How Hearthstone Chimney Co. Was Born in Boston
We opened this branch in 2014, but the moment that made it necessary happened a year earlier, in a triple-decker off Columbia Road in Dorchester. A woman called us in tears. She’d paid another company to fix a smoking fireplace, they’d charged her for a “complete rebuild,” and the smoke was still pouring into her living room every time she lit a fire. We found the real problem in twenty minutes: a cracked smoke chamber, hidden above the damper where no one had bothered to look. The “rebuild” they’d sold her was cosmetic work on the hearth, visible and billable, completely beside the point.
That night, we drove home through Boston with the smell of wood smoke still in our clothes, furious at an industry that preys on people who can’t climb up to check the work themselves. We decided that week: this city needed a chimney company that documents what it finds, shows the homeowner the photos, and fixes only what needs fixing. No scare tactics. No mystery charges. Just a square deal, plainly stated. That’s why we brought Hearthstone Chimney Co. to Boston.
Russell Haines’s Personal Connection to the Chimney Cleaning Trade
Russell didn’t stumble into this work. He was pulled into it by the physical reality of it, the way some people are pulled toward water or toward high places. The first time he climbed a roof in winter, his hands went numb on the aluminum ladder rungs, and he could smell the cold iron of the flashing before he touched it. Below him, Boston stretched out in its grid of streets, the harbor grey and flat, smoke rising from a hundred chimneys he’d eventually know by name. He was twenty-four, working as a helper for a tradesman who trained him in Somerville, and he thought: this is honest. This is visible. You either fixed the leak or you didn’t. The house told you.
What kept him in it wasn’t the climb or the view. It was the moment after, when he’d come down and show a homeowner the photo of what he’d found: the gap in the liner, the creosote glazing, the brick spalling from freeze-thaw cycles that only happen in climates like ours. The relief on their faces when they could see it themselves, when they didn’t have to take his word. That never got old. Twelve years later, it still hasn’t.
If he weren’t doing this, he’d probably be restoring old houses somewhere, working with his hands on something that outlasts him. The work means the same thing either way: you leave a place better than you found it, and you don’t cut corners that the next person will have to fix. Russell gets out of bed early because there’s a fireplace in Jamaica Plain that hasn’t drawn right since the 1980s, and someone finally called someone who’ll actually figure out why.
Meet Russell Haines - The Person Behind Every Job
Russell Haines, Owner & Founder
Russell leads every aspect of this branch’s work, from the first phone call to the final walkthrough. He’s trained in level-2 chimney inspections, masonry repair, and liner installation, with years of hands-on experience in New England’s specific freeze-thaw conditions and the building codes that govern them. He holds the certifications required by Massachusetts for chimney and fireplace work, and he trains every technician under our name to the same standard.
What sets Russell apart from a franchise technician is simple: he’s the one who answers for the work. He lives in the area. He’ll see you at the hardware store in Roslindale. On weekends, he’s usually restoring an old wooden boat or working on his own century-old chimney in the house he’s slowly fixing up, room by room. He believes a person who works on your home should have skin in the game, personally and professionally.
His commitment to you is direct: if Russell’s name is on the inspection report, he stands behind every word of it.
Our Promise to Boston Homeowners
Our values aren’t posters on a wall. They’re the rules we operate by, shaped by the jobs that taught us what matters.
Honest pricing. After that Dorchester job in 2013, we made a policy: every recommendation comes with photo evidence, and no work proceeds without a written estimate you approve. We’ve walked away from jobs where a homeowner wanted work we couldn’t justify. The bill matches the estimate, or we explain why before you pay.
Quality parts. We specify brands like HeatShield and Gelco because we’ve seen what happens with off-brand liners that fail in five years. We use Olympia Chimney products where their specs fit the job, and Famco caps where the application calls for them. The part matters as much as the installation.
Standing behind every job. The Keystone Standard, applied to chimneys: 90 days, in writing, no arguing. If it’s not right, we come back. No paperwork, no arguing. That’s been our terms since we opened this branch in 2014.
Our Credentials
State-licensed - Every pro working under our name is required to hold the license and insurance their state requires for chimney and fireplace work. For you, this means the person on your roof has met Massachusetts standards for training and accountability, not just someone with a brush and a ladder.
Insured & bonded - Protection for your property and ours. If something goes wrong, there’s coverage in place. We’ve never needed it, but we wouldn’t set foot on your roof without it.
Years of local experience - Since opening this branch in 2014, we’ve worked on chimneys in every kind of Boston housing stock: triple-deckers in Dorchester, colonials in West Roxbury, capes in Quincy, the salt-exposed brick in Hull. We know how the northeast wind drives rain into certain flue angles, how the clay soil in parts of Milton shifts foundations and cracks fireboxes, how the freeze-thaw cycle here is harder on mortar than almost anywhere in the country.
Strong local reputation - We didn’t build this branch through advertising. We built it through neighbors telling neighbors, through real estate agents who remember which company didn’t panic their buyers, through the homeowners who call us back when they move to a new place and want the same standard.
These credentials matter because chimney work happens inside your home, on your roof, around your family. You’re not buying a product you can return. You’re trusting someone with your safety. We take that seriously.
Rooted in Boston
This branch serves Boston and the towns that ring it: Quincy, Revere, Randolph, Milton, Hingham, Chelsea, Abington, Hull, Avon, Holbrook, Cohasset. We’ve swept chimneys overlooking the harbor in Hull, rebuilt fireboxes in the triple-deckers of Chelsea, inspected liners in the quiet streets of Cohasset where the wind comes straight off the water.
We’re here Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM to 7:30 PM, and Saturday and Sunday, 7:00 AM to 6:30 PM. When you call (857) 597-5950, you’ll reach a live coordinator who connects you with our local team. The hearthstone is the stone the whole home gathered around. That’s why we’re here. That’s why we stay.
Written by Russell Haines, Owner at Hearthstone Chimney Co., serving Boston since 2014.