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 Norwood Team Behind Top Hat Chimney
Top Hat Chimney has been working in Norwood homes since 1999, and the crew who shows up at your door today is the reason people keep calling. We’re not a rotating cast of subcontractors. The folks below live in Norfolk County, shop at the same markets you do, and run into you at the hardware store on Saturday. Most of them started as apprentices and stayed because Wendell pays fair, trains hard, and doesn’t ask anyone to sell a repair a chimney doesn’t need. Every one of them has looked a homeowner in the eye and said, “You can wait a year on that” when waiting was the honest answer. That’s the standard.
Our People
Wendell Pike, Owner & Lead Sweep
Wendell founded Top Hat Chimney in 1999 with a beat-up truck, a set of rods, and a simple rule: do the work right or don’t charge for it. He’s still on the truck most weeks, often the first one up the ladder and the last one to sign off on a repair. Wendell holds CSIA certification and has logged more than 20,000 chimney inspections across Norfolk County. He installed his first liner in a Canton split-level during a nor’easter and still tells that story when a job runs long. The 90-Day Done Right Promise has his name on it because he’s the one who answers if it doesn’t hold. If you call after hours, there’s a decent chance it’s Wendell picking up, probably from his garage.
Mike D., Senior Installer
Mike has been with Top Hat for 14 years, and there’s no liner, cap, or crown in Norwood he hasn’t wrestled into place. He specializes in HeatShield and DuraFlex installations, and he’s our go-to when a chimney needs a partial rebuild rather than a full teardown. Mike is the guy who can tell from the ground whether your flashing is original to a 1980s colonial. He grew up in Stoughton and still coaches youth baseball there in the spring. Ask him about the time a family of chimney swifts delayed a cap install in Westwood for three weeks, and he’ll give you the full story, complete with bird sounds.
Sarah T., Service Coordinator
Sarah is the voice on the phone when you call Top Hat, and she’s been answering that phone for nine years. She schedules every sweep and repair, gives you the upfront price before a truck rolls, and calls if a technician is running behind. Sarah knows the Norwood map cold: she’ll ask if you’re near the civic center or up by the airport, then tell you exactly when Mike or Wendell will pull in. Before joining Top Hat, she ran scheduling for a dental office in Dedham, which prepared her for panicked callers in surprising ways. She also keeps a running list of the funniest “I thought my fireplace was fine” stories, and no, she will not share them.
Jason R., Apprentice
Jason joined the crew two years ago after finishing a trades program and hasn’t stopped asking questions since. He spends most days working alongside Mike, hauling equipment, learning brush techniques, and getting comfortable on ladders and roofs in every season New England throws at us. Jason is working toward his CSIA certification and already handles first-degree creosote sweeps on his own with a senior tech on site. He’s from Norwood originally and went to the high school here, so half the jobs we book are on streets he knows. His current specialty is coaxing stuck dampers open without damaging the frame, a skill Wendell calls “the least glamorous gift in the trade.”
One Standard, Every Job
When you book a sweep in Norwood, the person who shows up is trained to the same standard whether it’s Wendell with 29 years behind him or Jason learning the ropes. Every technician is background-checked, uniformed, and answers to the same promise: if the work isn’t done right, one call brings us back at no charge. We don’t split jobs out to strangers. We don’t upsell what the camera footage doesn’t show. And we never change the price once the truck is parked in your driveway. Wendell has been running this company since 1999 on a simple bet: that people in Norwood would rather deal with a neighbor who answers the phone than a franchise that reads from a script. The bet keeps paying off, so the standard doesn’t move.
Call (508) 687-5884 to schedule your sweep or free second opinion. A live person answers, every time.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Norwood since 1999.