Meet the Team - Level Two Chimney McKinney

Meet the McKinney Team Behind Level Two Chimney McKinney

We’re the crew that shows up in your driveway with a van full of rods, brushes, and cameras, not promises we can’t keep. Every technician on this page works out of our McKinney base, not dispatched from Dallas or Fort Worth. What ties us together is simple: we name what we find, we photograph it, and we put the price in writing before we touch a tool. That’s Haven Standard Clause 1, and it’s how we’ve operated since Corrine Halstead opened this location.

Our People

Corrine Halstead, Owner

I started Level Two Chimney McKinney in 2009 after ten years as a chimney technician in the Dallas-Fort Worth market. What I learned early: most homeowners don’t distrust the trade, they distrust the surprise bill. So I built this company on a written price before work starts, a photo record of every flue, and a crew I can vouch for personally. I’m still CSIA-certified (Certified Chimney Sweep #6909) and I keep my hands in the work, especially on rebuilds where the existing masonry is older than most of the houses in Adriatica Village. Off the job, I restore vintage motorcycles, which has made me particular about tolerances and impatient with “good enough.”

Marcus T., Lead Technician

Marcus has been with us eight years and runs the majority of our NFPA 211 Level 2 inspections across Collin County. He’s the one who’ll hand you the tablet and walk you through your flue liner footage, pointing out the exact inch where parging has degraded in your smoke chamber. CSIA-certified and factory-trained on HeatShield cerfractory resurfacing, he specializes in diagnosing draft problems in the tall, tight flues common to McKinney’s newer construction near Craig Ranch. He keeps a collection of flue tiles he’s pulled from collapsed liners, labeled by year and neighborhood, as a kind of informal archive of what goes wrong and why.

Dana R., Senior Installer

Dana handles our liner installations, crown pours, and full rebuilds, the work that takes multiple days and weather windows. She came to us from commercial HVAC fabrication, which shows in her stainless steel work, every seam sealed and every joint accessible for future inspection. She’s factory-certified on DuraFlex and Olympia Chimney systems, and she’s particular about cricket flashing on wide chimneys, the kind you see in the Stonebridge Ranch estates where roof pitch changes create pooling. On her own time, she builds furniture from reclaimed lumber, and she applies the same standard to chimney shoulders: if the wood behind the masonry is compromised, she’ll show you the moisture meter reading and explain why the repair can’t wait.

Jesse K., Service Coordinator

Jesse answers the phones, schedules the routes, and makes sure the photo records from yesterday’s jobs are uploaded and linked to your file before you call with questions. He’s been with us four years and knows the McKinney permitting process well enough to flag when a rebuild will need a city inspection, which saves a week on jobs near the historic district. He grew up in Anna, so he understands the wind patterns and clay soil shifts that affect chimney settling in the northern Collin County corridor. He also trains the new apprentices on customer communication: what to say when you find a dead raccoon in a smoke shelf, and what to document before you touch anything.

Alejandro V., Apprentice Technician

Alejandro is in his second year with us, working toward his CSIA certification while he learns the trade from Marcus and Dana. He’s already proficient on standard sweeps and basic cap installations, and he’s developing an eye for spalling brick, the freeze-thaw damage that shows up on McKinney chimneys after hard winters. He handles most of our routine maintenance routes in the older neighborhoods near Tucker Hill and East McKinney, where fireplaces from the 1980s and 90s need regular attention. Before this, he was a wildland firefighter in West Texas, which gives him a useful directness when explaining creosote accumulation to homeowners who’ve been burning unseasoned wood.

One Standard, Every Job

The Haven Standard was built from what we learned doing this work in McKinney and across Texas. Clause 1 requires a written price, scope, and warranty before anyone starts. Clause 4 requires a documented photo record on every visit, not as an upsell but as standard practice. The 365-Day Done Right Promise backs every job we complete. These aren’t marketing phrases; they’re operating instructions we follow on Craig Ranch chimneys and Tucker Hill rebuilds alike. Whether you’re calling about a routine sweep or a liner failure, the same standard applies: name the finding, show the evidence, put the cost in writing. That’s what this team was hired to do.

Written by Corrine Halstead, Owner at Level Two Chimney McKinney, serving McKinney since 2009.