Walter Townshend & Son Inc.

Walter Townshend ended up doing a very good job on my chimney. My house is almost 100 years old, and the original stone needed to be replaced. I also had no fireplace liner, which is a safety concern. Although I had to wait for the job to get done, they were professional and were very nice to work with. They were also the most reasonably priced out of the many quotes I received.

Walter Townshend and Sons (it was the son who came by, actually), gave me an excellent price and did excellent work. They were on time, quick, and tidy.

When I wanted my chimney repointed, I got quotes from $800 to $4000. Some people said that it needed to be rebuilt ($4000) ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE description=VALUES(description),title=VALUES(title),story=VALUES(story); others said it needed to be repointed ($2000). Townshend and Sons did a great repointing job for much less than anyone else.

When I had trouble with the eavestrough people they referred me to, Townshend pressured the eavestrough company to come back and fix the problem right away. When I called, the eavestrough people wouldn't do anything for me. When Townshend called, they came the next day.

Highly recommended.

I contacted Walter Townshend for repairs to my chimney, as the brickwork was chipping away in sections. The repair crew showed up on a freezing cold day as I was leaving for work. No one spoke to me directly, other than to tell me they were from W.T., and I was given no information they would be showing up that day. Two weeks after the repairs had been done I drove home one day to find my chimney ROLLING AROUND ON TOP OF MY ROOF - the new W.T. chimney had been blown over by the wind. I called up W.T. and it took 5 days for Walter himself to come out to look at the situation. Thankfully, he agreed to correct the work (thank goodness, what a nice guy, eh?). I also called my home insurer, who would have been out to make repairs the next day if I had committed to the repairs through them, which I'm kind of thinking I should have done. W.T.'s second attempt at providing me with a working chimney turned out to be a much shorter chimney in stature, which I've wondered may not even be to code, plus the base of the pipe was installed with a huge scrape across it, so will probably chip very soon too. Everything works the way it should, at least, but honestly I'd never recommend these people to anybody. Miserable experience.

In October 2010, Walter Townsend chimney repair service was requested , quoted and completed in 1 day. Excellent service and the price was very reasonable as others had quoted higher for the same work. The chimney looks great too.
Maureen Condon

When we heard our water heater had to be replaced and had no hot water, we were very concerned. Since our heater was so old and the work done to it was over 15 years ago, the work around it was no longer at code. We not only required a chimney liner but also tear out before our new water heater could be installed. I called John Townshend on an emergency call and right away I had a return call and same day service for estimate and repairs to begin. This was so important to us because we have a 1 year old in the house. The workers were polite, professional and did a wonderful job. It was done in a timely fashion and there was no mess which made it a pleasant experience!

We'd been looking rather pensively at the decrepit old fireplace chimney on our 1912 house for a few years. And when we had the roof reshingled and the roofers called it "a disaster waiting to happen", we decided we had to act. We decided to give Townshend a call because they'd been in business for a long time and figured they had to be doing something right. John MacTaggart showed up (exactly when he said he would by the way) and quoted us $2400 for the chimney rebuild. We asked him about the fireplace itself and he told us that it needed a stainless steel liner and a pop up damper--$2000 for the liner, $500 for the damper. He also had a look at our gas hot water tank venting and said he could bring it up to code with a new liner for $400--some other people had quoted us $1200! In addition, he said the fireplace cavity needed new firebrick which he offered to do, no charge. Long story short, it was a really good, professional experience. The crew also showed up when they said they would, there was never a wasted moment, they were nice and friendly about explaining things, John was always available by phone to tell me what was going on and what was coming next, and the job was done and finished and cleaned up within a few days of it being quoted. And it looks great. (I was told however that business heats up after labour day, so maybe we got a break during the slow season ) I even got two free Walter Townshend T shirts and a hat out of the deal. I'm digging Townshend. I'd use them again, and I'd recommend them to a friend.

Walter Townshend and Son were recommended by a neighbor who is a contractor. I asked them to quote on a chimney rebuild -- also to verify that a rebuild was indeed necessary. They confirmed it was necessary, and in retrospect after my experience with them, I'm not sure I believe them.

First, they sent me to a subcontractor - John McTaggart. John gave a verbal quote "5000 dollars". Why that much, I asked. And please give me a breakdown. There was limited information in the breakdown. But after getting more thorough quotes from other companies for the same price, I determined to go with Townshend.

They showed up, did the job in two and a half days, and left. 5K? Yikes - why so much for so little time? I didn't get it, and just assumed I'd been taken for a ride. Oh well

Then in December I called in my chimney sweep to clean it before using it for the first time. After setting off the smoke detector, he informed me that the chimney had problems plus there wasn't a chimney cap. So I phoned the company again and they said they'd send someone over. The next morning, two guys showed including one so hung over he sat with head in hands on my couch. They fixed the installation error but refused to put a cap. "That costs extra," I was told.

Extra? On top of 5 thousand dollars? So I phoned John McTaggart back. Yes it would cost extra because it wasn't part of the original quote. What? I told him that I assumed the entire chimney was part of the original quote and that I hired him to inform me what I needed. He then said that he wouldn't charge me installation nor a mark-up on the cap. That I would owe him about $30.

I was furious, but agreed. Fine. Install it. I'll pay your $30. An hour later, he phoned me back and said that even though the cap wasn't part of the original quote, he would provide it for free. The cap was installed and that's the last I heard of him.

Untrustworthy -- quote changed, incomplete and incorrect installation, tradespeople that were hung-over. I feel ripped off and angry. Do not use this company. Do not hire a contractor named John McTaggart.

And thank goodness for the chimney sweep -- him I'd recommend and give 10 stars to.