Level 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterMeet the Waterbury Team Behind Top Hat Chimney
Most of our crew has been climbing ladders in Connecticut long enough that the sight of a chimney from the top of a roof feels more familiar than the view from the ground. We’re not a revolving door of subcontractors. We’re neighbors from Waterbury, Naugatuck, Wolcott, and Cheshire who show up in a marked truck, introduce ourselves by name, and treat your fireplace like it belongs to the house two doors down. Wendell Pike started Top Hat Chimney in 1999, and the people he hires are the people he’d trust at his own kitchen table.
Our People
Wendell Pike, Owner & Senior Sweep
Wendell founded Top Hat Chimney in 1999 after spending his early years apprenticing with an old-timer who taught him that a clean flue is a safety decision, not a cosmetic one. He’s the guy who still picks up the phone when you call, and he’s the one who stamps the 90-Day Done Right Promise on your invoice before the truck pulls away. Ask him about the time he pulled a raccoon out of a Madison chimney in 2006, and he’ll tell you the chimney was fine. The raccoon, he says, had opinions. Wendell still runs the brush on plenty of jobs himself, because after 29 years, some habits you don’t hand off.
Marcus D., Lead Chimney Repair Technician
Marcus has been with Top Hat Chimney for 14 years and handles most of the masonry repair and liner work around Waterbury. He’s factory-trained on DuraFlex and HeatShield systems, which means when he says a liner needs replacement, he can show you the camera footage to prove it. Marcus is the one who’ll walk a homeowner through a crown sealer decision without making them feel like they’re being upsold. If there’s a chimney on a hill in Watertown that needs attention, he’s already mapped the ladder route. Off the roof, Marcus coaches his daughter’s soccer team and keeps a running list of the best breakfast spots in Litchfield County.
Tommy R., Fireplace & Cap Installer
Tommy joined the crew eight years ago and specializes in fireplace services, cap replacements, and crown work. He’s certified on Olympia Chimney and Copperfield product lines, and he’s the reason we can offer cap installs with a straight face: he’s done hundreds of them. Tommy grew up in Naugatuck and has the kind of local knowledge that matters, like knowing which 1920s Colonials on Hillside Avenue have flues that run at odd angles. He’s the quiet one on the job site until someone brings up fishing, at which point he’ll tell you exactly where the smallmouth are biting on Bantam Lake.
Lena S., Service Coordinator
Lena is the voice you’re most likely to hear when you call (203) 439-5655 at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday, or 2 a.m. on a Sunday, because our phones don’t go to voicemail. She’s been answering the phone at Top Hat Chimney for six years, and she runs scheduling with an almost unreasonable level of precision. If she tells you the sweep will arrive between 8:30 and 10:00, plan for 8:30. Lena lives in Prospect and volunteers at the animal shelter on weekends, which comes in handy when a customer in Middlebury calls about a squirrel problem and Lena has to explain, gently, that we remove the animals we find, but we’re not pest control.
Devon A., Apprentice Sweep
Devon is the newest member of the crew, two years in, and he’s already passed his CSIA certification while working under Wendell and Marcus. He started as a helper hauling brushes and tarps, and now he runs his own calls with a senior tech spot-checking his work. Devon grew up in Waterbury’s Bunker Hill neighborhood and went to Crosby High School, so roughly half his customers already know his aunt. He’s the one who gets sent up the steepest pitches, not because we’re short-staffed, but because he’s the only one who genuinely enjoys it.
One Standard, Every Job
Every person on this page works under the same rules Wendell wrote down in 1999 and never changed. Upfront pricing before tools come off the truck. A camera inspection with footage you can see for yourself before any liner or repair work is recommended. Background-checked, uniformed technicians who give you a real arrival window and call if it slips. And the 90-Day Done Right Promise on every single job: if it’s not right, one call brings the crew back at no additional cost. Waterbury chimneys range from century-old brick stacks in Overlook to newer builds in East Mountain, and every one of them gets the same standard. Wendell put his name on this company because he runs into you again at the ShopRite, and he’d rather you wave than cross the aisle.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Waterbury and surrounding Connecticut communities since 1999.