exhaust fan and was informed since I am not a "previous customer" I would need to undergo a complete "level 2" chimney inspection before they could provide an estimate. I was told the inspection could take up to 2 hours and would send 2 technicians. This estimate is $300+ and only then could an estimate be provided. What a scam. read more

Don't use Bethesda Chimney. They tried to double charge us initially, and after the work was done, ghosted us when the gas fireplace was installed and didn't work. read more

Run, don't walk, away from Bethesda Chimney. I never write poor 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. read more

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. read more

Avoid at all cost. Paid $100,00 for chimney rebuild for 3 chimneys and they destroyed the slate roof resulting in a huge leak, paid for chimney caps that were never installed. Refuse to answer and now we need to sue. read more

After paying thousands of dollars to them in late 2023 to rebuild a wood burning chimney and a gas fireplace, the pilot light blew out on the gas fireplace in early 2024. They recommended we install a different chimney cap to prevent this problem and we paid them to do that job as well. The pilot light has blown out again this year and we called for service in November. The earliest appointment we could get was 3.5 weeks later, on December 19, 2024. They confirmed this appointment date multiple times by both email and text. This morning, 2 hours before the scheduled appointment time, they called and cancelled and said the earliest they could come was January 11, 2025, more than 47 days from our initial service call, making the gas fireplace useless for half the winter. We paid them extra to avoid this specific problem and they are now unwilling to respond to the problem in any reasonable time frame. We strongly suggest you do not use them for any work given our experience. read more

If you're smart enough to check Yelp reviews you will avoid these guys. Many better options. They were responsive years ago but something is clearly up with them & not in a good way. After two no show service appointments I finally saw the light & all the recent negative reviews. AVOID read more

The fireplace quit working after a few years. A repairman said the quality of the original installation was bad. He also said he was not being paid. Another employee stated they were having labor problems. They scheduled but then missed appointments, and ultimately stopped responding. I hired someone else to do the work considerable expense. They pointed out multiple defects with the original work including serious safety issues. read more

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. read more

I am sorry to say but I had a terrible experience with them. They did not show up the first time that I had scheduled and did not call before to cancel. We rescheduled and again they did not show up did not cancel before. I wasted 2 mornings. read more

Bethesda Chimney did a new fireplace removal and install in September 2024. During the install, they damaged the mantle. After a tense back and forth, Zach Latter agreed in writing that they would cover the cost of repair (see quote from email below). We then paid a company for the repair to the mantle and sent the invoice to Bethesda Chimney five weeks ago. I've now emailed and called multiple times and have been told a variety of stories ("It's with accounting", "Bryan has the invoice and was supposed to call you", etc.) but no return calls or emails. Email from Zach: "I apologize for the crack in the plaster that our crew caused during the removal/ installation of the gas fireplace. As I discussed with you today, once you have received a bill for the plaster/ drywall repair/ painting, please forward it to our office staff and we will take care of that payment." read more

I scheduled them to come this morning and they gave me a 9-11am window. I rescheduled all of my meetings and took time off so I could be at home. By 10:45, they still weren't here. I called them and they said the driver likely wouldn't make it by that time and that they can call them to see when they arrived. When Bethesda Chimney called me back, they said their worker was sick and couldn't make it today. I asked them why I was just finding out about this now after taking two hours off to wait. They had no answer. They just didn't show. Very frustrating. I wished they would old have called to let me know the guy wasn't coming. read more

Bethesda Chimney ghosted on two appointments without even calling me to explain. After the first no show, they explained their technician had covid-ok fair enough so I gave them a second chance and they didn't show again. Service extremely poor. I would not use them and would not recommend them. Very unsatisfactory. read more

