How Level Two Chimney Hoffman Estates Was Born in Hoffman Estates
We remember the exact afternoon in late 2009 when we knew Hoffman Estates needed something different. Corrine had been working with a regional sweep crew out of Chicago, and we’d been sent to a colonial on Hassell Road where the homeowner had already paid another company to “inspect and certify” their flue. The homeowner showed us the receipt. It was a single line item, no photos, no written scope, just a signature and a green sticker on the firebox. When we ran the camera, we found a cracked flue liner three feet down, spalling brick above the smoke shelf, and a damper rusted nearly shut. The previous company had never looked inside. They’d shined a flashlight up from the hearth, collected their fee, and left.
The homeowner sat on their brick hearth and cried. They’d been burning fires for two winters with a compromised liner, never knowing. That was the moment. Corrine called us that night and said, “We’re bringing Level Two to Hoffman Estates. We’re doing it the way it should be done.” Not starting a brand. Not inventing a method. The parent company already had the camera archive, the written-price rule, the documentation system. What we were building was a local branch that would actually use it, every time, in every home from Hoffman Estates to Crystal Lake. We opened our first local schedule in January 2010.
Corrine Halstead’s Personal Connection to the Chimney Cleaning Trade
Corrine didn’t come to this work through a family trade or a vocational program. She came to it sideways, through a rental property she owned in Palatine in the mid-2000s. The chimney smelled like a wet campfire every time it rained. Three sweeps came out. The first sold her a chemical deodorant. The second suggested tearing down and rebuilding the exterior stack. The third actually ran a camera, found a dead raccoon above the damper, and showed her the footage. The smell was gone in an hour. The difference was the inspection.
She started riding along with crews, asking questions, carrying rods. She learned the weight of a stainless steel liner coil, the smell of creosote glaze, the sound a flue tile makes when you tap it and it’s sound versus when it’s cracked hollow. She learned that most homeowners have no way to verify what they’re told, and that this asymmetry is where the industry breaks down. After more than a decade in the trade, what gets her out of bed is still that specific moment: the homeowner’s face when the screen shows them what we found, and they understand their own house for the first time.
If she weren’t doing this, she’d probably be restoring old houses, something with her hands and a clear before-and-after. She likes visible progress. She likes evidence you can hold. The work means something personal because it’s built on showing, not telling. Every chimney is a puzzle. Every homeowner deserves to see the pieces.
Meet Corrine Halstead - The Person Behind Every Job
Corrine Halstead is the Owner and Founder of Level Two Chimney Hoffman Estates. She holds state licensure for chimney and fireplace work in Illinois, carries full insurance and bonding, and has spent more than a decade specializing in Level 2 camera inspections, flue relining, and masonry repair in the northwest suburbs.
What separates Corrine from a corporate franchise technician is simple: she’s the one who answers when the local coordinator connects you, she’s the one who reviews your camera footage before any recommendation is made, and she’s the one whose name is on the written estimate. She keeps a garden in her Hoffman Estates backyard that she’s slowly expanding each season, which tells you something about how she works - methodical, patient, committed to what grows over time. She will not recommend work your chimney doesn’t need. She will show you why it does if it does.
Before
AfterOur Promise to Hoffman Estates Homeowners
Our values aren’t posters on a wall. They’re policies we enforce.
Honest pricing means Clause 1 of the Haven Standard: every job is quoted in writing, with a flat price and a written scope, before anyone touches your chimney. No door upsells. No “while we’re in here” additions. Corrine still personally reviews any estimate that deviates from our standard pricing sheet.
Quality parts means we source liners and components from manufacturers like Gelco and Olympia Chimney, not generic stock, and we document the serial numbers in your job record. If a part fails, we know exactly what was installed and when.
Standing behind every job means your warranty is in writing, tied to your photos, and stored in our archive. We’ve pulled decade-old footage to settle disputes and prove our work. The documentation outlasts the memory.
Our Credentials
- State-licensed chimney and fireplace contractor in Illinois
- Insured & bonded for residential work in your home
- Years of local experience serving Hoffman Estates and the northwest suburbs
- Strong local reputation built on documented work and verifiable records
These credentials matter because a chimney technician works inside your home, on your roof, and in your combustion system. State licensure means Corrine has met Illinois requirements for this specialized trade. Insurance and bonding protect your property if something goes wrong. Local experience means we know the clay soils that shift masonry in Hoffman Estates, the freeze-thaw cycles that crack crowns in Palatine, the local code amendments that apply in Elgin versus Arlington Heights. And a reputation built on records, not reviews alone, means you can verify what we claim.
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 documentation current.
Rooted in Hoffman Estates
Our trucks roll from a base in Hoffman Estates because this is where Corrine lives and where we know the housing stock. We understand the split-levels off Higgins Road with their factory-built fireplaces, the older colonials near Hilldale Golf Club with original clay flue liners, the new construction in Westbury that still has construction debris in the flue. We’ve worked through Hoffman Estates winters cold enough to freeze condensation in exterior chimneys, and we’ve seen what the spring thaw reveals. This isn’t a market we entered. It’s a place we belong.
Written by Corrine Halstead, Owner at Level Two Chimney Hoffman Estates, serving Hoffman Estates, Palatine, Bloomingdale, Elgin, Arlington Heights, Cary, West Chicago, Glen Ellyn, Crystal Lake, Lombard, Elmhurst, and Downers Grove since 2010.