Ablaze Technologies / Shiocton, WI

Justin Higgins grew up in the hearth trade working alongside his father in the Fox Valley, and after finishing high school he spent years learning the craft firsthand before striking out on his own in the summer of 2011, confident that his broader background in heating and cooling gave him an edge most single-focus sweeps didn't have. What started as one man committed to doing chimney work right has grown into a full-service operation handling everything from routine sweeps to complex masonry rebuilds, still guided by Justin's original philosophy: keep learning, keep up with changing codes, and never let a customer feel talked down to. That commitment shows in the company's ongoing membership in the National Chimney Sweep Guild and its technicians' continuing education through industry seminars, a level of investment in the craft that a lot of bigger operations skip right past.

• Chimney sweeping and cleaning, top to bottom, with high-powered vacuum system
• 21-point chimney inspection with detailed post-inspection report
• Chimney repair, restoration and rebuilding
• Flue relining, including stainless steel and cast-in-place liners
• Masonry repair and tuckpointing
• Chimney crown repair
• Cultured stone chimney work
• Chimney flashing repair and replacement
• Chimney waterproofing
• Chimney cap installation, replacement and repair
• Ash box and ash pit repair
• Fireplace sales and installation (wood, gas and pellet)
• Wood-burning fireplace inserts
• Gas fireplace insert installation
• Wood burner sales and installation
• Pellet stove sales and installation
• Fireplace reline and repair
• Dryer vent cleaning and inspection
• Dryer lint removal

Being NFI certified means technicians have been trained and tested by the National Fireplace Institute on the safe installation and servicing of wood, gas, and pellet appliances — not guesswork. Add active membership in the National Chimney Sweep Guild, and every inspection follows a rigorous 21-point protocol built to catch cracked flue tiles, soot buildup, and structural issues before they become fire hazards. For a homeowner, that combination means one simple thing: this team has been trained, tested, and held to a standard well beyond a general handyman.

Wood, gas, and pellet, those three fuel types cover just about every direction a homeowner might take their hearth, and this team is factory-trained across all of them, whether that's fitting a wood-burning insert into an existing fireplace, converting a drafty firebox to clean-burning gas, or installing a pellet stove to knock 50 percent off a heating bill. Every recommendation comes from someone fully insured and trained to service what they sell, not a big-box associate reading a spec sheet.