The reality is that Chim-Scan® is a smaller family-owned business. Part of our manufactuing plant in Iowa.
The Chim-Scan® Story
40 years of innovation in Chimney Scanning
Featured in Blue Collar Magazine, April 2021
Twenty years ago, Jim Gillam of SNEWs wrote a great article about Estoban Corporation and Chim-Scan®. Now it is time to bring you up to date in 2021.
Many assume that Estoban's location is in some big glass building with a giant loading dock. This mental image could not be farther from the truth; 99.5% of people driving by Estoban don't even know they are there.
Estoban is located outside a small town called Fairfield in the southeast corner of Iowa. If you google Fairfield, Iowa, you'll get some fun articles, videos, and even an Oprah visit.
Estoban isn't a spelling error; it's the combination of Owners' names. E stands for Esther, S stands for Shelley, TO stands for Tom, and BAN stands for Urban. Mom and Pop, who revolutionized the industry, still run the business. Jim's article is a great way to know how Estoban started. So, here's a QR code to Jim's article; please read it.
40 years of innovation in Chimney Scanning
Featured in Blue Collar Magazine, April 2021
Twenty years ago, Jim Gillam of SNEWs wrote a great article about Estoban Corporation and Chim-Scan®. Now it is time to bring you up to date in 2021.
Many assume that Estoban's location is in some big glass building with a giant loading dock. This mental image could not be farther from the truth; 99.5% of people driving by Estoban don't even know they are there.
Estoban is located outside a small town called Fairfield in the southeast corner of Iowa. If you google Fairfield, Iowa, you'll get some fun articles, videos, and even an Oprah visit.
Estoban isn't a spelling error; it's the combination of Owners' names. E stands for Esther, S stands for Shelley, TO stands for Tom, and BAN stands for Urban. Mom and Pop, who revolutionized the industry, still run the business. Jim's article is a great way to know how Estoban started. So, here's a QR code to Jim's article; please read it.
In a brief overview: Tom and Esther started like many in the late '70s as Chimney Sweeps; as time went on, Tom's curiosity and concern for his customers' homes got the better of him. Like all sweeps, customers asked him, 'Is it safe?' and He couldn't wholeheartedly answer because he knew he didn't see everything.
Tom started tinkering. He traveled to Cornell University to search the library's optics section of Thomas Registers. A year later, Tom built the Footlocker Camera, lovingly named was the size of a footlocker with a lens.
In 1984 at the NCSG convention in Washington DC – Chim-Scan® was shown for the 1st time to a national audience. It was pronounced a showstopper by CNN News Channel, and many thought Tom was nuts for sticking a camera in a chimney, but time has shown he's an innovator.
Tom started tinkering. He traveled to Cornell University to search the library's optics section of Thomas Registers. A year later, Tom built the Footlocker Camera, lovingly named was the size of a footlocker with a lens.
In 1984 at the NCSG convention in Washington DC – Chim-Scan® was shown for the 1st time to a national audience. It was pronounced a showstopper by CNN News Channel, and many thought Tom was nuts for sticking a camera in a chimney, but time has shown he's an innovator.
Our new edition gave us room to expand our manufacturing capabilities.
So, in the early 2000s, Chim-Scan® built units that connect to computers, which was AWESOME. Then the World experienced the 'wonderful' (please note sarcasm) jump in Windows Operating systems of XP>Vista>Windows 7>Windows 8> and finally 10. During this jump, they learned the hard way of working with 3rd party parts and programs: one day, they are here, and the next, they're gone.This great inconvenience led them to look for other recording abilities. They have used Polaroid, VHS, Floppy disks, CF burners, PDAs, Computers, DVD recorders, and four versions of SD recorders - all done by 2010.
Estoban stays current on new technology, but with the rise of disposable technology, they have become even pickier about what they put in their equipment. They only buy and work with commercial electronics, and commercial electronics tend to move slightly slower than consumer electronics. They use Commercial because it has to work, day after day, with the option of repairing. Shelley explained, "One would never trust a sewer company if they showed up with a teeny tiny camera hooked up to their phone. That stuff is cool and cheap, but it is unable to stand up to everyday abuse."
Estoban stays current on new technology, but with the rise of disposable technology, they have become even pickier about what they put in their equipment. They only buy and work with commercial electronics, and commercial electronics tend to move slightly slower than consumer electronics. They use Commercial because it has to work, day after day, with the option of repairing. Shelley explained, "One would never trust a sewer company if they showed up with a teeny tiny camera hooked up to their phone. That stuff is cool and cheap, but it is unable to stand up to everyday abuse."
Our teaching lab in Iowa is where we host chimney inspection and scanning classes. We have several chimney installations with defects and a mezzanine for chimney scanning.
Backing up to 2000, when Jim's article came out, Estoban had just added on the schoolroom (where Shelley homeschooled until high school), a new big office, and the machine room. A total of about 2,000sq ft: they quickly outgrew that by 2008, they added on Electron row, which now serves as a hallway, and the 'shipping room,' which is now the office, added another 800sq ft. The schoolroom transformed into Marvin's repair Room, Bathroom, and Commissary. For anyone wondering, Marvin is their oldest employee; he's worked for Estoban for 30 years, hence why he gets his room. The original shop was now surrounded and became half wiring, half internal highway.
In 2014, they had a record year but at a dreadful cost. From July to January 2015, the entire company worked seven days a week, sometimes 12 hours a day. This busy schedule was due to disappointing results from high expectations of a cheaper product that came on the market that did not fulfill the vision needs that a Chim-Scan® can produce. Well, that opened a fantastic door. They heard from people they hadn't spoken to since the mid-'90s, and many jumped on the 'I want to upgrade my old unit' bandwagon.
