Meet the Team - Level Two Chimney Sherman Oaks

Meet the Sherman Oaks Team Behind Level Two Chimney Sherman Oaks

We’re the crew that shows up in Sherman Oaks with a camera, a brush, and a written price already in your hand. Every person on this page has passed a background check, worn the uniform, and sat through the same training Corrine Halstead put in place back when we were still counting chimneys by the hundreds instead of the thousands. What unites us is simple: we document what we find, we say what it costs before we start, and we don’t leave until the photo record is done. That’s not a slogan in our shop. It’s Clause 4.

Our People

Corrine Halstead, Owner

Corrine started Level Two Chimney in 2009 after watching one too many homeowners in the San Fernando Valley get a verbal “ballpark” that somehow tripled once the truck was in the driveway. She built the Haven Standard from that frustration, one clause at a time. Corrine still pulls permits in Sherman Oaks personally, knows the venting quirks of the 1950s ranch houses off Ventura Boulevard, and can spot a cracked flue liner from the basement smell before she even opens the damper. She keeps a worn copy of the NFPA 211 codebook in her truck and updates it with sticky notes. Off the clock, she restores vintage motorcycles and claims the patience transfers.

Marcus T., Lead Technician

Marcus has been running chimney sweeps in Sherman Oaks and Studio City for fourteen years, and he’s the technician Corrine assigns when a homeowner mentions they’ve already had two other companies out who “couldn’t figure it out.” He’s certified for Level 2 inspections under NFPA 211 and specializes in tracing smoke chamber downdrafts in the older hillside homes near Mulholland, where the pressure differentials behave like nothing the textbooks describe. Marcus carries a borescope with a monitor large enough that the homeowner sees exactly what he sees, creosote class and all, while he’s still on the ladder. He grows tomatoes in his Encino backyard and brings the extras to the office in August.

Dana R., Senior Installer

Dana handles the jobs that require a rebuild: flue liner pulls, crown pours, and the occasional cricket installation where a chimney meets a pitched roof in the wetter microclimates near the Los Angeles River basin. She’s factory-trained on DuraFlex and HeatShield applications and can tell you, within ten minutes of arrival, whether a spalling brick face is cosmetic or structural. Dana is the reason our Sherman Oaks crew can offer a written warranty on liner work that other companies sub out. She keeps a spreadsheet of every liner she’s installed since 2017, with photos, in case a previous customer calls back. On weekends she coaches a youth basketball league in Van Nuys and applies the same tolerance for repetition.

Jin P., Service Coordinator

Jin answers the phones that ring at 10 PM on a Sunday in December, which is when most Sherman Oaks residents remember their fireplace hasn’t been looked at since last winter. He’s the one who confirms your written price and scope before he hangs up, sends the text when your technician is en route, and follows up with the photo record link within two hours of job completion. Jin came to us from hotel operations and treats scheduling like room inventory: no double-booking, no mystery gaps, no “we’ll call you back.” He lives in North Hollywood and has developed strong opinions about the optimal route from our depot to the hillside streets above Beverly Glen during rush hour.

Elena V., Apprentice Technician

Elena joined us in 2023 after completing her HVAC-R training at a trade school in Pacoima, and she’s working through her chimney-specific certifications under Marcus’s supervision. She already runs the camera inspection solo on standard cleaning jobs and is building her eye for Class II versus Class III creosote buildup, the glazed, hardened variety that requires mechanical removal and shows up frequently in Sherman Oaks fireplaces that burn pine from the Angeles National Forest. Elena asks more questions than the rest of the crew combined, which Corrine considers a feature, not a bug. She commutes from Koreatown and is usually the first one in the shop, coffee in hand, reviewing the previous day’s photo records.

One Standard, Every Job

The Haven Standard wasn’t designed to be easy. It was designed so a homeowner in Sherman Oaks could call any Level Two Chimney location and get the same answer to the same question, every time. Clause 1 means your written price, scope, and warranty arrive before work starts, not after the technician has tracked soot through your living room. Clause 4 means every visit produces a documented photo record, archived and available to you, not an optional upsell. The 365-Day Done Right Promise applies whether Dana poured your crown or Elena ran your sweep. Our materials come from the same buying network, our technicians wear the same uniform, and Corrine’s phone number is on every truck. We’re independently owned and operated in Sherman Oaks, but the standard doesn’t bend for convenience. That’s the point.

Written by Corrine Halstead, Owner at Level Two Chimney Sherman Oaks, serving Sherman Oaks since 2009.