How Hearthstone Chimney Co. Was Born in Northport
It was late fall of 2014, and we’d just finished a sweep over in East Northport. The homeowner walked us to the door and said something that’s stuck with us ever since: “You’re the first person who’s explained what you were doing while you did it.” She’d lived in that house on Laurel Road for thirty-two years. Three different companies had been up her flue, and not one had shown her the cracked flue liner their own camera had to have passed.
That same week, we got a call from a couple in Fort Salonga. They’d been quoted masonry work that would’ve cost more than their first car. We ran our camera, showed them the footage on the spot, and told them the truth: the crown needed sealing, not rebuilding. They cried. Actual tears of relief. We drove back to our shop in Northport that evening knowing this market needed something different. Not cheaper. Honester.
Hearthstone Chimney Co. opened its Northport branch that winter with one rule: show the homeowner what you see, say what it means, and never recommend work you can’t prove with your own camera. Twelve years later, that rule hasn’t changed.
Russell Haines’s Personal Connection to the Chimney Cleaning Trade
Russell Haines didn’t stumble into chimney work. He was pulled into it by the same thing that pulls anyone into a craft: the satisfaction of fixing something hidden that everyone else depends on.
Back in the early 2000s, Russell was working construction around Suffolk County, doing whatever came through the door. One January, a general contractor asked him to help on a chimney rebuild in Cold Spring Harbor. The crew was short-handed. Russell spent three days in freezing fog, tearing apart a century-old stack brick by brick, learning how freeze-thaw cycles had turned the mortar to sand. He remembers the smell of wet creosote, the way the old bricks came out in his hands like damp cake, and the mason who trained him pointing to the flue and saying, “That’s the part that keeps them alive. Everything else is decoration.”
That line never left him. Russell started reading everything he could find on combustion, draft dynamics, NFPA 211. He bought his first chimney camera used, a bulky unit with a screen the size of a paperback. Spent a whole Saturday threading it up his own flue in Greenlawn, just to see what was up there. What he found was eye-opening: a partially blocked flue, a situation that could’ve turned dangerous the next cold snap.
The work means something to Russell that goes beyond a trade. He’s seen what happens when it’s done wrong. He’s also seen the look on a homeowner’s face when you show them a clear flue, explain why it’s clear, and hand them photos to keep. That’s the part that gets him out of bed. The quiet knowledge that somewhere in Northport or Kings Park or Halesite, someone’s grandmother is sleeping warm tonight because the flue was swept right.
If he weren’t doing this, he’d probably be restoring old boats. Something about working with your hands on something that has to function perfectly or it fails you completely. Same impulse, different material.
Meet Russell Haines - The Person Behind Every Job
Russell Haines, Owner & Founder
Russell leads every aspect of the Northport branch of Hearthstone Chimney Co., from the first phone call to the final photo in your inspection report. His training spans level-2 NFPA inspections, masonry restoration, and stainless steel liner installation using DuraFlex and Olympia Chimney systems. He’s certified through the Chimney Safety Institute of America and maintains active membership with the National Chimney Sweep Guild.
What sets Russell apart from a franchise technician is simple: he’s the one who answers for the work. His name is on the report. His truck is in your driveway. On weekends, you’ll find him restoring a 1968 Boston Whaler in his Centerport garage, a project that’s taught him patience with materials that don’t forgive shortcuts. That same patience goes up your flue.
Here’s Russell’s commitment to you, directly: if we recommend work, you’ll see the reason with your own eyes. If we say it can wait, we’ll tell you why. No surprises on the bill, and we’ll be there when we say.
Our Promise to Northport Homeowners
Our values aren’t posters on a wall. They’re how we handle the moments when no one’s watching.
Honest pricing. We give you a written estimate before we book the work, and that number doesn’t shift unless we find something the camera couldn’t have predicted. We had a job in Commack last year where we quoted a sweep and inspection, then found a deteriorating clay liner we couldn’t see from below. We showed the homeowner the footage, explained the options, and let them decide on their own timeline. No pressure, no phantom charges.
Quality parts. We specify the brands we use, DuraFlex and HeatShield among them, because we’ve seen what cheap liners do after three winters. We stand behind our materials the same way we stand behind our labor.
Standing behind every job. The Keystone Standard: 90 days, in writing, no arguing. If it’s not right, we come back. No paperwork to file, no manager to escalate to. Russell’s number is on your receipt.
Our Credentials
- State-licensed chimney contractor in New York
- Insured & bonded for residential work throughout Suffolk County
- Years of local experience serving Northport-area homes since 2014
- Strong local reputation built on documented inspections and straightforward communication
Here’s why each of these matters when you’re letting someone work inside your house. State licensing means we’ve met New York’s requirements for technical knowledge and business standing. Insurance and bonding protect your property if something goes wrong, and they protect you from liability if a worker is injured on your premises. Local experience means we know how Northport’s coastal freeze-thaw cycles attack mortar differently than inland climates do. And reputation, real reputation, is the only credential you can’t buy. You earn it one appointment at a time.
Every pro working under our name is required to hold the license and insurance their state requires. We document that before anyone touches a brush.
Rooted in Northport
This branch lives where it works. Russell’s kids went to school in the Northport-East Northport district. We’ve swept flues on Bayview Avenue, on Waterside Avenue, in the old farmhouses back on Bread and Cheese Hollow Road. We know which Centerport chimneys were built before liners were standard, and which Elwood splits have the prefab fireplaces that need a different kind of inspection entirely. We’re open Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM, and Saturday and Sunday, 8:00 AM to 7:30 PM. When you call (631) 528-2501, you’ll reach a live coordinator who connects you with our local team.
The hearthstone is the stone the whole home gathered around. That’s not just our name. It’s how we think about the work. Keeping that gathering place safe, season after season, in the towns where we live too.
Written by Russell Haines, Owner at Hearthstone Chimney Co., serving Northport since 2014.