Meet Our Professionals
 Steven
R. Pietila
Steve is past President of the Chimney Safety
Institute of America and of the National Chimney Sweep Guild. He has been in the chimney service industry for
over 20 years. He is a CSIA Certified
Chimney Sweep and CSIA Instructor. Steve enjoys working with customers and instilling a
vision in his employees for providing outstanding customer service.
In order to ensure that his customers get the highest quality of
service possible he encourages his staff to seek continued education
and training which is financed by the company.
When not on the rooftops or in the office, you might find Steve
teaching seminars to other chimney professionals, leading a
short-term missions team, or he may be up
on the mountain skiing or backpacking or paddling in the Willamette
River. He
loves his hometown of Portland, and enjoys the incredible mix of
small town friendliness and metropolitan culture. He's been married
to his lovely wife Julie for over twenty five years and they have three
sons.
 Walter
Smith
A 20 year veteran of the industry, Walter is certified by the
Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) and by the Oregon Chimney
Sweep Association (OCSA). Walter has been with American Chimney
since 1993. Prior to that he worked for a large chimney service
company in Southern California. Walter prefers the Pacific Northwest
by far, noting that the two regions differ greatly with regard to
chimney problems and usage.
We call Walter the "Gadget Man. " His duties include
chimney cleaning and system evaluation with a strong emphasis on
fire safety and code compliance issues. He is trained and qualified
to perform masonry repairs, stove and fireplace installation and
upgrades, and chimney liner installations.
When he's not toting his brushes or trowel you'll usually find
Walter bicycling across the state. Every chance he gets, he loads up
his Cannondale with gear and gadgets and heads for the outback to
discover the great natural beauty of the area. Rain or shine he's
pedaling over highway and mountain trail, always returning with
great tales to tell of his adventures.
Walter resides in the Rivergrove area in Lake Oswego with his
wife Lisa. Walter's interests include
camping, biking, experimenting with his wood stove and HO Model
Trains.
 Dennis
Childers
A native Oregonian, Dennis has been with American Chimney
since 1991. Dennis specializes in Masonry work, but often pitches in
with the other chores when things get busy. Dennis is certified by the
Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) and by the Oregon Chimney
Sweep Association (OCSA).
Dennis is an accomplished musician and enjoys playing the bass,
keyboards and some guitar. He enjoyed a brief stint as a
professional musician in the 80's, but is quite content now to
simply play with friends and for his church. He is newly
married to the woman of his dreams, Marnie.
 Ryan
Albertson
Ryan "The Enforcer" Albertson graduated from
Western Oregon University with a bachelor's degree in law
enforcement. Now fighting creosote instead of crime, Ryan is
still committed to making the world a safer place to live through
professional chimney maintenance and proper burning practices.
Ryan joined the American Chimney team in the fall of 1999 and
is a CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep. He completed the
"Advanced Chimney Sweep Training School" in Indianapolis,
Indiana in July 2002.
Ryan enjoys working out and training for the Scottish Highland
Games. He and his wife Corrie live in Portland and are very involved
as volunteers working with church youth groups.
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