Richmond men inspect White House chimneys

John Meredith and his son, Tom, got an inside-out and outside-in look at the West Wing last week.

Meredith is CEO of SaverSystems, a Richmond manufacturer of chimney repair and restoration products. Tom is a certified chimney sweep and company sales manager.

SaverSystems’ products are well enough known throughout the country in the industry that White House chimney expert Jerry Neal called the Merediths to Washington, D.C., to do a cleaning, inspection and consultation on seven White House chimneys.

“It was an amazing experience, certainly interesting and eye-opening,” said John Meredith, who started the company in 1987 in a rented and retro-fitted chicken coop on Niewoehner Road.

The Merediths spent the day Aug. 9 working at the White House.

“I felt like I was in a museum,” said Tom Meredith, who has been with the company for 11 years. “There were priceless portraits everywhere, and I got such a great sense of the history there.”

The Merediths were escorted everywhere by a Secret Service officer and the Oval Office’s HVAC engineer. They cleaned and inspected the chimneys in the Oval Office and the offices of the vice president, chief of staff and press secretary as well as those in the Roosevelt Room, the Cabinet Room and the president’s study.

“It was a great experience,” Tom Meredith said. “The vice president must burn fires in his chimney every day judging by how dirty it was.”

It actually was John Meredith’s second work-related visit to the White House. He cleaned and inspected chimneys there in 2013.

“Jerry has been one of our customers for almost 30 years. He trusts our products and looks to us for expertise,” John said. “It was a huge honor to be there, and I’m honored that the products that we basically invented have gained acceptance around the country and worldwide.”

Unfortunately, the Merediths did not get to see President Barack Obama or Vice President Joe Biden while in Washington.

“My understanding is that everyone was gone, that pretty much the whole place shuts down,” John said.

“All we saw was contractors and Secret Service. I think that when everyone is gone they come in and work on the building,” Tom said. “Still, it was humbling and made me feel patriotic to be there. You could feel the weight that that building represents.”

Staff writer Bill Engle: (765) 973-4481 or bengle@pal-item.com. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/billengle_PI.