So Cal Chimneys

WARNING DISHONEST CONTRACTOR…
ALL I ASKED FOR WAS AN ESTIMATE!
DO NOT CONTACT HIM OR LET HIM IN YOUR HOME…
Guy said he would come for a repair estimate scheduled a time with him. I tried contacting him to reschedule but he wouldn’t respond. So he does this sweep and inspection thing knowing I do not have a working fireplace which I need fixed. Says some BS about 4000 earthquakes a year so the chimney liner could be damaged, which it is not.
Then at the end charges me $ 89??? What for only here for 10 minutes??? Didn’t expect this and told him it would have been good to mention this before and the cost.
Unfortunately, contractors like this still exist. I do not recommend this business or service and will not use this company and I contacted Warm Hearth (store than recommended him) in La Mesa about his tactics.
This slick scamming dirt merchant that could have received the contract if he used a different business approach, really don’t think he cared because all he was trying to do was make a quick buck off me. Has no demeanor. His CA contractor license needs to be reviewed.
DO NOT CONTACT HIM OR LET HIM IN YOUR HOME…
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!!

As some of you I didn’t do my homework. Over the phone friendly but as soon as he was in my door, not so much. Tried to ask some questions very short and then would disappear outside.
I was thinking he would use that huge brush and clean it from the outside but I didn’t see that, used the brush from inside but this brush was like 4 feet long how high up the chimney can you go with that ?? I could of done that and just used my shop vac. He didn’t even get one speck up soot on him !! Then the upsales and all the Fire codes that I was breaking. So like an idiot I fell for one but then said No to everything else. So, would I use or refer no I wouldn’t and I feel like I need to get someone else to really clean now. Well my fault but just don’t want anyone else using him and wasting their money.

Slick upselling dirtbag. Have had remorse ever sense he was here. Felt like we were being handled by a used car salesman. Sadly fell for some of his tactics as he painted a sad and not all true picture of the state of our chimney and fireplace. Felt he way overcharged for his work and since we didn’t supervise fear he didn’t truly sweep the chimney… the reason we agreed to him coming out in the first place. Shop around and read his other reviews. Avoid!!!

This character’s M.O. is to exhibit at a home show and hook you with a price something like $ 89 for cleaning your chimney.
Then watch out. He breezes through the work and begins the hard sell upsell. My God, what he wanted to sell me some replacement parts!
I think Steve perches at the home shows because he doesn’t have word-​of-​mouth referrals.
The whole experience was just plain creepy.

I got a flyer from Steve at the Escondido street faire, got the $ 89 chimney cleaning, he seemed grouchy, and like he didn’t want to do anything else, other than do the cleaning job. Poor attitude and not too friendly. I later realized he didn’t check top of chimney. Seemed like he was in a hurry. Quoted me $ 1000 to repair the tiles in fireplace, and off he went! I’m in the service industry too, and I couldn’t treat customers like that! I wouldn’t recommend this guy to anyone.

I wish I would have looked at reviews before paying for Steve to sweep my chimney. He was in and out in 5 mins. He was rude and tried to upsell me. Now I am afraid he barely did anything to clean my chimney and debating whether to bring out someone else and pay more money. Don’t use him!

In short — watch for the up-​sell, Steve O’Mara was at the recent Del Mar Home show and we needed a Chimney Sweep and asked him to come out to our home. We also asked that he install a chimney cap.
He came out and swept the chimney and did a good job.
He was more interested in replacing our log set and worked the up-​sell big time.
We didn’t get a chimney cap installed — We have a tall chimney and rather than get a ladder and go up from the outside, he wanted to climb on the roof and have us take irresponsibility for broken tiles. This was lame — you either are a contractor or you aren’t.
He also offered to install a $ 3.00 cap on the gas line and decommission our fireplace logs — for $ 40.00.
What a hack.

We met Steve at the Del Mar Home & Landscape show. As our 22 yr old house had never had the chimney swept, I thought it would be a good idea. I also described how poor the heat output was from our fireplace. He explained the difference btwn concrete logs (like you get from Home Depot, etc) vs ceramic. He also recommended a heat shield to reflect the heat back into the room. He was an hour earlier, but called, so I met him at our house. Here inspected and cleaned the chimney, and said it was in great shape with no damage, because we had never overdone it by using real wood in a gas only fp. He then removed the old logs and «litter» on the bottom and installed our new logset. It looks much more realistic than the old, and we could feel the difference in heat output immediately. Not sure how much is due to the ceramic logs, or the heat shield, but it certainly works. He was in and out in less than an hour, and didn’t leave a trace of dirt or evidence he’d been there. He also pointed out a code violation in our mantle, which I shared with my wife that night, and she was already aware of it. We’re planning on replacing the mantle and tile to get it out of the 90’s, but I appreciated his insight. Highly recommended.

Steve O’Mara swept our chimney today. He was on time, pleasant and efficient. He didn’t try to sell me on any additional services. In fact he said the chimney looks good. When he was already on his way I had the bright idea to check Unilocal.After reading the poor reviews I decided that if he recommended anything additional beyond sweeping I would say no, then check it out further. Anyway maybe he’s toned things down. I can’t really complain about anything.

Steve did a good job cleaning our fireplace and he seemed quite nice and professional. Our fireplace had the back wall blown out to make it double-​sided, and he was quick to point out issues with how it was done improperly. When he suggested repairs, I got a bit afraid, though. We wanted to close in the back side and seal it up so no fumes could escape out the back. He suggested a metal heat shield and putting in artificial logs to burn only gas, as he thought that would be more safe than burning wood. Ummm… really? I think I’d rather have the option to see and smell smoke to let me know where it’s going than have an invisible gas (with some scent added by SDGE) slowly poison us.
According to the CSLB as of 9÷19÷11 he has a D34 License (Prefabricated Equipment Contractor), which includes factory built fireplaces and accessories (no masonry facing); major appliance installations and ventilating hoods in connection with existing fuel and energy lines which are installed by others.
After talking to other chimney experts, they confirmed that what he suggested was absolutely ridiculous and unsafe. My $.02, if you just want you chimney swept, then look no further. If your fireplace/​chimney need more, keep looking. It would be the equivalent of having Jiffy Lube rebuild your engine; they’re great at changing oil, but would you trust them with a big job?