How Titan Chimney Cleaning Greater Buffalo Was Born in Buffalo

It was a Tuesday morning in November 2013, and we were standing in a living room on Hertel Avenue watching a retired firefighter get handed a $4,200 bill for a “complete chimney rebuild” that didn’t need to happen. The man’s hands shook as he reached for his checkbook. We’d been called in for a second opinion by his daughter, and what we found was a cracked flue liner that a proper HeatShield application could fix for a fraction of that cost. The other company had already taken his deposit. That was the moment.

Right there, with the smell of his wife’s coffee still in the air and the Bills game muted on the television, we decided Buffalo deserved something different. The chimney industry in Western New York was overrun with scare tactics, inflated bids, and technicians who couldn’t explain what they were actually doing on your roof. We started Titan Chimney Cleaning Greater Buffalo the following spring with one rule: we’d treat every house like it belonged to our own family. No phantom repairs. No pressure. Just honest work at honest prices. That retired firefighter on Hertel Avenue became our first regular customer, and he still calls us every fall.

Thomas Hernandez’s Personal Connection to the Chimney Cleaning Trade

Thomas didn’t stumble into chimney work — he was practically raised in it. His uncle Miguel ran a small masonry crew out of a garage on the West Side, and Thomas spent his teenage summers hauling bricks, mixing mortar, and learning to read a flue like other kids learned to read road signs. The first time he climbed a roof in Buffalo, he was sixteen, terrified, and gripping a DuraFlex liner so hard his palms blistered. The lake wind hit different up there. You could see the whole city spread out below you — the grain elevators, the bridge, the neighborhoods stitched together like a quilt. He was hooked.

After high school, Thomas worked for a few different outfits around Erie County. Some were decent. Others taught him exactly what not to do — cutting corners on inspections, pushing unnecessary relining jobs, treating customers like invoices with legs. The work itself, though, never lost its hold on him. There’s something almost meditative about a proper chimney sweep: the rhythm of the brushes, the way soot smells different depending on what wood someone’s been burning, the satisfaction of dropping a camera down a flue and knowing exactly what you’re looking at. Eleven years in, Thomas still climbs most of the roofs himself. He says the day he stops is the day he retires.

If he weren’t doing this, he’d probably be fishing Lake Erie charter boats or restoring old Craftsman bungalows in North Buffalo — something with his hands, something where you can see the result of honest effort. What gets him out of bed at 6 AM during sweep season isn’t the schedule; it’s the houses. The 1920s Tudor in Elmwood Village with the original terracotta liner still holding strong. The ranch in Cheektowaga where a grandmother heats her whole place with a wood stove. The knowing that someone’s family is safer because of work he did with his own two hands.

Meet Thomas Hernandez — The Person Behind Every Job

Thomas Hernandez is Owner & Lead Technician at Titan Chimney Cleaning Greater Buffalo. He’s the person who answers your call, climbs your roof, and stands behind the invoice. Over eleven years, he’s personally serviced thousands of chimneys across Erie and Niagara counties, from historic mansions in Delaware Park to lakeside cottages in Tonawanda.

His training includes CSIA-certified chimney sweep credentials, factory training on Copperfield and Gelco systems, and continuous education on evolving NFPA safety standards. Unlike franchise technicians who rotate through every six months, Thomas has built relationships with homeowners who’ve trusted him for a decade. He’s the guy who remembers your dog’s name and whether your flue tends to draft poorly when the wind comes off the lake from the northwest.

Outside of work, Thomas restores vintage motorcycles and volunteers with the Buffalo Fire Department’s home safety education program. He believes every homeowner deserves to understand their own chimney, not just pay someone to mystery-solve it. His personal commitment: “If I wouldn’t do it at my mother’s house on Amherst Street, I won’t do it at yours.”

Our Promise to Buffalo Homeowners

Honest pricing, every time. After that Hertel Avenue job, we built our entire estimate process around transparency. We provide itemized written quotes before any work begins, and we explain exactly what each line means. If we find something unexpected during inspection, we photograph it, show you, and discuss options before adding a single dollar. No surprises. No “while we were up there” add-ons.

Quality parts that last. We install Copperfield and DuraFlex components because we’ve seen what cheap liners do after three Buffalo winters — cracked, corroded, failing when you need heat most. We source Gelco caps and HeatShield refractory systems for the same reason. The extra cost upfront saves you thousands down the road, and we won’t install anything we wouldn’t put in our own home.

We stand behind every job. In 2019, a liner we installed in Kenmore developed a rare manufacturing defect. We found out on a Saturday, had a crew there Sunday morning, and covered everything — parts, labor, the second inspection — no argument, no paperwork battle. That’s our policy. If we touched it, we own it. Period.

Our Credentials

State-licensed chimney contractor operating throughout Erie and Niagara counties

Insured & bonded with full liability and workers’ compensation coverage

11+ years in business serving the Greater Buffalo market

297 verified reviews averaging 4.7 out of 5 stars

These aren’t decorations — they’re protections. A state license means we’ve met New York’s standards for competency and accountability. Insurance and bonding mean if something goes wrong on your property, you’re not paying out of pocket or fighting your own homeowner’s policy. Those 297 reviews represent real Buffalo-area homeowners who took time to document their experience, good and bad, and the 4.7 average tells you we respond when things aren’t perfect. When you invite someone onto your roof, into your attic, around your family’s heating system, these credentials separate professionals from guys with a truck and a brush.

Rooted in Buffalo

We’ve swept chimneys in every neighborhood from the Fruit Belt to the Village of Williamsville, from the bungalows of North Buffalo to the new builds in Lancaster. Thomas grew up near Grant Street, still catches Bisons games when the schedule allows, and sponsors the annual chimney safety booth at the Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts. Our service van has probably passed your cousin’s house in West Seneca or your accountant’s place in Depew. This isn’t a franchise that parachuted in from out of state — we’re your neighbors, with soot under our fingernails and Buffalo in our blood.

Written by Thomas Hernandez, Owner at Titan Chimney Cleaning Greater Buffalo, serving Buffalo since 2013.