Meet the Team - Kindling Chimney Riverside

Meet the Riverside Team Behind Kindling Chimney Riverside

When you book with Kindling Chimney Riverside, the person who shows up at your door isn’t a random subcontractor. It’s one of our own people, someone whose name you’ll know before the visit and whose face you’ll recognize if you ever need us again. Our crew has worked fireplaces and chimneys across Riverside County, from the older wood-burning setups in the Wood Streets to newer builds in Orangecrest and Mission Grove. What ties us together is simple: we treat your house the way we’d treat our own, and we don’t leave until the fireplace is safe and the floors are as clean as we found them.

Call (831) 218-8547

Our People

Danny Cortes, Owner and Lead Technician

Danny started Kindling Chimney Riverside because he noticed something about this line of work: most homeowners never actually see what’s inside their own chimney, and that bothered him. So he built the business around a simple rule: if he won’t show you the problem on camera and explain it in plain English, he won’t recommend the fix. Danny has spent years on roofs and hearths across the Inland Empire, and he’ll be the first to admit that a blocked damper and a bad Monday morning have a lot in common: both back up on you when you least expect it. His specialty is chimney inspections, and he reads flues the way some people read medical charts, slowly and with an eye for what’s not supposed to be there.

Marcus T., Senior Chimney Technician

Marcus has been running brushes and inspection cameras in Southern California for over a decade, and he’s the guy we send when a chimney has been neglected for years and needs more than a standard sweep. He’s certified in dryer exhaust and chimney sweeping through a nationally recognized program, and he’s the first one to say that Riverside’s dry, hot summers bake creosote into something stubborn that soft brushes won’t always move. Outside work, Marcus rebuilds vintage motorcycles, which is less different from chimney repair than you’d think: both reward patience, torque, and knowing when to stop pulling.

Rita C., Service Coordinator

Rita is the voice on the phone when you call Kindling Chimney Riverside, and if you’ve ever booked with us, you’ve already met her. She’s been coordinating service crews since before some of our technicians had drivers’ licenses, and she keeps the schedule running without ever making a customer feel rushed. Rita knows the Riverside service area block by block, and she’ll ask the right questions up front: what kind of fireplace you have, when it was last looked at, whether you’ve noticed any smoke in the room. She’s also the reason our technicians never show up without knowing exactly what to expect, and she’s got a soft spot for Riverside’s older homes, especially the ones with original masonry that deserves more than a quick look.

Sam D., Apprentice Technician

Sam came to us from a construction background and is working through his chimney service training under Danny and Marcus. He handles a lot of the setup and cleanup details that keep a visit running smoothly: drop cloths down, shoe covers on, tools staged where they’re needed and out of the walkway when they’re not. Sam’s still learning the full depth of chimney diagnostics, but he already knows what matters most to homeowners, because he’s the one who hears it when a homeowner says, “Please don’t let my dog bolt out the front door.” So he watches for that, every time. He’s also our resident ladder climber when nobody else feels like hauling the 32-footer off the truck.

One Standard, Every Job

Every technician at Kindling Chimney Riverside works to the same standard Danny set on day one, and it’s not a slogan somebody printed on a poster. It’s three things. First, a written price before any work starts, so there’s never a surprise when the job is halfway done. Second, the Cedarwell Care Promise: shoe covers and drop cloths go down on arrival, nothing gets moved without asking, and we take a photo of the cleaned-up work area before we leave. Third, the 365-Day Done Right Promise: if the work isn’t right, Kindling makes it right, no fine print and no runaround. That standard holds whether it’s Marcus on a 20-year-old masonry chimney in the Wood Streets or Sam on a sweep in a La Sierra townhome. Danny’s name is on the business, and he treats every job like his own fireplace is on the other end of it.

Written by Danny Cortes, Owner at Kindling Chimney Riverside, serving Riverside, CA. Call (831) 218-8547 to book your chimney sweep, inspection, or fireplace repair.