Meet the Team - Top Hat Chimney

Meet the Reading Team Behind Top Hat Chimney

Top Hat Chimney has been working on Reading rooftops since 1999, and the people who show up at your door are the same ones you’ll run into at the hardware store on Saturday. We don’t rotate crews in from other regions or hire seasonal temps who disappear after the first frost. The people below live in Berks County, know which Reading neighborhoods have the oldest flues, and answer to Wendell Pike directly. They’re background-checked, uniformed, and they’ll give you a real arrival window, not a four-hour shrug. If the time slips, they call. It’s a small crew, and we like it that way.

Our People

Wendell Pike, Owner and Lead Technician

Wendell founded Top Hat Chimney in 1999 after spending his early twenties working on masonry crews across eastern Pennsylvania. He’s still the first one up a ladder when a job looks tricky, and he’s the one who answers the phone at odd hours because he never liked the idea of a call center speaking for his business. Wendell holds certifications through the Chimney Safety Institute of America and has installed more DuraFlex liners than he cares to count. He lives just outside Reading with his wife and a coonhound named Stub, who has never once offered to help on a job.

Manny R., Senior Installer

Manny joined the crew in 2007 and handles most of the heavy rebuild work: liners, crowns, and the occasional partial teardown when a Reading winter has done its worst. He’s HeatShield-certified and can tell from the sound of a hammer tap whether a flue tile is still sound or waiting to cause trouble. Manny grew up in the city’s 18th Ward and still lives there with his grown kids nearby. He’s the one who sketches out what he found on a scrap of paper before the camera ever comes out, and he’s usually right.

Dana K., Service Coordinator

Dana has been with Top Hat since 2015, which means she’s the reason your appointment actually happens when it’s supposed to. She handles scheduling, permit paperwork where it’s needed, and the endless puzzle of routing jobs across Berks County without making anyone wait on a roof in bad weather. Before this, Dana worked in dispatch for a plumbing outfit in Wyomissing, so she understands how much a late crew can mess up your day. She’s a Reading native who knows every diner within ten miles of the shop and will absolutely give you directions if you ask.

Tommy V., Apprentice

Tommy started with us in 2023 after finishing a masonry program at Reading Area Community College. He’s the newest face on the crew, which means he spends a lot of time hauling brushes, holding ladders, and learning why third-degree creosote is a glaze and not a brush job. Tommy grew up in Muhlenberg Township and got interested in the trade after helping his grandfather repoint a fireplace that hadn’t been touched in forty years. He asks a lot of questions, shows up early, and has already earned his own nickname around the shop, which we won’t print here.

One Standard, Every Job

Every person on this page works under the same rule: if it’s not done right, one call brings the crew back. That’s the 90-Day Done Right Promise, and it’s stamped on every job we finish in Reading, from a simple sweep in College Heights to a full liner rebuild in Glenside. Wendell is the one who signs off on the work, which means he’s the one who hears about it if something isn’t right. Upfront pricing is the same for every customer. The number quoted on the phone is the number on the invoice. No surprises after the truck pulls away. The camera footage from your flue is yours to see, and the explanation comes in plain English, not a sales pitch. Senior and veteran discounts apply across the board, and the free second opinion on any written estimate stands whether you hire us or not. We’ve been doing this since 1999 in these same neighborhoods, and the standard hasn’t slipped because the owner still lives here. Ask anyone on your street. If they’ve had chimney work done in Reading, there’s a fair chance they already know one of us by name.

Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Reading since 1999.