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 Passaic Team Behind Top Hat Chimney
We’ve been working on chimneys in Passaic since 1999, and the crew who shows up at your door is the same crew you’ll run into at the ShopRite on Monroe Street. No rotating cast of subcontractors, no faceless dispatchers. Wendell hires people he’d trust inside his own house, which is the only interview question that matters in this trade. Every one of us lives within 20 minutes of the shop. When winter hits and your flue acts up, we want to be the ones who fix it.
Our People
Wendell Pike, Owner and Lead Technician
Wendell founded Top Hat Chimney with a single truck, a set of brushes, and a belief that Passaic homeowners deserved a straight answer about their fireplaces. He’s been on thousands of roofs across Passaic County, from the colonials near Third Ward Park to the three-families off Main Avenue, and he still does the hands-on work himself most days. Wendell holds CSIA certification and is the person who signs off on every camera inspection and every written estimate that leaves the shop. His rule for the whole crew is simple: if he wouldn’t recommend the work to his own mother, we don’t recommend it to you. On Saturdays you might find him at the hardware store on Broadway talking furnace filters with somebody he swept for a decade ago.
Ray M., Senior Installer
Ray has been with Top Hat for 14 years and handles the heavy structural work: liner replacements, crown rebuilds, and the flue repairs that make homeowners nervous until they see the camera footage. He’s certified on DuraFlex and HeatShield systems, and he’s the guy Wendell sends when a job calls for puzzle-solving more than elbow grease. Ray grew up in a Passaic row house where his father kept a coal stove burning, so he understood draft and airflow before he ever picked up a trowel. Off the clock, Ray coaches his daughter’s softball team and is unreasonably good at predicting the first hard freeze of the season. Homeowners often ask for him by name, which tells you everything.
Karen T., Service Coordinator
Karen is the voice on the other end of (551) 368-8859 when you call at six in the morning or nine at night. She’s been with Wendell since 2006 and knows the Passaic service map the way you know your own hallway: what streets are a quick hop from the shop, which apartment conversions have tricky access, and who’s dealing with a rental property versus a family home. Karen gives you a real arrival window, not a vague promise, and if the crew is running behind she calls you before you have to call us. Outside of work she tends a garden that produces more tomatoes than the whole crew can eat in August, and she’ll tell you all about it while she’s booking your sweep.
Danny R., Apprentice
Danny joined the crew two years ago after answering a help-wanted sign Wendell posted at the Passaic county vocational school, and he’s learning the trade the right way: from the bottom of the ladder up. He shadows Wendell and Ray on every type of job, from straightforward cleanings in Passaic Park to liner assessments on older homes near the river. Danny is studying for his CSIA certification and has quickly earned a reputation among the crew for spotting animal nesting before anyone else takes a second look at the crown. He’s the reason our inspection notes include the kind of small detail a homeowner can actually act on. When he’s not scraping creosote or hauling brushes, Danny plays bass in a local band and still shows up for the first job of the day on time.
One Standard, Every Job
The crew may have different roles, but the standard doesn’t change depending on who’s on the job. Every sweep includes a camera inspection, and you see the footage before anyone recommends a repair. Every price is given upfront, before tools come off the truck, and the number on the phone is the number on the invoice. Every job carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing: if it’s not right, one call brings Wendell or Ray back at no additional cost. No trip charge inside Passaic County. No upselling a liner you don’t need. Wendell hires people who understand that the company’s reputation rides on every job, whether it’s a $200 cleaning on a Passaic cape or a full rebuild on a multi-family near the high school. That’s how a 29-year-old local business stays local.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Passaic and surrounding communities since 1999.