The staff is young, rude, and not taking the pandemic seriously. They are walking around my building without a face mask. They blocked my driveway and when asked how long they would be there they started yelling at me, saying they had the right to block my driveway when I needed to leave. I strongly suggest looking for more experienced workers to do your chimney work. In response to the business owners comments to my review: it's true he did not do Chimney work for my unit. I am a condo owner in the building that he has done work in. My girlfriend simply asked "how long his van was going to be parked in front of our driveway" before we had to leave when he shouted at her to the point she had to walk away from the window. I then went outside to let him know that it's not appropriate to shout at my girlfriend. The situation escalated from there and as you can see in his response to my review, you get a good reflection of how he runs his business. I did state "You can not be an @$$hole" to my girlfriend. He responded "Your wife is being an a$$hole". These people are very unprofessional and do not act responsibly when working in a small 9 unit condo building. The picture is taken from his business's instagram profile and the same worker that is not wearing a mask in that photo was walking around unmasked in my condo building. Jeopardizing everyone's health safety in the middle of the COVID pandemic. He has made untrue statements that are not relevant in his response. read more

Bethesda Chimney - Taken from Bethesda Chimneys instagram. This same worker was walking around the interior of my building hallway without a mask. - Chimney Sweeps Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

TLDR: Stay away from this company. Here's a timeline of my last 2.5 years of trying to work with them. They are disorganized, deceitful, and unethical. The timeline speaks for itself: Update response to owner comment for clarity: -I only have one chimney and one chimney flue so I'm not sure where Bryan is getting the idea that I have two... -The original work took 3 days, we were quoted for 6 in case there were rain days. -I was refunded for the price of the logset, not any of the other work. Despite my still not having a working fireplace, I did not dispute the original $10k quote, simply the hunk of unuseable logs after the company failed to order the defective part and communicate with me in a timely manner. -The timeline speaks for itself here, there's nothing more honest than this timeline. Buyers beware. I am not a malicious person out to get this company, this is my honest experience of trying to work with them over a period of over two years. Timeline: 7/7/22: Zach inspects and recommends the work to be done 7/18/22: Chimney Reline/Recap (etc) work begins 7/28/22: Bryan comes for the final step of our project to service our gas log set 8/1/22: Bryan continues to answer our questions about the difference between a ventless and a vented fireplace. We decide to continue researching on our own before following back up. 11/25/22: We follow up and are connected with Ryan who recommends again, a vented log set for us to consider. 11/30/22: Ryan speak with Bryan and shares that our access panel might catch on fire if we use a vented log set and that we now must only consider a retrofit prior fire insert or a 0 clearance to combustible gas insert. 1/3/23: We are quoted for these new recommended options at $5000-6000 2/3/24: More back and forth back and forth. Ryan finally agrees to come out for a re inspection. 2/24/23: During the inspection he confirms that he was mistaken and quotes us for the original gas log set with a microboard installation to ensure that it will be safe. 2/27/23: We follow up because no one has responded or communicated with us since that appointment. 3/7/23 We follow up again because no one has responded. 3/14/23: We are sent a quote to approve of the work to be done for the final installation. Given that winter is over, we decided to wait until the following fall to schedule installation. 10/8/23: We reach out to accept the quote and order the log set we picked out. 11/13/23: We reach out to them because after paying the deposit we haven't received any timeline for installation. 12/22/23: Installation date canceled, Bryan is sick with COVID. Rescheduled for Jan 4. 1/4/24: Installation is incorrect, missing microboard. Fireplace starter is defective. Part must be ordered. 2/9/24: Still not had the replacement part or microboard installed. Company is not responsive. Called the distributor who tells us that the defective part was never ordered. 2/14/24: Spoke with Bryan, was refunded $637 (a partial refund for the logset that does not work) 2/16/24: Notified by Nicole that the warranty replacement was never ordered because the serial number was written down wrong by Bethesda Chimney 2/21/24: Bryan arrives to retrieve the defective logset despite not having refunded us fully for it. Later that evening, we were finally refunded for the logset only, which we are expected to return to Bethesda Chimney. We are still left without a working fireplace. We have spent tens of thousands of dollars with this company and now in our 2.5 years of working with them, we still don't have a working fireplace. Learn from our hardship, do not do business with this company. read more

