How Legacy Chimney Cleaning New York Was Born in New York

It was a Tuesday in February 2010, and Paul Torres was standing in a pre-war walk-up on West 85th Street, watching a Manhattan homeowner sign a check for $847. The job? A “complete chimney rebuild” that Paul had just finished in under three hours. The homeowner, a retired teacher named Eleanor, had been told by two other companies that her chimney was structurally unsound and needed immediate, expensive reconstruction. Paul had taken one look and known the truth: the flue liner was cracked in one spot, and a DuraFlex stainless steel liner would solve it completely. He charged her $340. Eleanor cried. Not from relief over the money saved, but from anger at having nearly been exploited.

That night, Paul called his brother and said, “I’m starting my own company. No more of this.” The chimney cleaning industry in New York was broken—commission-driven technicians upselling unnecessary repairs, scare tactics about carbon monoxide, vague pricing that ballooned once crews were inside your home. We promised something radical: we’d tell the truth even when it cost us money. We’d show homeowners what we saw, explain it in plain English, and let them decide. Fourteen years later, that promise still defines every job we take in New York.

Paul Torres’s Personal Connection to the Chimney Cleaning Trade

Paul didn’t stumble into chimney work. He was pulled into it by his uncle Manny, a brick mason from Queens who spent thirty years rebuilding fireplaces in the brownstones of Park Slope and Fort Greene. Paul was sixteen, suspended from school for the third time that semester, and his mother sent him to Manny’s job site on a Saturday morning as punishment. The punishment became the passion.

He remembers the first time he climbed a ladder to a flat roof in Greenpoint, the tar smell mixing with wood smoke from a hundred chimneys, the way the November wind cut through his thin jacket. Manny handed him a flashlight and said, “Look inside. Really look.” Paul crouched at the flue opening and shone the beam down into darkness. What he saw was a hidden architecture—layered creosote like black velvet, cracked terracotta flue tiles, a bird’s nest wedged in the smoke chamber. It was a secret world inside every home, and most people never knew it existed until something went wrong.

By nineteen, Paul was working full-time with Manny, learning not just the mechanics but the physics: how draft works, why backdrafting happens, the way New York’s tight building envelopes and variable pressure systems create unique combustion challenges you don’t see in suburban homes. He learned to read a chimney the way a sailor reads water. The smell of wet creosote meant a drafting problem. A white powdery residue on exterior brick pointed to gas appliance corrosion. A homeowner complaining about “smoke smell in the bedroom” usually meant a hidden flue breach in a party wall.

If Paul weren’t doing this, he’d probably be teaching. He thinks about that sometimes when he’s explaining to a nervous first-time homeowner in Hell’s Kitchen why their chimney needs sweeping before they use their new fireplace. The satisfaction isn’t in the sale—it’s in the moment of understanding crossing someone’s face. Fourteen years in, he still feels it: the particular weight of a proper chimney brush in his hands, the scrape of metal against flue tile, the first clean pull that tells you the job’s been done right. He still calls Manny after complicated jobs. The old man doesn’t climb ladders anymore, but he listens, asks the right questions, and Paul hears the pride in his voice.

Meet Paul Torres — The Person Behind Every Job

Paul Torres, Owner & Lead Technician

Paul still runs the brush on most jobs. Not because he has to—he’s built a team—but because he won’t ask anyone to do work he wouldn’t do himself. His training spans fourteen years of hands-on fieldwork, supplemented by CSIA (Chimney Safety Institute of America) certification coursework and manufacturer-specific training on Olympia Chimney and Famco venting systems. He’s worked on chimneys in pre-war co-ops in Gramercy Park, modern condos in Long Island City, and century-old row houses in Chinatown.

What separates Paul from a franchise technician is simple: he’s the one who answers the phone at 7 AM when a West New York customer smells smoke where they shouldn’t. He’s the one who texts photos from your roof so you see what he sees. On weekends, you’ll find him coaching his daughter’s softball team in Union City—same parks where he played as a kid. He believes a person’s word should mean something, especially when they’re standing in your home.

“Every chimney tells a story about the people who live beneath it,” Paul says. “I don’t forget that.”

Our Promise to New York Homeowners

Honest pricing, always. We once quoted $280 for a chimney sweep and inspection in the East Village. The homeowner called back to say another company quoted $89. Paul explained our process, our time, our guarantee. They went with the cheaper option. Three months later, they called us back—the “sweep” had lasted twenty minutes, missed a cracked flue liner, and their carbon monoxide detector had started chirping. We fixed it properly. They became customers for life. We don’t compete on price; we compete on the truth.

Quality parts that last. We specify Copperfield chimney caps and DuraFlex liners by name because we’ve seen what cheap hardware does in New York’s freeze-thaw cycles. A cap that fails after one winter isn’t a bargain—it’s a future leak waiting to happen.

We stand behind every job. In 2019, a liner installation in Hoboken developed a separation at the collar joint—manufacturer defect, not installation error. Paul drove out personally on a Sunday, replaced the section at no charge, and stayed until the homeowner’s fireplace was operational for their daughter’s birthday party. That’s not policy. That’s who we are.

Our Credentials

State-Licensed — New York requires chimney contractors to meet strict licensing standards. We’re fully compliant, with all documentation available upon request.

Insured & Bonded — Protection for your property and our team, because working on rooftops in Manhattan carries real risk that we refuse to pass to homeowners.

14+ Years in Business — Surviving and thriving in New York’s competitive home services market requires consistent quality. We’ve outlasted dozens of competitors who cut corners and disappeared.

1,119 Verified Reviews, 4.7/5 Star Average — Real feedback from real New York homeowners, documented across multiple platforms.

These credentials matter because inviting someone onto your roof, into your flue, into your home requires trust. Licensing means we’ve met state scrutiny. Insurance means you’re protected if something goes wrong. Longevity means we’ll be here if you need us again. And those 1,119 reviews? They’re your neighbors’ experiences, not marketing copy. When you’re choosing someone to work on the system that vents combustion gases from your home, every credential is a layer of protection you deserve.

Rooted in New York

We’ve swept chimneys in every neighborhood listed on our site—Gramercy Park, Hell’s Kitchen, East Village, Hoboken, Weehawken, Chinatown, Long Island City, Union City, West New York, Greenpoint—and we know the buildings. We know which co-ops in Manhattan require board-approved contractors. We know the wind patterns off the Hudson that affect draft in Hoboken high-rises. We know the local masonry supply houses in Queens where we can match hundred-year-old brick when a chimney needs real repair, not just a sweep. Paul’s kids attend school in the same district where he grew up. This isn’t territory we cover. It’s home.

Written by Paul Torres, Owner at Legacy Chimney Cleaning New York, serving New York since 2010.