In 2014, they had a record year but at a dreadful cost. From July to January 2015, the entire company worked seven days a week, sometimes 12 hours a day. This busy schedule was due to disappointing results from high expectations of a cheaper product that came on the market that did not fulfill the vision needs that a Chim-Scan® can produce. Well, that opened a fantastic door. They heard from people they hadn't spoken to since the mid-'90s, and many jumped on the 'I want to upgrade my old unit' bandwagon.
For those who might not know, Estoban builds Chim-Scan® Units right in the Heartland and repairs and upgrades units built since 2010. It used to be 1995; however, they had to change to 2010 as new and old technology is a little over 66 units a month, which may sound small, but that number does not include routine repairs or new units, which always work well together. They were housing units in Tom and Esther's front/living room before the busy season repairs came in mid-September. They realized during this time that they needed to expand. As of December 31, they had upgraded over 400 units. When you do that, math bumps the unit number around 800.Eight hundred may seem like a medium-sized number, but to put it into perspective, they don't physically build the monitor, SD recorder, and camera chip. Everything else is built in-house. When you look at a Chim-Scan®, you are looking at a controller that Alicia or Shelley wired, a Case that Tom or other staff built, a reeler that Esther or Therese wired, and a camera that Tom or Billy built. Plus, Diana and Ken are small component assemblers who help keep the rest going.
In 2016 the new addition or Backroom was added on; They had a great local team come, and the whole building was constructed, insulated, concrete poured in 4 days. It was amazing. The Urban Family spent the next two weeks riding bicycles around the 4,000 sq ft addition, waiting for the concrete to cure.
The new addition starts with a 9 ft ceiling and then jumps to a 16 ft ceiling, allowing us to build a mezzanine.
The Back half of the 'Backroom' is Tom's Chimney Lab. They have a masonry fireplace, prefab insert, and a masonry thimble chimney; the mezzanine allows roof access to these chimneys just by climbing a set of stairs. Watching their videos, you'll see the Lab; they use it daily to test repairs, new units, and new products.
There is also a 14x30 classroom that provides space for training, zoom meetings, and video presentations. When it's not a classroom, it is the 3D printers' home. They use three printers to print the stabilizers for the cameras, which frees up the CNC machines.
Tom's favorite tools are his four CNC machines; they have sped up production 100-fold. Parts are constructed in-house for the Chim-Scan®. Tom shares these tasks with other employees.
In 2020, Estoban was able to stay up and running even when other businesses had to close.
The new addition starts with a 9 ft ceiling and then jumps to a 16 ft ceiling, allowing us to build a mezzanine.
The Back half of the 'Backroom' is Tom's Chimney Lab. They have a masonry fireplace, prefab insert, and a masonry thimble chimney; the mezzanine allows roof access to these chimneys just by climbing a set of stairs. Watching their videos, you'll see the Lab; they use it daily to test repairs, new units, and new products.
There is also a 14x30 classroom that provides space for training, zoom meetings, and video presentations. When it's not a classroom, it is the 3D printers' home. They use three printers to print the stabilizers for the cameras, which frees up the CNC machines.
Tom's favorite tools are his four CNC machines; they have sped up production 100-fold. Parts are constructed in-house for the Chim-Scan®. Tom shares these tasks with other employees.
In 2020, Estoban was able to stay up and running even when other businesses had to close.
As stated before, Estoban also repairs the equipment it builds; this involves the oldest employee Marvin, and Ray, the shipping and receiving guy. Every package that comes in gets unpacked and photographed by Ray, who then cleans it within an inch of its life and hands it over to Marvin, who does 80% of the repairs and upgrades. Esther, Alicia, Billy, and Tom pick up the other 10%. Once a Repair or Upgrade is complete, it gets reviewed, tested, and tested again by Ray or whoever is free. It is then cleaned again (as fine soot is worse than glitter to get rid of), photographed, boxed up, and shipped out.
Once new units are complete, they 'sit' for 8 hours, being turned on and off, running for a few minutes to hours, are taken to the Lab, and run up the chimneys to test every part of the unit. They are then photographed, packed, and shipped. You may ask, "What's with all the pictures?" Well, it serves many purposes. The primary purpose is that we can see what they're talking about when a customer calls.
Once new units are complete, they 'sit' for 8 hours, being turned on and off, running for a few minutes to hours, are taken to the Lab, and run up the chimneys to test every part of the unit. They are then photographed, packed, and shipped. You may ask, "What's with all the pictures?" Well, it serves many purposes. The primary purpose is that we can see what they're talking about when a customer calls.
Some may ask, with listed jobs above, who answers the phone? Shelley and Esther are the voices of Estoban; they cover customer service, sales, and tech support. Shelley is also a webmaster and marketing department.
The three resident pets. Solomon, Bella and Max.
Estoban also has the benefit of being a pet-friendly workplace. If you stop by for a visit, you receive a greeting by the booming voice of Solomon the Golden Doodle, the little booming voice of Bella the Wheaten terrier, and the dismissive glance of Max, the cat, aka Inspector 12. Solomon and Bella oversee internal security, employee well-being, and occasional photo shoots. Max oversees everyone's work, sending random emails (touch screen computers) and the rare photoshoot.
Speaking of the past, you may ask, What about the future?
Shelley plans to run Estoban if Tom and Esther ever retire; she hopes to maintain their standard of excellence and keep growing with technology.
Speaking of the past, you may ask, What about the future?
Shelley plans to run Estoban if Tom and Esther ever retire; she hopes to maintain their standard of excellence and keep growing with technology.