Waited a month for an appointment only to have the cancel the day of and then tell me I had to wait almost a month to reschedule. Terrible customer service. read more

Avoid at all costs!!! They told my wife to be home 9-11am and then finally flaked on the visit at 2pm. The appointment has been on the books for a month (!!!) and after she waited for five hours, when they called to cancel at 2pm, they told her the next available appointment was 24 days from now. Total flakes. This could not have been handled more poorly. Avoid Bethesda Chimney!!!! I would have given them 0 stars if I could. read more

Bethesda Chimney is by far the best chimney company in the area. They are extremely professional, knowledgeable, and responsive. They are the only chimney company we would use ever again. The owner, Brian, is very responsive as well, and equally important, they love our Golden Retrievers when they come to our house! read more

Bethesda Chimney - Chimney Sweeps Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

We used Bethesda Chimney to replace a flue pipe for our furnace and hot water heater. The estimator came on time and gave us a fair price for our town house in Alexandria. There was a scheduling issue but after the owner called me we are were able to make it happen at a later date. On time, On schedule and On budget. read more

A very responsive and informative visit from one of the Bethesda Chimney service technicians. I would strongly recommend to use of the certified chimney service company read more

BLUF: If you need a chimney inspection, hire an inspection-only chimney company who is not incentivized to find "problems." I hired Bethesda Chimney to do a video inspection of my fireplace because something inside the firebox looked suspicious to me. The video inspection was overpriced but I overlooked it because they could come out quickly. However, they didn't answer my original question and instead told me that the whole system needed to be replaced or else it could spontaneously combust and burn my house down (I'm only slightly exaggerating). They could replace it for a casual $10-12k and oh by the way they don't do carpentry work so that isn't even a total cost. As I would for any major work, I reached out to some other companies for inspections who actually answered my original question and confirmed there was absolutely nothing wrong with my fireplace. Which leads me to believe Bethesda Chimney uses fear-mongering masked as 'getting up to current code' to generate business. I find this unethical. Older houses are generally unlikely to be up to today's code in many ways - it doesn't mean you are at risk of spontaneous combustion. I will not be reaching out to them again and if you do (or already have), I can only recommend that you get a second opinion before doing any work (as you should for any major service). Based on their other negative reviews, I look forward to reading the owner's response to this review about why all of my opinions are wrong. read more

This business do not advertise a "cash only" business on their website. They only inform you when it's time for you to pay. It appears they have very few people working for them. Taking pics and informing you your chimney need replacement. I was informed by the one person answering the phone & owner their credit card services is not working for months and they don't know when they will have one. You are not really informing your customers (as an honest business ) they have to pay $$$thousands of dollars cash out of pocket!! Evidently, the business is hard up for cash$. This hideous Homeowner Beware!! read more

We had a fantastic experience with Bethesda Chimney. We've had rainwater coming into our house since shortly after we moved in last year. Another company's attempts to stop it did not work. Once we received the recco for Bethesda Chimney from a trusted source, we were ready to go. First, scheduling was easy and quick, Nicole is fantastic with communication. They had us on-schedule within days. Next, the inspection was very thorough. Bethesda Chimney proposed clear steps meant to stop our problem (and pointed out a few other things we plan to take care of in the years ahead). Scheduling the work, again, was very easy. All steps (vent tubes, crown coat, chipping/repainting the chimney with masory paint, and hip and ridge cap) were done in a timely manner. The hip and ridge cap went on right before a rainy day. And no rainwater in the house! All of the above--from scheduling to results--is in stark contrast to our first experience. Bethesda Chimney is as professional and results-oriented as can be. Elijah, Rogel, Cody, Zach and Shaun were on our project and did a tremendous job. They were all happy to answer questions and kept us up to date on every step. Everyone was masked and careful to keep distance, too, when we chatted. We are so happy and will, without a doubt, go back to Bethesda Chimney for future projects. read more

