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 Woodland Park Team Behind Top Hat Chimney
Top Hat Chimney has been working out of Woodland Park since 1999, and the crew you see on the job is the same crew you’ll run into at the hardware store on Saturday. No rotating cast. No subcontractors wearing someone else’s shirt. These are background-checked, uniformed sweeps and masons who know North Jersey chimneys because they’ve been inside hundreds of them. Wendell Pike built this company on a simple idea: put your name on the work and answer the phone when it rings. The people below live that every day.
Our People
Wendell Pike, Owner
Wendell founded Top Hat Chimney in 1999 after years of running crews for other outfits and deciding he could do it better, simpler, and with fewer phone calls to some regional office in another state. He still climbs. Still runs the camera. Still answers the phone when he’s not gloved-up on a ridge line, because the “one down the road” thing isn’t a marketing line to him. It’s just how business works when you publish your address and your license number and then actually live there. If something isn’t right, his 90-Day Done Right Promise means one call brings him back. He signs that on every job, and he means it.
Mike R., Lead Technician
Mike has been with Top Hat for 14 years and handles most of the structural repair work in Woodland Park and the surrounding towns. He’s the one who breaks out the masonry tools when a crown is cracked or a flue tile has shifted, and he’s done enough HeatShield and DuraFlex liner installs to do them in his sleep, though he doesn’t recommend that. Mike is fully licensed and insured, trained on every brand Top Hat services, and known for explaining what he found in plain English, with the camera footage to back it up. He restores old Volkswagens on weekends and has a dry sense of humor that seems to show up right when a homeowner is most stressed about a quote.
Danny T., Senior Installer
Danny leads liner rebuilds and cap-and-crown projects, and he’s the one who handles the trickier access jobs, steep pitches, tight chase spaces, the stuff that makes other companies send a “we’ll pass” note. He’s been with Top Hat for 9 years and came up through chimney work after a career in commercial roofing, so heights and flashing details are second nature. Danny holds certifications across the major product lines Top Hat installs, including Olympia Chimney and Copperfield systems. He keeps a small notebook in the truck where he sketches out exactly what he plans to do before he does it, then leaves the sketch with the customer. People appreciate that.
Sarah C., Service Coordinator
Sarah is the voice on the phone most days, and she’s been with Top Hat for 6 years. She’s not a call center, not a script reader, and not a voicemail box. When you call (973) 846-1622, Sarah is one of the live people who actually picks up, books the job, and gives you a real arrival window. She knows the schedule, knows the crew, and knows which questions to ask so Wendell and the team show up with the right equipment the first time. Before she joined Top Hat, Sarah managed field crews for a landscaping company, so she’s used to juggling weather delays and changing schedules without dropping the ball. If your appointment time ever slips, she’s the one calling you before you have to call us.
Chris M., Apprentice Sweep
Chris is the newest member of the crew, two years in, and he’s learning the trade from the brush work up. He started on cleanings and inspections, running the vacuum, staging tools, pulling the camera footage for review, and now he’s taking on more repair work under Mike and Danny’s supervision. Chris is background-checked, uniformed, and training on every brand Top Hat services, because Wendell doesn’t let anyone near a customer’s chimney until they understand how the whole system works, not just one piece of it. He grew up in Passaic County and likes the fact that half the time he’s working on chimneys he’s been looking at since he was a kid.
One Standard, Every Job
Wendell’s rule is simple: the number you hear on the phone is the number on the invoice, and nobody touches a single tool until you’ve agreed to that number. Every sweep, every repair, every liner install gets the same treatment: upfront pricing before work begins, camera footage shown with a plain-English verdict, and a written 90-Day Done Right Promise on the completed job. If it’s not done right, one call brings Wendell and the crew back at no charge. That applies whether the work was a $189 cleaning or a full flue rebuild. The crew knows the standard because Wendell wrote it, enforces it, and personally backs it with his name. And around Woodland Park, his name is the one that shows up on the truck, on the invoice, and in the grocery store line on Sunday afternoon.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Woodland Park, NJ since 1999.