Meet the Team - Alcott Chimney San Francisco

Meet the San Francisco Team Behind Alcott Chimney San Francisco

We’re a small crew by design. Every technician who walks through your door in San Francisco is someone we know personally, someone we’ve trained, background-checked, and would trust in our own homes. We’ve worked together for years, across every neighborhood from the Sunset to Bernal Heights, and we share one belief: a chimney job isn’t done until the homeowner understands exactly what was found, what was fixed, and why. No mystery invoices. No vague recommendations. Just people who know flues, liners, and gas fireplaces and can explain them in plain English.

Our People

Ruben Castellano, Owner

Ruben has been working on San Francisco chimneys since 2002, when he founded Alcott as a one-truck operation. He still rides along on inspections when a job looks complicated, and he’s the one who reads every camera report before a repair recommendation goes out. Ruben’s specialty is liner work: he’s installed more DuraFlex systems in this city than he can count, and he’s the first to tell a homeowner when a liner can safely wait another season. He lives in the Richmond District with his family and a grill he uses year-round, fog or not.

Marcus T., Lead Technician

Marcus has been with Alcott for eleven years and handles most of our sweeping and inspection work across San Francisco. He’s certified in HeatShield resurfacing and knows the older masonry in Pacific Heights and the Mission like the back of his hand. Marcus is the guy you want on a roof in a gust of Bay wind: calm, methodical, and never in a rush. Off the clock, he restores vintage bicycles and rides them on trails in Marin.

Dana R., Senior Installer

Dana leads our gas fireplace repair and installation work, and she’s been doing it for nine years. She carries certifications for Olympia Chimney and Copperfield products, and she’s solved gas fireplace issues in San Francisco condos that other companies walked away from. Dana is direct: she’ll tell you what’s worth fixing, what’s worth replacing, and what you can leave alone. She grew up on the Peninsula and still thinks the best pizza in the city is in North Beach, which she will defend at length if asked.

Luis V., Service Coordinator

Luis is the voice on the phone, day or night. He’s been with Alcott for six years and handles scheduling, technician assignments, and the name-and-photo preview every customer gets before a visit. Luis knows every San Francisco neighborhood because he grew up in the Excelsior and has driven a service route through all of them. If you call at 11 p.m. because something smells like smoke, Luis is the calm person who talks you through the first steps and gets a technician dispatched. He’s also the office’s unofficial lunch-ordering authority, which he takes seriously.

Elena K., Apprentice Technician

Elena joined Alcott two years ago after training at a trade program in the East Bay. She works alongside Marcus and Dana on sweeps, inspections, and liner installs, and she’s already earned her Gelco product certification. Elena is thorough to a degree that borders on stubborn, which is exactly what you want from someone inspecting a flue with a camera. She lives in the Outer Sunset and paints watercolors of Victorian rooflines, which means she sees more chimneys on her days off than most of us do all week.

One Standard, Every Job

The Threshold Standard is what ties us together as part of the Threshold Group family. Before any technician steps onto a San Francisco property, they’ve passed a background check and identity verification. That’s not an optional upgrade. It’s the baseline, and it’s been the baseline since 2002. Every customer gets the technician’s name and photo before the visit, and every technician must show a photo ID badge at the door. Every job comes with a written price before work begins. Every repair carries a written guarantee: if it fails within the coverage period, the second visit is free. And the 365-Day Done Right Promise means we stand behind the finished work for a full year. Ruben built the company on this principle: you should be able to vet the person in your home, see the evidence for any recommendation, and know the price before the work starts. The crew on this page is the reason that promise holds.

Written by Ruben Castellano, Owner at Alcott Chimney San Francisco, serving San Francisco since 2002.