How Level Two Chimney Cambridge Was Born in Cambridge
It was late fall in Cambridge, and we were standing in a living room near Fresh Pond watching a homeowner flip through a stack of invoices from three different chimney companies. Same address, same flue, three different diagnoses. One said the liner was shot and quoted replacement. Another said the crown was leaking and quoted masonry work. The third said everything was fine, just sweep it. None of them had put a camera down the flue. None had shown her a picture of what they claimed to find.
That was the moment. We were already working in the trade, already frustrated by how much of this business ran on fear and paperwork instead of evidence. But watching someone hold three contradictory pieces of paper and realize she had no way to know who was telling the truth, that was when we decided Cambridge needed a different kind of chimney company. We called Level Two Chimney Co. the next week. The brand already existed, already had the inspection archive, already lived by the Haven Standard. What we built here was the local branch that would bring that standard to Cambridge homeowners who were tired of guessing.
We promised ourselves two things. First, no recommendation without a photo the customer could see for themselves. Second, every price in writing before any work started. That was 2009. We’ve held to both since.
Corrine Halstead’s Personal Connection to the Chimney Cleaning Trade
We didn’t grow up in a family of sweeps. We got into this work the way a lot of people find what they’re meant to do, which is to say accidentally and then obsessively. It started with a rental in Somerville, a drafty Victorian with a fireplace that smoked every time we lit it. Three companies came out. Two said the chimney was “probably fine, just needs a sweep.” The third actually ran a camera, showed us the cracked flue tile, and explained why smoke was spilling into the living room instead of rising.
The difference wasn’t the crack. It was the seeing. We remember the exact feeling of watching that monitor, the grainy black-and-white image of our own chimney’s interior, the sudden clarity of knowing instead of trusting. It smelled like soot and old brick in that basement. The tradesman who trained us, an old-school sweep who’d worked the North Shore for decades, let us hold the camera rod that day. It was heavier than it looked. The image wobbled until he steadied our hand.
That was over ten years ago now. We’ve swept and inspected chimneys in Cambridge through every season, and what gets us out of bed hasn’t changed. It’s the homeowner who finally understands why their upstairs smells like a campfire, or who realizes the “minor repair” another company quoted is actually fine for another season with monitoring. It’s the evidence. If we weren’t doing this, we’d probably be some other kind of inspector, some other trade where you can hold the proof in your hand.
The work is physical and repetitive, and we love that too. The scrape of a poly brush against flue tile, the particular gray dust that settles on your wrists, the way a Cambridge chimney in winter holds cold like a stone throat until the first warm draft catches. These are the details that make a house a system, and a system something you can read.
Meet Corrine Halstead - The Person Behind Every Job
Corrine Halstead is the Owner and Founder of Level Two Chimney Cambridge. She holds state licensure for chimney and fireplace work in Massachusetts and has built her training through a combination of NFPA 211 certification study, manufacturer-specific coursework with liner systems like DuraFlex and HeatShield, and years of field apprenticeship under veteran sweeps in the greater Boston market.
What separates Corrine from a corporate franchise technician is simple: she’s the one who answers when there’s a problem. Not a regional manager, not a call center script. If a Cambridge customer has a question about their inspection report six months later, Corrine pulls the file. She keeps a garden in the warm months, which she says taught her more about patience and seasonal timing than any business book. She believes a homeowner deserves to understand their own house, not just pay someone to fix it.
Her personal commitment to every customer: you’ll see what we see, you’ll know the price before we start, and you’ll never be sold something your chimney doesn’t need.
Before
AfterOur Promise to Cambridge Homeowners
Honest pricing, in writing, every time. Clause 1 of the Haven Standard means a flat price, written scope, written warranty, before anyone starts. We learned this the hard way early on, watching a homeowner in Arlington get quoted one price over the phone and another on the truck. We don’t do that. The price you approve is the price you pay.
Quality parts we can trace. We specify the liner, the cap, the sealant by brand and model. Famco and Copperfield hardware where it fits the application. If we recommend HeatShield for a flue repair, we show you the application video and the cure time. No mystery materials.
Standing behind every job. Our warranty isn’t a piece of paper in a drawer. It’s documented in your inspection archive, with the photos that prove the condition we found and the condition we left. If something fails, we can both look at the same image and agree on what happened.
Our Credentials
- State-licensed for chimney and fireplace work in Massachusetts
- Insured & bonded - coverage maintained for residential property protection and worker liability
- Years of local experience serving Cambridge, Everett, Newton, Winchester, Boston, Waltham, Lexington, Wakefield, Milton, Quincy, Burlington, and Reading
- Strong local reputation built through documented inspections and customer-accessible photo records
These credentials matter because chimney work happens inside your home, on your roof, and in the structural systems that protect your family from fire and carbon monoxide. A state license means the technician has met Massachusetts standards for this specific trade. Insurance and bonding mean that if something goes wrong, you’re not negotiating with someone’s personal checking account. And a documented local track record means you can verify our claims by calling neighbors we’ve served, not by reading anonymous stars.
Every pro working under our name is required to hold the license and insurance their state requires. We don’t assume. We check, and we keep the records.
Rooted in Cambridge
We’re based in Cambridge because this is where we live and where we learned the local architecture. We’ve swept chimneys in the triple-deckers of Inman Square, the converted Victorians near Harvard Square, the mid-century ranches tucked between Route 2 and Fresh Pond. We know the clay flue tiles common in 1920s Cambridge construction, and we’ve traced the venting problems that come from modern inserts forced into old masonry.
Our hours follow the rhythm of the city: Monday through Friday 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM, Saturday and Sunday 7:30 AM to 8:00 PM. We’re not open around the clock because chimney work isn’t an emergency service, it’s a scheduled maintenance practice. We fit Cambridge homeowners who plan ahead, who want their sweep done before the first real cold, who read their inspection report with coffee on a Sunday morning.
Written by Corrine Halstead, Owner at Level Two Chimney Cambridge, serving Cambridge and surrounding communities since 2009.