Farrell’s Fireside Shop

Tom from Farrell’s fixed my fireplace today. He was very honest, helpful, and knowledgable. He explained why my Heatnglo fireplace wasn’t working and, even better, he showed me how to maintain it myself so I wouldn’t be faced with the same problem again.
Before I was lucky enough to find Farrell’s, a service «professional» from another company diagnosed the problem as a special part needing to be replaced. Something about this didn’t seem right, so I did a bit online and found out the guy was overcharging me about $ 100 for the part he said I needed. Tom from Farrell’s said I didn’t need the part, and he turned out to be right. I was only charged for the service call, during which Tom tuned up my fireplace and showed me some tips how to keep it in good order.
I trust Farrell’s. They are honest, competent and efficient people. And their prices are fair. I would recommend them to anyone who needs good honest service people.

The gas fireplace and stone-​faced chimney are absolutely beautiful; and the work was done at a fair price. However, my rating is based on a complete lack of communication and poor project management that left me wondering what was going on for weeks on end. The end product gets an «A» while the communications and management aspect gets a «D.»

We are extremely happy with the service we received from Farrell’s Fireside. Tom came to our home for our initial appointment. He was very knowledgeable and answered all questions we had. Our installation was equally as easy and enjoyable. Tom was very professional throughout the entire process and we are very, very happy with our final fireplace design!

These guys are the best! Showed up EARLY! Very professional and Dewey is just the best! Customer service skills off the hook! Can’t wait till it gets a little chilly to use our new insert.
Thanks again for being the real deal…

Wonderful service… have dealt with Farrell’s for a very long time. Just purchased a new wood burning stove to replace last one (had 30 years) and I was unhappy with the black color. Mike and John very patient with me and they had the stove painted to match my décor… WOW…just stunning. SO THRILLED… The men that came out to paint the stove had to move this huge thing outside, paint in the awful heat, bring back in adjust the pipe, lift onto the harth… no easy feat… I am so delighted with the service from everyone… Thank you Thank… In another 30 years I will get my wood burning from Farrell’s…They have cleaned and inspected my old stove many times and of course I will continue using their services for my brand new stove. SO PLEASED…

Love my new gas logs and remodeled fireplace. Great customer service. Dewey was very efficient and detailed.
Drew M.

Recently our fireplace started filling our house with smoke so we called Chimneys R Us, the company we always use to come out and inspect. A very nice gentleman took a look at the fireplace and the chimney. Because we were very nervous about people going on the roof and breaking tiles, he suggested Tom, from Farrell’s, a much leaner and experinced Chimney guy. (Farrell’s and Chimneys R Us are apparently sister companies) Today Tom came and carefully got on the roof, cleaning a very dirty chimney and fireplace. He was polite, professional, and light on our tiles! He even took before and after photoes for me! Thank you so much, and we are enjoying a warm fire in a smokeless house!

