Meet the Team - Hearthstone Chimney Co.

Meet the Elizabeth Team Behind Hearthstone Chimney Co.

We’ve got a crew of six who handle calls and trucks out of our Elizabeth base, and they’ve been the ones climbing roofs in Union County through ice storms and July humidity alike. What holds them together isn’t a motivational poster. It’s the K.E.Y.S. code we all signed onto: Krafted right, Every time, Your home first, Standing behind it. Russell Haines started this in 1984, and he still checks the work personally.

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Our People

Russell Haines, Owner & Lead Inspector

Russell founded Hearthstone Chimney Co. in 1984 after six years working union masonry in Newark and deciding he’d rather answer to homeowners than general contractors. He holds CSIA certification and has performed over 14,000 Level-2 camera inspections, which he documents like an engineer and explains like a craftsman - photos you can see, a plain-English verdict. On weekends he’s usually restoring a 1972 Chevy C10 that has spent more time on jack stands than on the road, a fact his wife has accepted with remarkable patience. Russell answers his own phone more often than his staff would prefer, especially at 6 a.m.

Vince M., Senior Installer & Lining Specialist

Vince joined us in 2007 after running his own small handyman operation in Linden and getting tired of chasing down payments. He’s our go-to for DuraFlex stainless relining and HeatShield cerfractory flue resurfacing, the kind of work where a half-inch miscalculation means starting over. Vince holds factory training certifications from both Olympia Chimney and Copperfield, and he’s the technician other crews request when a job involves three stories of terra cotta in a 1920s Hillside colonial. He keeps a fishing rod in his truck from April through October and will talk about striped bass for as long as you let him.

Darlene K., Service Coordinator

Darlene has been the voice on the other end of our line since 2015, which means she’s the live person who actually answers when you call (908) 923-3159 at 11 p.m. on a Saturday because you smelled something odd from the fireplace. She schedules across four counties, knows which technician is where without checking a screen, and has talked more than one homeowner through safely extinguishing a chimney fire while the truck is en route. Darlene grew up in Elizabeth’s Peterstown neighborhood and still lives three blocks from where she went to high school. She does not tolerate vague addresses - she will ask you to confirm the cross street, and she is always right to do so.

Marcus T., Lead Technician & Masonry Repair

Marcus came to us in 2019 with a decade of commercial masonry under his belt, including repointing work on several Newark landmarks most people walk past without noticing. He specializes in chimney crown rebuilds using Gelco caps and Famco hardware, and he’s the one we send when a chimney in Kenilworth or Roselle Park needs structural assessment before any sweep work begins. Marcus is background-checked and uniformed like the rest of our crew, and he completes most jobs in a single visit - partly because he’s organized, partly because he genuinely dislikes returning to the same address twice. He coaches youth basketball in Union on weekends and applies the same patience to explaining flue drafts to nervous first-time homeowners.

James “J.R.” R., Apprentice Technician

J.R. started with us in 2023 after completing the chimney technology program at a vocational school in Somerset County and deciding he preferred hands-on work to sitting in a classroom. He’s currently working toward his CSIA certification under Vince’s supervision and has already developed a reputation for spotting cracked flue tiles that more experienced eyes missed - something about the angle he takes with the camera. J.R. grew up in Elizabeth’s Westminster section and can navigate the narrow driveways behind the older homes near Warinanco Park without scraping a mirror, a skill the rest of us genuinely envy. He asks more questions than any apprentice we’ve had, which is exactly why he’ll be running his own truck inside two years.

One Standard, Every Job

Every technician on our Elizabeth crew works from the same standard, whether we’re sweeping a gas flue in a Cranford condo or rebuilding a chimney crown on a Victorian in Plainfield. The 90-Day Done Right Promise applies to all of them - in writing, no arguing. If it’s not right, we come back. No paperwork shuffle, no “call the office.” The number on the estimate is the number on the invoice, and that estimate comes after inspection, not before. We’ve been serving local communities for over 42 years, and we plan to be here in thirty more. That changes how you treat a customer when you know you’ll see them again, and their neighbor, and probably their grown children. Done right - and we stand behind it.

Written by Russell Haines, Owner at Hearthstone Chimney Co., serving Elizabeth and Union County since 1984.