Meet the Team - Hearthstone Chimney Co.

Meet the Bridgewater Team Behind Hearthstone Chimney Co.

Our Bridgewater crew shows up in the same trucks, wears the same uniforms, and answers to the same standard Russell set back in 1984. What ties us together isn’t corporate policy. It’s the K.E.Y.S. code we actually use on jobs: Krafted right, Every time, Your home first, Standing behind it. These are the people who’ll be in your driveway, on your roof, and in your basement when the flue needs honest attention.

Call (908) 589-8342

Our People

Russell Haines, Owner

I’ve been doing this since 1984, which means I’ve seen what happens when chimney work gets rushed or guessed at. I started Hearthstone Chimney Co. because I got tired of watching homeowners in Somerset County pay twice for the same repair after some fly-by-night outfit skipped the camera inspection or used builder-grade liner that failed in three seasons. These days I split my time between running calls in Bridgewater, Hillsborough, and Basking Ridge, and making sure our 90-Day Done Right Promise actually means something when a customer calls back. I keep a photo on my phone of a creosote glaze we pulled from a Green Knoll fireplace in 2019, thick as peanut butter, because it’s still the best explanation I’ve found for why annual sweeping isn’t optional. When I’m not on a roof, I’m usually restoring a 1972 Chevy pickup that has taught me more about patience than any chimney ever could.

Mike T., Lead Technician

Mike’s been with us eleven years, and he’s the technician other crews call when a liner pull goes sideways or a smoke chamber needs parging in a 1920s colonial with no straight lines left. He’s CSIA-certified and holds a factory authorization from Olympia Chimney for their stainless relining systems, which matters because we’ve done more DuraFlex liner installations in Bridgewater than I can count. Mike grew up in Somerville, so he knows which neighborhoods have the clay flue liners that crack every February thaw and which ones have the unlined brick chimneys that should’ve been addressed decades ago. He has a habit of explaining exactly what he’s seeing through the camera in terms a homeowner can actually use, no jargon, no upsell. Off the clock, he coaches a U-14 travel baseball team that loses more games than it wins, which he claims keeps him humble.

Donna K., Senior Installer

Donna handles our cap and crown work, masonry rebuilds, and anything that involves working HeatShield into a deteriorating flue. She’s been in the trade fourteen years, starting as a mason’s helper in Bound Brook before she figured out that chimney-specific repair was where the real craftsmanship lived. She’s certified in the HeatShield Cerfractory Flue Seal system and has a particular specialty in Bridgewater’s split-level homes, where the chimney chase design from the 1960s and 70s creates water intrusion patterns most general roofers misdiagnose for years. Donna will tell you straight when tuckpointing can wait a season and when the spalling brick means you’re looking at a rebuild, and she documents both with photos you’ll see before any work starts. She keeps a small vegetable garden behind her place in Manville that she talks about the way other people talk about their dogs.

James R., Service Coordinator

James is the live voice you get when you call (908) 589-8342 at 10 PM on a Saturday because you smelled something wrong from the fireplace. He’s been with us four years, and before that he dispatch for a plumbing outfit in Middlesex County, so he actually understands what “water coming through the chimney breast” means and whether it sounds like a cap issue, a crown crack, or flashing failure. James schedules every Bridgewater appointment with a realistic window, confirms the upfront pricing before the truck rolls, and follows up after every job to make sure the invoice matched the estimate. He tracks our parts inventory for DuraFlex, Gelco, and Famco components so Mike and Donna aren’t waiting on a specialty cap for a custom chase cover. He lives in Finderne, takes his coffee black, and has a running feud with the local Canada goose population that he will update you on if you call during a slow afternoon.

Elena V., Apprentice Technician

Elena’s in her second year with us, rotating through every phase of the work before she picks a specialty. She’s already completed her CSIA Chimney Sweep certification and is working toward her Level-2 inspection credential, which means she’s the one running the camera on routine sweeps while Mike or Donna supervises. She grew up in Bradley Gardens, so she’s particularly sharp on the newer construction in that part of Bridgewater, where we’ve found more improperly installed factory-built chimneys than the building code should allow. Elena asks more questions than some veterans are comfortable with, which is exactly why we hired her. She drives a ten-year-old Subaru with 180,000 miles on it that she maintains herself, and she treats every creosote deposit like a puzzle she intends to solve completely.

One Standard, Every Job

The K.E.Y.S. code isn’t a poster in our break room. It’s how we decide whether a liner patch is sufficient or if the homeowner needs to see the full camera evidence before we recommend a rebuild. Every technician on this page has the authority to stop a job if something doesn’t look right, and every one of them knows that the 90-Day Done Right Promise applies to their work specifically, not to some vague corporate entity. We’ve been in Bridgewater and the surrounding towns for over 42 years because we act like a company that plans to be here for thirty more. That means no builder-grade substitutes, no recommendations without photos you can see, and no surprises on the bill. Done right, and we stand behind it.

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