This is a bit long, hang in there. I purchased an Avalon Raineer wood stove insert from Farrells about 2 to 3 years ago. They installed it, as well as the chimney sleeve piping and the chimney cap. I had a wood stove at a previous house so I have used them for many years. To avoid problems, I use either oak, avocado or compressed wood logs. At the beginning I used a lot of their compressed wood logs since that is what Farrells uses in their store demo stove. Then after extensive web searching, I found out about Northern Idaho compressed wood logs which are much larger and so longer burning and I now buy those from Hennings in Vista. A Long drive but a great product. The first major problem occurred after I had only used the stove maybe 20 or so times. It became harder and harder to start and began to back-​up sending smoke into our house every time I opened the door to feed it. Then it sent so much smoke into the house down through the bottom of the stove where the fan is located, that my smoke alarms went off and I had to remove their batteries. I got onto my roof and found that the chimney cap was all clogged with gooey drippy black creosote and I phoned Farrells. They said that it did not make sense but that they would «take care of it and make me happy» since I had the stove under a year and had not even used it much. When their sweep called to make the appointment to clean it all out and see what the problem might be, he mentioned that possibly it was clogging up due to my running it dampered too far down and that I should not do this. He (their sweep) said likes to run his really hot every few times to keep it clean. This pissed me off as they had told me I could damper it way down to save money and burn wood more slowly. Okay, so before he actually came over, I cleaned some of the clogged up holes in the cap, so that it would draw enough for me to start a fire, and I ran two really hot fires at about 600 degrees on their temp gauge. When he came over he was surprised to find that although it was still majorly clogged, none of it was wet and drippy anymore as the hot fires I ran had dried it all out making his job a great deal faster and easier and less messy. I specifically asked him if maybe the swivel Rooster type chimney cap had too little venting area and he said that was not the issue and that it really had to be my running it dampered down too far. I was VERY surprised when he handed me a bill for $ 120.00+ since «we will make you happy» sounded like I was not going to be charged for this cleaning that should not have been needed.
Jump forward a year and it is now 2015. After burning my stove for just 10 or 12 days total in the past 2 winter months, and all with the North Idaho compressed logs which leave almost zero ash, it became hard to start for two days and then the third day, yesterday, it backed up and flooded my house with smoke. Ghastly! I am very glad that I had not gone out for a while and that I happen to own a Halon fire extinguisher, so I was able to barely open the door, spray in some Halon to immediately extinguish the smoldering fire, and close it back up. Turned on my attic exhaust fans and it took hours to get most of the smell out. Had to run an ozone generator to get rid of it all. This time I decided to call Hennings and emailed them photo’s I took of the cap all clogged up once again with dry soot. He immediately asked me why Farrells had installed the swivel rooster style chimney cap since these types of caps clog up and cause major problems and should never be used unless there is a major draw issue due to high winds pushing air down a chimney. Nope, no winds in our area and I said Farrells simply installed what they told me was appropriate and that when I specifically asked about the cap a year ago during the first clog, they said it would not have been in any way responsible for my problem. I was given the name of one of the major wholesale chimney suppliers if I wanted to call and verify that they tell their dealers to avoid those caps unless they are absolutely necessary, and I ordered a standard (but California approved) replacement cap which I will put on as soon as it arrives. It has close to 400% more air flow venting holes. Meanwhile, I cleaned the old one with a wire brush so I can still light a fire. Between their not knowing that this type of cap should never be used unless certain windy conditions might require it, and the fee I was charged during the“make me Happy” visit, and the really bad taste I have after a house full of smoke times two, I will never recommend Farrells. Hennings is good for North County residents and I guess for down here I would send people to Warm Hearth, who I would hope is better but I don’t know.

They came out to my property to inspect a chimney to ensure it was safe before we bought new logs for it. They deemed it safe, so we bought a new set of gas logs from them.
A year later, the tenant living in the property believes the fireplace is unsafe and orders an inspection. They come out and now deem that same chimney unsafe.
It’s pretty clear to me that they deemed it safe just so they could make a sale. There’s a reason these guys rating is as low as it is. #StayAway

When you buy an old home heating isn’t always a luxury due to outdated fire hazard floor heaters and little or no insulation, drafty windows, etc. While this is San Diego and «heat» seems like something you don’t need around here, inside my house was a different story. On any given warm sunny day the inside of the house would have you bundled up in hoodies and boots, and lets not even get started on when it was cold outside! There needed to be an answer to this freezing business.
My first run in with Farrell’s Fireside is while strolling through the La Mesa Oktoberfest. I used to think that the middle sections of people trying to showcase home improvement was a waste of space pre-​homeownership days but now this was just what I needed. The guy in the booth was really kind and gave us a business card to check back in with them when we were ready. That Oktoberfest meet up got the ball rolling and our pennies saving to finally put heat in our 90 year old home.
A few months later my husband and I go into the actual storefront and met John, an older gentlemen that knows his fireplace inserts well. He was helpful explaining to us what would be a good fit and then we went on our merry way. Farrell’s features nice looking inserts that don’t look like cheesy microwaves or take away from the natural beauty of your home.
Fast forward to more months going by and more pennies saved we had him come out for an estimate. John helped us choose which insert would look best in our space to compliment our 1924 home. The estimate was a bit higher than we expected it to be but heat is heat not to mention adding in the things we didn’t initially plan on like running the plumbing lines and the electrical lines too. A few more months of pennies saved and the day has finally arrived. Today! April! Our dream of heat has finally come to life and I couldn’t be happier.
The installation team showed up about twenty minutes early and were ready to roll. They were very polite guys and wasted no time getting set up, climbing on the roof, etc. The mess they created was minimal to none leaving not a trace of their presence in the house. This thrills me as we’ve had many improvements done to the home and careless marks have been left. These guys had a lot of experience putting these things in and there was no need for cutting or altering my fireplace front. I was thrilled! The guys couldn’t believe how seamless the installation went and after paying a remaining balance they were in and out with set up, installation, and clean up in under an hour. The guy gave a very thorough presentation on how to work our nifty thermostat remote control and showed us all the bells and whistles our insert can do.
Our dog approves and is already made the front of it her permanent spot to lay.
I’m completely happy with Farrell’s and would recommend them to anyone.

I had been looking for a chimney top to my Malm Fireplace and glad I found this place. They were helpful and informative.

