Meet the Team - Hearthstone Chimney Co.

Meet the West Hartford Team Behind Hearthstone Chimney Co.

Our West Hartford crew is the same group that’s climbed ladders through Hartford County winters since before some of the newer neighborhoods were finished. We’re not rotating contractors or seasonal hires. These are the people who answer when you call, show up at your door, and sign off on the work. What ties us together is simple: we fix what we find, we show you what we saw, and we come back if it’s not right. No one here has time for shortcuts. We’ve got chimneys to keep safe and homeowners who deserve to understand what’s going on above their roofline.

Call (860) 743-1516

Our People

Russell Haines, Owner

I’ve been running Hearthstone since 1984, which means I’ve swept chimneys in West Hartford through four decades of freeze-thaw cycles, ice dams, and the occasional homeowner who didn’t know their fireplace was missing a liner until we put a camera up there. I started this company because I got tired of watching families pay for work they couldn’t see or verify. These days I still climb when the job calls for it, but mostly I’m making sure our K.E.Y.S. code actually means something on every job: Krafted right, Every time, Your home first, Standing behind it. I live in the area, my kids went to school here, and I’m not building this business to sell it. If your damper is rusted shut, the fireplace has been telling you something for a while. I’d rather say that upfront than come back in six months because we both pretended otherwise.

Mike D., Lead Technician

Mike’s been with us fourteen years, and he’s the one we send when a chimney system has been cobbled together by three different owners across thirty years. He’s CSIA-certified and specializes in Level-2 camera inspections, the kind where you actually understand what you’re looking at by the end. Mike grew up in New Britain, worked construction through his twenties, and still carries a notebook where he sketches cross-sections of flue problems to explain them to homeowners. Off the clock, he’s restoring a 1978 Chevy pickup in his garage in slow motion. His rule: if he wouldn’t run that flue in his own mother’s house, he won’t sign off on it in yours.

Carla R., Senior Installer

Carla handles our liner installs, crown rebuilds, and anything that involves working with the materials most homeowners never see: DuraFlex stainless, HeatShield resurfacing, Gelco caps. She’s been doing this eleven years, trained originally as a mason, and she’s particular about mortar mixes in a way that matters when West Hartford’s temperature swings are testing your crown seal six months a year. Carla’s originally from the Hartford area and lives in Bloomfield now. She keeps a small garden that she’s slowly expanding into something her neighbors comment on. Her detail: she photographs every stage of a liner pull so there’s no question about what came out and what went in.

James T., Service Coordinator

James is the live voice you get when you call (860) 743-1516 at 10 PM on a Saturday because you smelled something odd after the first fire of the season. He’s been with us eight years, knows the scheduling rhythms of every West Hartford neighborhood from Elmwood to Bishop’s Corner, and can tell you whether your situation sounds like a next-day booking or a same-week priority without making you feel rushed. James is from West Hartford originally, still lives here, and coaches youth basketball winters when he’s not on the phones. He tracks our 90-Day Done Right Promise in a spreadsheet he built himself because he doesn’t trust generic software to flag a follow-up correctly.

Darnell W., Apprentice Technician

Darnell joined us in 2022 after six years in HVAC and a stint running his own handyman operation in Hartford County. He’s working toward his CSIA certification while shadowing Mike and Carla on inspections and basic sweeps. Darnell’s got a knack for spotting water damage patterns that others miss, probably from all the attic and ductwork he’s crawled through. He lives in Windsor with his partner and two dogs, and he’s the one most likely to ask the homeowner to come look at the camera feed with him because he’s genuinely interested in whether you understand what you’re seeing. He’s already completed most routine sweeps solo, and we’re not rushing the rest.

One Standard, Every Job

The West Hartford crew works as part of Hearthstone’s broader Connecticut operation, but the standard doesn’t change because you crossed a town line. Every technician is background-checked and uniformed. Most jobs finish in a single visit. The estimate you approve is the invoice you pay. Our 90-Day Done Right Promise applies the same way whether we’re working on a 1920s Tudor in West Hartford or a colonial in Glastonbury. If it’s not right, we come back. In writing, no arguing. The brands we specify, DuraFlex and HeatShield and the rest, are the same ones we’d use on our own homes. Russell still reviews the photos from every Level-2 inspection that flags a real problem. Not because he doesn’t trust the crew, but because if we’re recommending work, he’s the one whose name has been on the company for over 42 years. That’s not changing. We’re planning to be here in thirty more, and we act accordingly.

Written by Russell Haines, Owner at Hearthstone Chimney Co., serving West Hartford since 1984.