Built by a chimney man who wants every sweep to win
Ray Gessner has spent 29 years in the chimney industry. He's a licensed Professional Engineer, he owns a working chimney company, and he gives his training away. ChimneySweeps.com is how he puts all of it to work for independent chimney companies across the country.
Founder, ChimneySweeps.com & 833-CHIMNEY
From the roof to the engineering desk, and back again
Ray's career has always run on two tracks: the hands-on work of the trades and the discipline of engineering.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech in 1991 and a Master of Engineering from Old Dominion University in 1998, and he has been a licensed Professional Engineer in Virginia since 1999. Today he is a licensed Professional Engineer in 22 states and jurisdictions. He founded A Step in Time in 1998, later adding A Step in Time Structural Engineering, and since 1999 he has carried out thousands of structural engineering evaluations, forensic investigations and chimney inspections on homes and commercial buildings throughout Virginia and beyond. His specialty is the part of the house most people never see: chimney systems, fireplaces and venting.
Licensed Professional Engineer in 22 states and jurisdictions
- Virginia
- Washington State
- Massachusetts
- South Carolina
- Maryland
- Washington, D.C.
- Texas
- Louisiana
- Georgia
- North Carolina
- Mississippi
- Florida
- Tennessee
- Oregon
- Kentucky
- Nevada
- New York
- Colorado
- Ohio
- Arkansas
- Iowa
- Oklahoma
He also never left the trade. Ray owns and runs A Step in Time Chimney Sweeps, serving Virginia Beach, Richmond and Northern Virginia. He is a Virginia Master Tradesman in plumbing, gasfitting and HVAC, an InterNACHI certified home inspector and a HAAG certified residential roof inspector. So when he talks about the business, he isn't guessing. He has answered the phones, priced the jobs, trained the techs and climbed the ladders himself.
Our founder, Ray Gessner, is a Christian, and he built A Step In Time on love: for our customers, our employees, and our community. He also believes in free will. We never push faith on anyone. We just aim to treat every person with honesty, respect, and care.
After 29 years, Ray has seen what makes good chimney companies thrive and what holds them back. Most of it has nothing to do with skill. Good sweeps lose work to missed calls, slow follow-up and companies that simply market harder. ChimneySweeps.com and 833-CHIMNEY are his answer: one easy number for homeowners, and a real local company on the other end of every call.
A man giving back to the trade that built him
Ray doesn't charge for his training videos. He has been putting them on YouTube since 2011 for anyone who wants to learn.
The A Step in Time Chimney Sweeps channel has about 33,000 subscribers, more than 3.2 million views and 260 videos, and 86 of them are training: smoke chambers, dampers, creosote, flashing, crowns, chase covers, chimney draft and more. The most-watched, Chimneys Explained #11 - Smoke Chamber, has been viewed 166,054 times. A new sweep in a small town can learn from the same lessons as a crew in a big city, at no cost.
He also wrote the book on it. The Chimney Inspector Training Manual (Soot to Success) is a 420-page guide to residential chimneys, fireplaces and venting systems: inspection procedures, construction, building codes, hazards and repair. You can read it online at chimneypros.com.
Through ChimneySweeps.com, Ray offers training, mentoring, coaching and business development to chimney professionals. He wants new and experienced sweeps alike to inspect better, understand the codes, diagnose tough chimney problems and build businesses that last.
Chimneys Explained #11 - Smoke Chamber: 166,054 views as of October 23, 2026.
An engineer's approach to a ringing phone
Ray treats the network the way an engineer treats a structure: define the load, design for it, then measure. He also works at the cutting edge of artificial intelligence: he founded My Closing Companion, which builds AI phone agents, and in 2020 he pioneered remote, video-led inspections, guiding local technicians live by video under the ICC's remote virtual inspection guidelines. He brings both to ChimneySweeps.com.
- ZIP-code routing. The country is mapped into area-code territories. When a homeowner calls 833-CHIMNEY and enters a ZIP code, the call goes straight to the member company for that territory.
- Tools for the field. Capturify guides techs through the photos an inspection needs, in order. Reportify turns those photos and notes into a branded report for the homeowner.
- AI where it saves time. Ray applies AI to the work that eats a chimney company's day, such as call review, follow-up and online reviews, so owners can spend more time on the roof and less at the desk.
- Measured results. Members see their calls, outcomes and ad results every month, not guesses.
Why partner with ChimneySweeps.com and Ray Gessner
You get a founder who has done the work, and a system built to make your phone ring and help you close.
Your area code, exclusively
One member company per territory. Calls from ZIP codes in your area code come to you, not to your competitors.
Calls that are clearly yours
Routed 833-CHIMNEY calls with a whisper message, plus local CHIMNEY vanity numbers for your trucks and signs.
Marketing done for you
Google Ads management, a local page on ChimneySweeps.com, custom websites, and Google review monitoring and replies.
Help turning calls into jobs
Call recording and scoring, coaching for your team, missed-call text back, and follow-up on quotes that didn't book.
Inspection tools
Capturify for guided job photos and Reportify for branded inspection reports.
Training from Ray
A training library, one-on-one business coaching, supplier discounts and room to add territories as you grow.
See everything membership includes · Plans · Claim your area code
For homeowners: why you can trust the call
When you call 833-CHIMNEY, you reach an independent, locally owned chimney company, not a call center that resells your number. Ray built this network around the codes and standards that govern chimneys: the International Residential Code (Chapter 10) and NFPA 211. Our Knowledge Center explains them in plain English. Each member company quotes, schedules and does its own work and sets its own prices.
Join a network built by someone who's been in your boots
Talk with Ray about your area code, or start with the free training.
Questions? Email ray@chimneysweeps.com or call 833-CHIMNEY.
Member companies are independently owned and operated and are responsible for their own work, prices and licensing.