Northeast Chimney Sweeps

Northeast Chimney Sweeps is a small family-run chimney company based in Woburn, working across about a dozen surrounding towns including Arlington, Lexington, Medford, Winchester and Reading. Owner Joe Albano's outfit sweeps and inspects chimneys, installs caps and stainless liners, does small masonry repairs and repointing, and waterproofs brickwork. The website says the business has been family-owned since 1978; the Better Business Bureau's file, which lists it as a one-person sole proprietorship under Joseph Albano, records a later start date. The review record is unusually deep for a business this size — 4.9 stars across 95 Google ratings — and the recent write-ups are specific about the work. One homeowner this month described a carbon monoxide problem found during a gas meter change, with National Grid shutting off the water heater; every other chimney company was booked out two weeks and Joe fit them in. Another, writing in July, had gone through three opinions after one company pushed an $1,800 chemical treatment and another insisted nothing could be done without a new liner; they described Northeast as professional, clean, realistic about what was actually needed, and never overselling. A third reported a liner system, chimney cap and smoke pipe installed well, with photographs of the crumbling flue sections supplied beforehand. A long-standing customer said the company has cleaned their chimney for twenty-five years and remains prompt and thorough. Two Medford residents echoed that on a local thread, one calling the work excellent and both reporting easy communication — though a third in the same thread found email replies slow. The one negative on file is about administration rather than craft: a reviewer who praised the service itself said communication and payment options were poor and described being contacted about a late mailed cheque in a tone they found accusatory. Worth knowing that this is a very small operation — the owner's own note on the site says slots fill fast, especially in autumn, and that they limit their radius to about twelve towns to keep up. Book early for the heating season, agree how you will be invoiced, and expect a thorough, unhurried inspection rather than a hard sell.