How Hearthstone Chimney Co. Was Born in Roanoke
Back in 2014, we were working trades in Roanoke and kept running into the same scene: a homeowner standing in their driveway, holding a quote for chimney work they didn’t understand, from a company they couldn’t reach again if something went wrong. One afternoon stands out. A woman in the Grandin area had been told her flue was “unrepairable” and needed a full rebuild. She’d already put down a deposit. We looked at it with a camera. The flue was dirty, cracked in two places, but sound enough for a HeatShield cerfractory repair. She called the other company. They wouldn’t return her call for three days. That’s when we knew Roanoke needed something different.
We called the parent company, Hearthstone Chimney Co., and asked what it would take to bring their standards here. The answer was simple: learn the trade properly, hire local, and never leave a homeowner guessing. We opened our doors that fall. The promise we made then is the one we keep now - every inspection gets a camera, every recommendation gets a photo you can see yourself, and every bill matches the estimate.
Russell Haines’s Personal Connection to the Chimney Cleaning Trade
We didn’t start in chimneys. We started in construction, framing houses around the New River Valley, and the work was fine but forgettable. Then a general contractor asked us to help on a historic restoration in Old Southwest Roanoke. The house had an 1890s masonry fireplace that hadn’t drawn properly in decades. Other crews had patched it, capped it, walked away. We spent two days on a scaffold with a retired mason who showed us how to read the mortar, how to spot where water had been entering for sixty years, how the original builder had sized the flue wrong for the hearth.
The smell of that job stayed with us. Old soot, lime mortar, the particular dust of hundred-year-old brick. More than that, the moment the first small fire drew clean and the homeowner’s shoulders dropped - that stayed with us too. We’d fixed something that mattered to someone who planned to die in that house.
That’s the work we chose. Not the easiest trade, not the cleanest. But the one where you can point to what you did and know it kept someone warm and safe that winter. Russell Haines has been at this over ten years now. The work hasn’t gotten routine. Every flue is different. Every homeowner has a story about their fireplace - the Christmas mornings, the ice storms, the cat who sleeps on the hearth. If we weren’t doing this, we’d probably still be building something. But chimneys chose us, and we’re glad they did.
Meet Russell Haines - The Person Behind Every Job
Russell Haines is Owner and Founder of Hearthstone Chimney Co. in Roanoke. He holds state licensure and has completed the training and certification required for level-2 chimney inspections, masonry repair, and flue relining work. Before bringing Hearthstone to this market, he spent years in residential construction and historic restoration across southwest Virginia.
What sets Russell apart from a franchise technician is simple: he’s the one who answers when something goes wrong. He still carries a brush when the job calls for it, still climbs the scaffold for masonry repair, still reviews every camera inspection before it goes to the homeowner. On weekends, he’s usually in the workshop behind his house in Cave Spring, restoring hand tools or building furniture from reclaimed lumber. That patience carries over. A chimney isn’t a speed job. It’s something you do right, then stand behind.
Our commitment to you is direct: Russell oversees every job that carries our name in Roanoke, Salem, Hollins, Vinton, and the surrounding communities. If it’s not right, we’ll be back. No paperwork, no arguing.
Our Promise to Roanoke Homeowners
We operate by a code we call K.E.Y.S., and it’s not decoration.
Krafted right means trained journeymen, proper materials, no shortcuts. We use Gelco and Olympia Chimney products where they fit the job, not because they’re cheapest. We’ve torn out too many “budget” liners that failed in five years.
Every time means the 400th sweep gets the care of the first. Our policy: no job leaves without a camera check, even on a routine cleaning. The photo report goes to you, not to a file.
Your home first means we work in your house the way we’d work in our mother’s. Drop cloths, shoe covers, vacuuming the hearth before we leave. We’ve had homeowners in Forest tell us the living room looked better after we left.
Standing behind it means The Keystone Standard: 90 days, in writing, no arguing. If we missed something, we fix it. That’s the promise Hearthstone Chimney Co. was built on, and it’s the one we keep in Roanoke.
Our Credentials
- State-licensed - Every professional working under our name is required to hold the license their state requires for chimney and fireplace work.
- Insured & bonded - Coverage that protects your property while we’re on your roof and in your home.
- Years of local experience - Russell Haines has been serving Roanoke-area homeowners since 2014, with deep knowledge of local building stock, from 1920s bungalows in Wasena to new construction in Bedford County.
- Strong local reputation - Built one job at a time, one homeowner at a time, across the communities we serve.
These matter because chimney work happens in your living space and on your roof. A homeowner in Rocky Mount or Christiansburg shouldn’t have to wonder if the person on their ladder is qualified, covered, and accountable. Our credentials are your protection, and we’re happy to discuss them when you call.
Rooted in Roanoke
We’re not passing through. Russell lives in Cave Spring. Our crews know the difference between a 1950s ranch in Raleigh Court and a Victorian in Gainsboro. We’ve worked through ice storms that shut down the city, and we’ve swept chimneys the week before Christmas when the homeowner finally remembered. The hearthstone is the stone the whole home gathered around. That’s why we’re here. That’s why we stay.
Written by Russell Haines, Owner at Hearthstone Chimney Co., serving Roanoke since 2014.