Brian, Zach, Rogel, Cody, Shaun and Nicole did an awesome job at our house and their customer service was outstanding! After our chimney repair took an unexpected turn, this team was up on our roof until 8pm on a Saturday night working to find a solution! They are an impressive team and worked to keep the project on time and moving ahead. We're looking forward to using our "new" and improved fireplace this fall! read more

Bethesda Chimney - We are so pleased with our chimney repair and new gas logs from Bethesda Chimney! - Chimney Sweeps Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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Very poor service. Broke my functioning fireplace during, what was supposed to be a well functioning fireplace rendering it inoperable in the dead of winter. Charged me over 300$ for this fiasco . He was unable to fix what he broke, communicate his inability to service the fireplace, or even show up on time.. A total disappointment! Would not recommend Bryan or his business to anyone!! read more

TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!! We will never use Bethesda Chimney (BC) again to do work at my home and I would strongly advise others thinking of hiring them to find another company. We hired Bethesda Chimney in September 2022 to address a problem with smoke wafting into our living space from the fireplace. We spent $1800 to "parge" our chimney to give the smoke chamber a smooth surface to better funnel smoke from the fireplace into the flue -- with the promise that this would solve our smoke problem. However, when we lit a fire at the start of the cool weather season, we continued to have a smoke problem. We contacted BC again in January of 2023 and requested that they re-inspect their work and determine the reason for this persistent problem. This time, they diagnosed the problem as negative house pressure - which purportedly impedes the smoke from going up the chimney. They recommended the installation of a chimney fan. Installed on the top of the chimney, the fan unit (which can be controlled electronically inside the house) draws the smoke up and out of the chimney. We were quoted a price of $5500 which includes the chimney fan unit, installation/labor, as well as the electrical work. We were told the work should be completed within 2-3 weeks (fan unit would have to be ordered, etc.) We signed the contract on January 27. They were incredibly efficient in collecting their $2750 deposit the very next day. From this point on, BC has been COMPLETELY inept, at times rude, and hasn't offer anything close to resembling customer service. Weeks passed with no update on the status of the fan unit - despite numerous calls into the office. It eventually became clear that someone dropped the ball and failed to order the unit. To add insult to injury, we have waited MONTHS for their electrician to show up and inspect the project. Repeated calls into BC have gone unanswered. When we did reach someone, they had no update or plan of action to remedy the problem. Bryan Whitaker, the owner/President of Bethesda Chimney, has refused to take our calls, despite our repeated requests to speak with him. His refusal to talk to a customer, who has had to wait for months for the project to even begin - which was originally expected to take "2-3 weeks" - reeks of arrogance and complete lack of caring about the company's failings and poor customer service. Meanwhile, we are out our $2750 deposit. If you're thinking of hiring Bethesda Chimney, DON'T!!! There are plenty of other quality chimney companies from which to choose. read more

Be careful of getting an inspection--we used them and after charging us for an inspection they said the fireplace wasn't usable and began pushing us to pay thousands of dollars for various different "solutions" to the fireplace (from cosmetic to deep construction) to make it usable, even though we made it clear from the beginning that we are renters. read more

Bryan came out to inspect my fireplace, as we'd been having smoke come into the house vs. up the chimney. He was on time, friendly and knowledgable. He quickly diagnosed the problem and in no time, our fireplace was up and running again! I had a fire that very night! I highly recommend this business. read more

Our house required a complete rebuild of a chimney for two fireplaces, which was no small project. I received estimates from three companies, but ultimately selected the team from Bethesda Chimney because of their professionalism in explaining what needed to be done and why as well as their reasonable pricing. Communications and scheduling were smooth and easy. The team was on-time and courteous, using scaffolding, wood planks and drop cloths to protect our house and garden. During the project, I was actively consulted about the schedule, rather than having it dictated to me, and the project was completed on-time and on-budget. After the project was completed, Bryan, the owner, personally came to the house to do a test fire of our fireplaces. I have since used the fireplaces over the past couple of months, and I am very satisfied. I will definitely use Bethesda Chimney again. read more