Level 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterMeet the Thousand Oaks Team Behind Level Two Chimney Thousand Oaks
Every chimney in Thousand Oaks tells a different story. The crew that shows up at your door has heard most of them. We’re independently owned and operated under the Haven Standard, and the people on this page are the same ones who answer your call, load the truck, and climb your roof. No rotating cast of subcontractors. Just Corrine Halstead’s local team, working to the same rules we’ve followed since 2009.
Our People
Corrine Halstead, Owner
I started Level Two Chimney Co. in 2009 after watching too many homeowners in Ventura County get a verbal “ballpark” that somehow tripled once the tech was already in the living room. That doesn’t happen here. I still ride along on jobs when we’re training a new crew member or when a flue situation looks unusual from the initial photos. I’ve cleaned chimneys in Thousand Oaks that looked like ten years of good intentions, and I’ve seen pristine flues hiding cracked liners you’d never catch without a camera scan. Every job we do gets a written price before work starts, a documented photo record on completion, and my name on the warranty. Clause 1 of the Haven Standard, “Have it in writing,” exists because I got tired of apologizing for other companies’ behavior.
Marcus T., Lead Technician
Marcus has been running our NFPA 211 Level 2 inspections for six years, and he’s the reason we can say every visit includes a camera-scan inspection and photo record without hesitation. He came to us from commercial HVAC, so he’s unusually comfortable reading combustion analysis data and explaining it in plain terms. His specialty is tracking down smoke chamber defects, those hidden gaps between the fireplace throat and flue liner that most sweeps mention in passing if at all. Marcus keeps a worn copy of the California Residential Code chimney section in his truck, not because he needs it for reference, but because he’s had to show it to three different inspectors in Thousand Oaks who weren’t sure about clearances on a historic home rebuild. Off the job, he’s building a smoker from a 250-gallon propane tank in his Newbury Park backyard, which he claims will be finished “next spring” for the third spring running.
Elena R., Senior Installer
Elena handles our liner installations, crown rebuilds, and the occasional full chimney rebuild when a Thousand Oaks hillside home has taken too much weather. She’s certified in HeatShield cerfractory flue resurfacing and DuraFlex stainless liner installation, and she’s particular about measuring twice because she’s seen what happens when a liner kit shows up two inches short on a Tuesday morning. Elena grew up in Camarillo, so she knows which neighborhoods in Conejo Valley get the hard afternoon sun that accelerates crown spalling, and which ones sit in oak tree shade that keeps flues damp enough to grow moss. She’ll tell you exactly what she found, show you the camera footage, and quote the fix before she unpacks a single tool. Her garage contains three project motorcycles in various states of assembly, which she says keeps her patient with long jobs.
Dave K., Service Coordinator
Dave answers the phones and schedules the routes, which means he’s the live person you reach when you call (424) 786-6130 at 10 PM on a Sunday because you smelled something odd from the fireplace. He’s been with us since 2015, and he knows which technician lives closest to your neighborhood, who’s best with historic clay flue tiles, and who’s still training on camera-scan documentation. Dave sends the text when your tech is on the way, including the technician’s name and license number, because Clause 3 of the Haven Standard, “Verified crews,” means you should know who’s arriving before they knock. He grew up in Agoura Hills and still lives there, so when you mention your cross streets, there’s a decent chance he knows the house style and the typical chimney configuration before you finish describing it. Dave coaches a youth baseball team, which taught him more about scheduling around unpredictable events than any logistics course could.
Jesse M., Apprentice Technician
Jesse joined us in 2023 after completing the Chimney Safety Institute of America’s sweep training program, and he’s working through his Level 2 inspection certification under Marcus’s supervision. Right now he’s handling standard chimney cleaning and sweep appointments, basic cap and crown inspections, and learning to classify creosote deposits from Class I (soot, brushable) through Class III (glazed, requires chemical treatment or mechanical removal). Jesse grew up in Thousand Oaks proper, near Wildwood Regional Park, so he’s already familiar with the particular challenge of oak leaf debris in chimney caps and the way Santa Ana winds can blow embers back down a marginal flue. He’s meticulous about the photo documentation requirement because he’s still building his eye for what matters, and he’d rather take twelve pictures than miss the one that explains a problem. Jesse is studying for his contractor’s license and asks more questions than any apprentice we’ve had, which we consider a feature, not a bug.
One Standard, Every Job
The Haven Standard was built from what went wrong on other jobs before 2009. Every technician on this page works under the same clauses: written price before work starts, verified and named crew members, documented photo record on every visit, and the 365-Day Done Right Promise. We’re independently owned and operated, not a franchise, and we source materials through Haven’s buying network from DuraFlex, HeatShield, Gelco, Olympia Chimney, Famco, and Copperfield specifically to keep our pricing honest. Whether you need a routine chimney cleaning and sweep in Thousand Oaks, a liner inspection in Newbury Park, or a full rebuild after earthquake damage, the same standard applies. The person who answers your call can tell you which technician will arrive, what they’ll document, and what you’ll pay before anyone touches a brush.
Written by Corrine Halstead, Owner at Level Two Chimney Thousand Oaks, serving Thousand Oaks since 2009.