Our History
We started in the late 90’s as a two-man operation out of the back of a rental truck sweeping chimneys in the Boston area. Education and training options in our industry were extremely limited. Training programs that were available were inefficient and seemed to be geared more towards putting attendees to sleep rather than providing necessary information needed to succeed in the field. The internet hadn’t quite taken off yet, so information about installation and repair of different brands of fireplaces and stoves was hard to come by.
We noticed a trend towards gas and pellet fireplaces as well as advancements in wood fireplace technology. In order for us to learn how to work with these new products, we were forced to turn to our competitors for help and took on various positions with multiple companies in the area, hungry to learn as much as we could about these exciting new products.
We built fireplaces from scratch during the summers, cleaned university dorm room fireplaces during brutal heat waves, sold new fireplaces to friends and family to perfect our installs, serviced our neighbors’ fireplaces, and received plenty of training from Grandma on how to keep a customer’s house clean, training which we still receive to this day.
Fast forward a few years and a great opportunity popped up when one of the bigger companies was looking to fill positions for a gas service technician and installer. We jumped on it. Truthfully, it was a complete chance. Even though we had only fixed a limited amount of gas fireplaces at a manufacturer’s training course a few months prior, we took the job. Our first week repairing fireplaces went great. The next week threw us a curve ball when we discovered that not all manufacturers used the same parts. The problem was trying to find all the necessary parts we would need. Heck, we didn’t even know the names of some of these parts. The company who hired us knew even less than we did, so once again we were stuck.
We called and wrote letters to manufacturers, asking for help, training courses, and any literature we could get our hands on. At that time, the internet exploded and we were able to take advantage of it to locate additional training opportunities and industry memberships. We met some amazing people who, to this day, help us locate some of the oldest fireplace parts still being used. We have also developed amazing relationships with some of the best manufacturers around who taught us what makes a good fireplace and who makes a good fireplace.
When our business really started picking up, we kept our full-time jobs with other fireplace companies and adopted our long work hours. Starting before work at 6am, resuming at 5pm till as late as possible, Working every Saturday, and Sunday…even holidays. Eventually, we found we could no longer focus on our customers 100%, so we left our full time positions and formed The Fireplace Guys LLC.
Today we spend countless hours training our employees, maintaining our flexible hours, building relationships with old and new customers, and doing everything in our power to ensure you have an amazing experience with The Fireplace Guys LLC.
Our Mission
Our mission is to change your perception of service, enhance the centerpiece of your living space and provide an awe inspiring experience.
100% Pet Friendly
Have a four-legged friend at home? Make sure to leave a few extra minutes because we at The Fireplace Guys LLC love pets. Chances are our technician has his own four-legged friend in the truck scouting for squirrels. We will take extra precautions to ensure your pet remains indoors, well pet, safe, and warm as quickly as possible.
About Derek
Derek started in the trades at a very young age. It wasn’t his first choice for a profession (Derek wanted to be a professional baseball player), but he soon discovered a passion for working with his hands. He looked forward to getting out of school early and heading straight to a job site for clean up duty. Some of his first jobs consisted of repointing brick walls in Somerville and roofing projects in Concord.
After graduating from Watertown High School in 2000, Derek began his career in the Hearth Industry as a chimney sweep for a small chimney company in the Boston area. A few years later he became a service tech servicing and installing gas fireplaces. As a young tech facing the challenges of having to repair a wide range of fireplace brands, he sought out technical schools for the various manufacturers, and strived to learn all he could to perfect his craft.
With a strong work ethic instilled by his father and tons of great practical in-field experience, Derek decided to start his own business. In the beginning, Derek continued to work his full-time job each day while taking on side projects on nights and weekends cleaning as many gas, wood, or pellet fireplaces as possible. He spent Saturdays and Sundays lining furnace flues and wood stoves for friends and family. Since referrals were his only form of advertising, Derek made it a point to provide an excellent customer service experience. His motto was to be on time, treat his customers right, keep open lines of communication and most importantly ensure everything was done correctly.
As his business grew, Derek realized he needed to leave his full-time job and The Fireplace Guys LLC was born. Don’t worry he’s still putting in 16 hours days. Chances are he’s been to your place at 10 pm, sent an estimate out at 1 am, or shown up with his puppy hanging out the window at 6 am on a Saturday morning.
Since its inception Derek has worked hard to ensure The Fireplace Guys LLC holds itself to the highest of standards, and spends countless hours ensuring everyone remains warm, safe, and knowing that they had the best service experience possible.