About Us

In the mid-1980s my kids were entering adolescence and I could see that I was going to need a lot more money to get them through the teen years. My daughter was becoming a high-level gymnast (that means it costs a bunch of money).

Also, I was hoping to have a business that allowed me to leave the country once in a while to travel. It has – we have traveled in Russia, Central Asia, Georgia, Turkey, Italy, Switzerland, England, Scotland, and have been on chimneys in many of those places. I’ve been gone for as long as seven weeks from my business and it still functions at a high level.

As a company, we once went to an international gathering of chimney sweeps in northern Italy. There were 1,000 sweeps from 27 countries and we were among those representing the USA. I am so glad for this business.

A friend, who had moved to Grass Valley from Whitmore, where we lived at the time, called and said he had the business I ought to be in – he was sweeping chimneys. I worked for him for one day, came back and hung out a shingle. I had a garage sale vacuum which, it turned out, had no filter, two used brushes, and I bought a new ladder. I guess you could say I didn’t do any research.

My one choice was whether I should get a contractor’s license for landscaping or chimney work. I chose chimneys because it seemed that everyone with a lawn mower was a landscaper but only one guy had a chimney installation license.

Bob on top of a chimney in Italy.

White Glove stands for a warm, secure, and healthy home. We are clean, safe to be with, nice, and professionally trained. Our technicians learn their job in our classroom and training center – 56 hours of training before they go out as a helper on a truck. Then ongoing continuing education throughout the year.

There is a CSIA certified sweep on every job: We like to say, “Our ‘experience’ is tested.” Our guys don’t learn their job at your home. While a lack of certification doesn’t mean a person is without knowledge – It simply means we have proven that we know at least the minimum to be a venting professional. We have done our best to make sure we are educated, skilled and still fun to be with.

We’ve also been on chimneys in Russia, the former Soviet republic of Georgia, a castle in Scotland, and in Italy – and we have great stories from these places.

We don’t take shortcuts, and we’re not trying to save someone money by cutting corners. We are honest, educated professionals. We are nice – just ask our customers. We show up on time, we are really clean in the home, and we are great communicators who speak in a language our customers understand. We are also licensed contractors.