How Hearthstone Chimney Co. Was Born in Towson
We opened our Towson branch in 2014 because we’d seen enough. A homeowner in Rodgers Forge called us after another company had charged her for a “complete rebuild” her chimney didn’t need. We ran our camera up the flue and found cracked mortar, yes, but nothing that warranted tearing down her living room wall. She’d been quoted for terror, not repair. That same week, a family in West Towson had been told their liner was “unsalvageable” by a sweep who never even lowered a light down the shaft.
We knew Towson deserved better. These are old homes with real masonry, built by craftsmen who understood that a chimney has to breathe and draw and hold together through freeze-thaw cycles that chew up lesser work. The brand already existed, already stood for something. What we built here was the local team that could deliver it. We promised honest camera inspections, plain-English reports, and the guts to say “this can wait” when it truly could. Twelve years later, that promise hasn’t changed.
Russell Haines’s Personal Connection to the Chimney Cleaning Trade
Russell didn’t stumble into this work. He was drawn to it by the same thing that keeps him here: the moment when a homeowner sees what was hidden. The first time he lowered a camera down a flue, he was working alongside a tradesman who’d been sweeping chimneys since the 1980s. The image came back grainy and green on a small monitor, but Russell could see the glaze, the cracked crown, the bird nest packed tight above the smoke shelf. The homeowner, an older woman in Parkville who’d lived in her house forty years, watched over his shoulder. She said, “I had no idea.” That phrase still echoes for him.
The work smells like soot and creosote, like old fires and wet mortar. In summer, it’s the dust of brick and the sharp bite of muriatic acid cleaning tools. In winter, it’s the cold metal of a damper and the relief of a warm truck cab after hours on icy roofs. Russell learned to read a chimney the way a carpenter reads wood grain: the pattern of staining tells you where water’s getting in, the color of the flue deposit tells you how hot the fire’s been burning, whether someone’s been burning unseasoned oak or soft pine from the wrong pile.
If he weren’t doing this, he’d probably be restoring old houses somewhere, working with his hands on something that outlasts him. What gets him out of bed is the knowledge that a chimney left unchecked can burn a house down or fill a bedroom with carbon monoxide while a family sleeps. He’s seen the aftermath. He’s also seen the quiet pride of a homeowner who’s maintained their hearth properly for decades. That balance, the weight of responsibility and the satisfaction of doing it right, is what this work means to him. It’s not a job. It’s a craft he’s still learning, twelve years in.
Meet Russell Haines - The Person Behind Every Job
Russell Haines, Owner & Founder
Russell leads every aspect of our Towson operation. He’s trained in level-2 NFPA inspections, masonry repair, and the proper installation of stainless steel liners and chimney caps. He knows the difference between a DuraFlex liner that’ll outlast the house and a cheap swap that’ll fail in five years. He sources quality materials, Famco caps and Copperfield components when the job calls for them, because he’s the one who has to look a homeowner in the eye when the work is done.
What sets Russell apart from a franchise technician is simple: he’s not passing through. He lives here. He knows which side of a Timonium chimney takes the worst weather, why Perry Hall clay liners fail the way they do, when a Cockeysville homeowner can safely wait a season and when they can’t. On weekends, you’ll find him working on his own old house or fishing the Gunpowder. His personal commitment to you is direct: “I’ll treat your chimney like it’s my own mother’s. No more, no less.”
Our Promise to Towson Homeowners
Our K.E.Y.S. code isn’t decoration. It’s how we operate.
Krafted right means we use proper materials, no shortcuts. Russell once refused a job in Bel Air South because the homeowner wanted to reuse a deteriorating clay liner to save money. He explained why, showed the camera footage, and walked away rather than do work that wouldn’t last. The homeowner called back three weeks later and had it done right.
Every time means the 400th inspection gets the same care as the first. Our checklists don’t shorten with experience.
Your home first means we lay drop cloths without being asked, we explain before we sell, and we never invent urgency where none exists.
Standing behind it is The Keystone Standard: 90 days, in writing, no arguing. If it’s not right, we come back. Period.
Our Credentials
Every pro working under our name is required to hold the license and insurance their state requires. We carry full liability and bonding coverage, and we maintain our standing with state licensing authorities without exception.
- State-licensed chimney professionals
- Insured & bonded for residential work
- Years of local experience serving Baltimore County homeowners
- Strong local reputation built one inspection at a time
These credentials matter because you’re letting someone into your home, often onto your roof, and trusting their word about a system that affects your family’s safety. A state license means accountability. Insurance and bonding mean you’re protected if something goes wrong. Local experience means we understand the specific challenges of Towson’s housing stock, its weather patterns, its permitting environment. Reputation means our next customer likely heard about us from a neighbor. That’s the trust we protect with every job.
Rooted in Towson
We’ve swept chimneys in Mays Chapel colonials, inspected flues in Overlea bungalows, and repointed crowns on Lutherville ranchers built in the 1960s. We know the difference between a Carney chimney that vented an oil furnace for thirty years and a Pikesville fireplace that sees daily winter use. Our trucks pass the Towson Town Center, sure, but more often we’re on the side streets, the established neighborhoods where people know their neighbors and remember who showed up on time. We’ve trained local apprentices into journeymen because we plan to be here in thirty years. The hearthstone is the stone the whole home gathered around. We aim to be worthy of that name in this community.
Written by Russell Haines, Owner at Hearthstone Chimney Co., serving Towson since 2014.