Meet the Team - Level Two Chimney San Jose

Meet the San Jose Team Behind Level Two Chimney San Jose

We’re the crew that shows up at your door in San Jose with a camera, a brush, and a written price already in your inbox. Every person on this page has passed a background check, worn the uniform, and logged hours in attics from Willow Glen to Almaden Valley. What ties us together isn’t a handbook. It’s Clause 1 of the Haven Standard: have it in writing before a tool comes out of the truck.

Our People

Corrine Halstead, Owner

I started Level Two Chimney in 2009 after watching too many San Jose homeowners get a verbal “ballpark” that somehow tripled once the tech was in the living room. That year I wrote the first version of what became the Haven Standard, starting with one rule: every customer gets a written scope, a written price, and a written warranty before anyone touches a ladder. I’ve personally inspected chimneys in more than 8,000 San Jose homes, from the 1950s ranch houses in Burbank to the new builds in Communications Hill where builders sometimes forget to install the flue liner entirely. I still carry a camera on jobs when we’re short-handed. Dry observation: if your chimney hasn’t been swept since the Obama administration, I can tell before I climb the roof.

Marcus T., Lead Technician

Marcus has been running sweeps in Santa Clara County for 14 years, and he can read a flue like most people read a newspaper. He’s NFPA 211 certified and specializes in Level 2 camera inspections, the kind that find cracked flue liners hiding behind what looks like clean brick in a San Jose daylight inspection. Marcus grew up in East San Jose near Lake Cunningham and still lives there with his two dogs, both named after tools. He once found a raccoon nesting above a smoke chamber in a Rose Garden home. The raccoon was unharmed. The homeowner got photos. Clause 4.

Elena V., Senior Installer

Elena handles our liner installations, crown rebuilds, and anything that requires scaffolding on a steep San Jose roof. She trained with HeatShield and DuraFlex materials before most local companies had heard of either, and she’s installed stainless steel liners in everything from 1920s craftsman fireplaces in Naglee Park to zero-clearance units in new construction off Capitol Expressway. Elena keeps a notebook of every job she’s done since 2016, page numbers in the thousands. In her off hours she restores vintage motorcycles. Her current project is a 1974 Honda that needed a full rebuild, which she says is easier than a chimney rebuild in Los Gatos Hills because the Honda doesn’t have a 40-degree roof pitch.

David R., Service Coordinator

David answers the phones and schedules every appointment, which means he’s the voice you hear at 10 PM on a Sunday when you smell something wrong from the fireplace. He’s been with us since 2019 and knows every San Jose neighborhood by its chimney type: the masonry clusters in Cambrian Park, the factory-built units in North San Jose townhomes, the occasional historic Rumford in Hanchett Park that needs a specialist’s touch. David sends the text when your technician is en route, including the tech’s name and photo. He also tracks our 365-Day Done Right Promise claims, which he can do on one hand since 2021. He plays competitive chess online and claims it’s excellent practice for scheduling six sweeps a day during October rush.

Jin K., Apprentice Technician

Jin joined us in 2023 after completing HVAC training at San Jose City College and deciding he preferred working above the ceiling rather than below it. He’s certified in basic chimney sweeping and is currently training under Marcus for Level 2 inspections. Jin has already documented 400+ chimney visits with photo records under Clause 4, and he’s developing a specialty in dryer vent routing, which in San Jose’s older homes often shares framing with chimney chases in ways that surprise homeowners. He lives in Japantown and bikes to most jobs when the weather holds. His first solo job was a sweep in Berryessa where he found 3 inches of Class III glazed creosote, the hard, tar-like buildup that chimney fires feed on. The homeowner had last swept in 2017. Jin explained what he found, showed the photos, and the homeowner booked a full cleaning on the spot. That’s the Haven Standard working the way it’s supposed to.

One Standard, Every Job

Level Two Chimney San Jose is independently owned and operated, but we work under the same Haven Standard that governs every crew in the network. That means Corrine’s original four clauses apply here exactly as they do anywhere else: written price before work starts, background-checked and uniformed technicians with license numbers displayed, arrival notifications with named techs, and a documented photo record on every single visit. The materials in our trucks come from the same buying network, DuraFlex to Copperfield, so the prices stay honest and the warranties stay real. The 365-Day Done Right Promise isn’t a San Jose special. It’s stamped on every job, everywhere. If it’s not done right, we make it right. No variance by zip code.

We’ve completed more than 38,000 chimney inspections and cleanings since 2009. Every one had a written price first and a documented record after. That’s not a marketing number. It’s the count of times we showed up, did what we said, and proved it with photos.

Written by Corrine Halstead, Owner at Level Two Chimney San Jose, serving San Jose since 2009.