Chimney Sweep Scam Alert

On February 8, 2024 I spoke to a new customer who had a harrowing experience.  She lives in an upscale neighborhood in Southern Orange County.  She saw an ad on her neighborhood social media page that advertised 30% of chimney sweeps and the company name was Lucky Sully Chimney Sweep.  We are the only licensed contractor with that name.

She responded to the ad and when the chimney sweeper arrived, she saw he was driving a Prius.  The price she was quoted was $175 (with the 30% discount), but this man (said his name was Ray) said the price was $300 and wanted cash.  He was unable to provide a business card or any stationery with the business name.  He said he was from AM Janitorial Services but had no business card or license.  He said the Lucky Sully bid the job out to him.  We DO NOT bid out jobs to other companies.

If we feel the job is not something we can do, we may refer homeowners to other legitimate chimney companies, but it is up the the homeowner to contact those companies.  We do not receive commissions from these companies.  We do NOT advertise on neighborhood social media sites although some of our customers have written about us on some of these neighborhood pages.

If you find out about us from an ad on social media, please call our main number 714-342-7415 or email us at luckysullysweep@aol.com if you want to do business with us.

chimney sweep scam alert notice

Bees in Chimney

We get calls frequently for bees in chimney.

All to often home owners have them exterminated, rather than finding a real beekeeper. Once you have bees relocated, we have solutions to help keep bees from returning, specifically, if you have a masonry chimney.

It’s called a top mounted chimney damper. Works great.

bees in chimney

Multi-flue Chimney Caps

In situations where 2 flues occupy one chimney, we like to install multi-flue chimney caps. I think they look tidier that having 2 caps jammed together often at slightly different heights. This one is black galvanized, but we can get them in copper or stainless steel which are recommended for homes within 5 miles of ocean.

Chimney cap that covers 2 chimney flues

Chimney repair vs rebuild

This is repair we did 4 years ago.

We didn’t rebuild the chimney, but patched it. If you look closely, we colored the patch in bricks to make repair nearly unnoticeable. This is a relatively inexpensive repair, much less than rebuild. With regular maintenance this chimney could last quite a while, but without maintenance, water could continue to get in, moisten the rebar which rusts, expands and breaks bricks and mortar joints.

chimney-crack-repair

Beware of Chimney Scams

*Consumer Warning*
We have had a large number of customers tell us about companies advertising very low prices for chimney sweeps who then come out and tell the customer the price is really $500-$700 for a chimney sweep (way beyond the usual range).  Customers who agreed to the bait and switch then had these companies do a bad job and ended up with lots of soot in their homes.  When they wrote bad reviews, they were then threatened by these companies.  On checking with the California Contractors License Bureau, none of these companies have contractor’s licenses, so it is illegal for them to charge more than $500.  The company names are often similar to legitimate companies who do have a contractor’s license.

Lucky Sully Chimney Sweep has been serving Long Beach & southern California since 2004. We have over 25,000 satisfied customers. All of our technicians have been with us for at least 15 years. We are committed to giving you the very best in chimney and fireplace services. Get a chimney inspection from a licensed company here.

We are certified, licensed, bonded and insured for your protection.

Chimney scams