Called today and spoke with Grady. Super friendly, very professional. Received a detailed quote for a fireplace insert over the phone in about 3 minutes. I told him about a coupon I had downloaded from the manufacturers website for $ 100 off, and he said he would beat it and give me 10% off. That’s $ 300! I plan to visit the shop this weekend, and make the buy in person. I will update this review after that. So far so good.

These guys are the best. They gave you fast courteous service. We had had some problems with our stove not venting properly and the owner came out to see what could be done about the problem. He sent his men out right away to try a fix. It unfortunately did not work but this was due to how our fireplace had been built in the first place. We subsequently had a gas insert installed and I thing we will be quite happy.

Absolute great service. Bought a Harmon Pellet stove 6 years ago. The color I wanted was not available. Grady painted it to match my décor. Six years of use, still looks great. I buy sundries occasionally and a lot of pellets, excellent service. They service and clean my system every other year. Great service staff, clean, efficient, andon time. I am buying a new BBQ and got a steal of a deal.

I used Farrell’s because I was told by a few contractors that my chimney needed repair not rebuilding (one person tried to tell me it should cost $ 15k to rebuild and that I had to do it asap! — who has this kind of spare cash I mean really!?) I also had a foundation guy who said he’s the only person he would use which was good enough for me. John reassured me that relining the fireplace and filling the gap between the house and the chimney that was pulling away would be fine and he’s been doing this for years so he should know. His crew communicated well with me, got me a reasonable quote when they said they would and showed up when promised. The job is beautiful and I’m thrilled at the result. John is a friendly, no nonsense kinda guy who tells it like it is, which I like. I would definitely use them again.

My wife and I were not happy with our whole house gas furnace with varying temperatures and very loud blower. We have a family room fireplace with a gas line for easy starting of hardwood fires. I searched online about gas inserts, and found Farrell’s. After seeing their insert at their store, and felt the more than adequate heat coming out of it, I had them come to our house for an estimate.
After the estimate, the insert was installed, and it performs better than expected. It is very quiet, yet puts out enough heat to keep my wife warm, at the push of a button. It has a remote control thermostat, which makes it very easy to adjust the temperature. It has electronic ignition, so the pilot light is always off. It is 80% efficient, so almost all of the heat comes back into your house, and not up the chimney. I should have bought this sooner!!!

So I bought a house with a large fireplace and insert that was improperly installed and unsafe (according to the inspector). Ferrell’s was recommended to me by a fireplace mason as being one of the best in the county. That was my experience as well.
The work that was done for me included installation of a new wood burning stove, and reworking of the rock masonry around the hearth and fireplace opening. The installation was absolutely beautiful, and works like a charm.
The owner John Ferrell came to my home and worked with me to help the redesign, and was even able to save me $ 1000 off the original estimate because parts of the chimney that were scheduled to be replaced were fine. John came to my house at least once a day when the work was being performed to make sure that it was being done correctly, and to work with me on modifications as the project progressed. I really appreciated the personal attention and brain storming to make it come out right. And their stone mason Sam was really good as well.

The sign on the door should be changed from «Open» to «Do Not Disturb».
I went in to look for a new fireplace, and naturally had some questions. The gentleman who got up to help me was obviously put off by the presence of a customer that day.
He was condescending and confrontational most of the time. When he was trying to explain something and I didn’t get it (mostly because he was having trouble expressing himself accurately), he would get short and disgruntled. I suspect he was thoroughly hung over, but of course I cannot prove that.
Bottom line is, they are the only place in San Diego that had what I was looking for, and they also do the installations, so they were going to receive a large chunk of my money. Until this guy thought I’d actually still spend it there even if he was rude to me. Yeah… right.
To be fair, my wife had called ahead and spoke with a woman and said she was very very pleasant. So I guess my message to potential customers is, try and get the woman to help you, or else teach the grumpy guy some manners by walking out.

STAY AWAY… the worst customer service ever, and I mean the worst. We paid in full over two months ago and they forgot to order the parts. The owner actually tod me it was ok to have an open fire without any door or screens on the fireplace. We have called and called and never a return call and then wehen we got the owner he said he would call back and never did.
STAY AWAY!!! Protect yourself!

Not sure why I gave it four instead of five just wanted to be tough I guess. We purchased a pellet stove from Farrells and couldn’t be happier. We refered our neighbor to Farrells and she purchased a gas fire place from them and is happy.
Would definately do business with them again, in fact I do because i buy pellets from them. Ok I’ll admit why I took away one star its because Alan no longer works there and he was definately the coolest always treated us right. The owner treats us right too but Alan just had that indescribable charisma that was fun to be around.