Meet the Team - Hearthstone Chimney Co.

Meet the Owings Mills Team Behind Hearthstone Chimney Co.

We’re the crew that shows up at your door in Owings Mills, Reisterstown, and Pikesville when your chimney needs honest work. Every one of us came up through the trade, not out of a seminar. What ties us together is simple: we fix it right the first time, we show you the photos to prove it, and we come back if we missed something. That’s the Keystone Standard, and it’s how Russell Haines has run this company since 1984.

Call (443) 998-2617

Our People

Russell Haines, Owner

I started Hearthstone Chimney Co. in 1984, working out of a used van with a brush set and a borrowed inspection mirror. Forty-two years later, I’m still on jobs when the situation calls for it, especially when a Level-2 camera inspection turns up something unusual in an older Owings Mills home. I’ve pulled nests out of flues that hadn’t been opened since the Nixon administration, and I’ve seen what happens when homeowners trust a $99 “sweep” that skips the smoke chamber. I don’t write copy for the website, but if you’re reading this, here’s what matters: every person on this team knows I’d rather lose money on a callback than let our name sit on bad work. That’s the 90-Day Done Right Promise, and it’s in writing because a handshake stopped being enough somewhere around 1997.

Marcus T., Lead Technician

Marcus has been with us twelve years, and he’s the one we send when a chimney in Randallstown or Glyndon has multiple issues that need sorting in order of priority. He’s CSIA-certified and specializes in masonry rebuilds, particularly the freeze-thaw damage you see around Owings Mills after a hard Maryland winter. Marcus keeps a weathered notebook in his truck where he sketches cross-sections of problem flues to explain them to homeowners. Off the clock, he restores vintage motorcycles, which explains his patience with finicky, obsolete parts.

Darlene K., Senior Installer

Darlene handles our liner installations and HeatShield resurfacing jobs across Baltimore County, working with DuraFlex and Olympia Chimney materials on projects that other companies sub out. She came to us from commercial HVAC, and she still approaches every flue like it’s a pressure-tested system, which, in her view, it should be. Darlene is particularly good at talking homeowners through why a stainless liner costs what it does, and when a clay flue can still do the job safely. She lives in Catonsville and raises heritage tomatoes in summer, some of which make it to the office in August.

James R., Service Coordinator

James is the live voice you get when you call (443) 998-2617 at 10 PM on a Saturday or 6 AM on a Tuesday. He’s been with Hearthstone for eight years, and he knows which technician is where, what parts we have in stock, and whether that odd noise you’re describing sounds like a cap issue or something in the firebox. James schedules our Level-2 inspections, makes sure you get your photo report by email, and keeps track of the 90-Day Done Right Promise paperwork so there’s nothing to argue about if something needs a second look. He grew up in Woodlawn and still won’t let anyone else pick the crab meat at team lunches.

Trevon W., Apprentice Technician

Trevon joined us in 2023 after completing his training at a vocational program in Essex. He’s working toward his CSIA certification under Marcus’s supervision, and he’s already handling standard sweeps and cap installations on his own across the Owings Mills and Reisterstown routes. Trevon asks more questions than anyone on the team, which is exactly what we want when he’s up on a roof in Stevenson in February. He coaches youth basketball in his neighborhood, and he’s developed a reputation for being the one who explains things to homeowners without making them feel like they should have known already.

One Standard, Every Job

The five of us are the local face of a company that’s been serving Maryland communities since 1984. Whether it’s a routine sweep in Pikesville or a full liner replacement in Glyndon, we work with the same materials from the same professional-grade brands: DuraFlex, HeatShield, Gelco, Olympia Chimney, Famco, and Copperfield. No substitutes, no builder-grade shortcuts. Every job gets the camera inspection, the photo report, and the plain-English verdict. Every job is covered by the 90-Day Done Right Promise, in writing, with no arguing. We’re background-checked, uniformed, and we complete most work in a single visit. And when you call, a live person answers, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That’s not a slogan in Owings Mills. That’s how we show up.

Written by Russell Haines, Owner at Hearthstone Chimney Co., serving Owings Mills and Baltimore County since 1984.