National Chimney & Mason ry (Tom Casey) was contracted to clean my chimney. While cleaning they told my wife that the chimney was seriously deteriorated and recommended a stainless steel liner. Big surprise they had it on the truck and scared her into the installation that day - $1,100.
It was bad enough to get taken on the install but they did not even do it correctly and created a deadly situation in my home. I returned home a week later to find our home filled with smoke and soot. I called my oil company who told me that the insert was incorrectly installed and National had sealed the pipe with an excessive amount of cement, which fell into the chimney opening and completely sealed it off.
I called a real Chimney service to inspect and here is what they found:
A 5 inch insert was placed into a 7 inch chimney opening which was not only against code, but was not large enough to support the existing oil burning furnace and gas hot water heater. This caused a backup of smoke and soot which clogged the furnace and the insert.
The installer ran the hot water heater smoke pipe directly into the wall, instead of using the proper “T” connection outside of the wall, which is against code.
When the hot water heater was installed in the wall, the installer cut into the stainless steel insert, instead of using a “T” connection, invalidating the lifetime warranty on the insert.
Two new chimney caps were installed, one of which was the incorrect size for the chimney opening.
Inspection of the top of the chimney showed that furnace cement was used to seal the new insert in place. Cardboard was packed around the insert pipe to keep it in place while the cement dried, which is not only against code, but caused an extremely dangerous fire hazard in the chimney.
Inspection of the top eight feet of the chimney showed only normal wear and tear, a condition in which an insert is not recommended by a reputable chimney cleaning company.
Repeated calls to the company and messages left have been ignored and owner Tom Casey told me to take him to court. I took him to small claims court and the judge decided it was a clear case of consumer fraud and awarded triple the judgment. Of course I have not been able to collect from this crook
National Chimney
Tom Casey, owner
Known Addresses
130 Dover Chester Road Randolph, NJ 07869
454 Ridgedale Avenue, East Hanover, NJ 07936
266 Radio Avenue, Miller Place, NY 11764
266 Hemlock Avenue, Port Jefferson, NY 11777
5505 Nesconset Highway, Mt. Sinai, NY 11766
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