Meet the Team - Hearthstone Chimney Co.

Meet the Towson Team Behind Hearthstone Chimney Co.

Our Towson crew shows up in the same trucks, wearing the same uniforms, working to the same standard we’ve kept since 1984. Russell Haines built this company on the idea that a chimney sweep should explain what he’s doing and why, then do it right the first time. The four people below are who you’ll actually talk to, who’ll actually be in your home, and who’ll actually answer if something needs a second look. No layers. No handoffs. Just people who know their work and stand behind it.

Call (443) 785-3816

Our People

Russell Haines, Owner & Master Sweep

I’m the one who answers when things go sideways, and I started this company in 1984 because I’d seen enough sloppy chimney work to know Towson deserved better. I’m a Master Sweep certified through the Chimney Safety Institute of America, and I still climb roofs when a job needs extra eyes. I’ve inspected flues in Stoneleigh, Rodgers Forge, and every neighborhood in between long enough to know which houses were built with the same batch of bad brick in the late 70s. Off the clock, I restore vintage motorcycles in a garage that’s way too small for the project, which my wife will tell you is a lifelong pattern.

Marcus T., Lead Technician

Marcus runs our Level-2 inspection program and has been with us eight years. He’s the technician other companies try to hire away, mostly because he can read a flue like a blueprint and explain it without talking down to anyone. He’s CSIA-certified and specializes in masonry evaluation, particularly the spalling brick and deteriorated mortar we see so often in Towson’s pre-war housing stock. Marcus grew up in Parkville, lives in Loch Raven now, and coaches a middle school basketball team that went 3-14 last season, which he’ll bring up before he’ll mention any of his certifications.

Diane K., Senior Installer

Diane handles our liner installations and rebuilds, the kind of work where cutting corners means a house fire two winters from now. She’s factory-trained on DuraFlex and HeatShield systems, and she’s particularly good at navigating the tight clearances and offset flues common in Towson’s smaller colonial and cape-style chimneys. Before she came to us in 2016, she spent eleven years in commercial HVAC, so she’s unusually comfortable with the mechanical side of airflow and draft dynamics. She keeps a detailed log of every job she’s done, not for us, but because she likes knowing she can answer a homeowner’s question five years later with specifics.

James R., Service Coordinator

James is the live voice you get when you call (443) 785-3816 at 10 PM on a Saturday or 6 AM on a Tuesday. He’s been with Hearthstone four years and knows our schedule, our technicians’ strengths, and the permitting quirks of Baltimore County better than most municipal employees. He grew up in Anneslie, still lives there, and can tell you which streets flood in a hard rain and which inspectors want photos submitted a certain way. James is also the one who follows up after every job to make sure the work matched the estimate, because he’s seen what happens when companies don’t check their own work.

Elena V., Apprentice Technician

Elena joined us in 2023 after leaving a career in property management, where she spent too many years watching contractors show up late, leave messes, and bill for work that didn’t solve the problem. She’s completing her CSIA certification while working full-time under Marcus’s supervision, and she’s already developed a sharp eye for crown deterioration, probably from all the neglected chimneys she dealt with in her last job. She lives in West Towson, bikes to work when the weather holds, and asks more questions than any apprentice we’ve had, which is exactly why we hired her.

One Standard, Every Job

The K.E.Y.S. code isn’t a poster on a wall. It’s how we decide what to do when no one’s watching. Krafted right means we don’t use builder-grade materials when professional-grade exists. Every time means the $89 Seasonal Tune-Up gets the same attention as a full liner replacement. Your home first means we lay down runners, we explain before we cut, and we never recommend work without camera evidence you can see for yourself. Standing behind it means the 90-Day Done Right Promise, in writing, no arguing.

Our technicians are background-checked and uniformed, most jobs finish in a single visit, and the price we quote is the price on the invoice. We’ve been in Towson and the surrounding communities for over 42 years, and we plan to be here thirty more. That changes how you treat people and how you do your work. Russell Haines started this company on that principle, and the team below him operates by it daily.

Call (443) 785-3816 any hour. A live person answers. We’ll be there when we say.

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