Get matched with top brick or stone siding: repairers or partially replacers in Delafield, WI

"My job was reconstruction of a large home chimney after a section of its field stone cladding crashed to the ground. The field stone cladding on the chimney is part of a 70 year old house that is field stone, plaster, and cypress wood paneling—a large “English cottage. This hard-working chimney vents not only the heating system but three large wood-burning fireplaces. It’s original construction, like the rest of the house, was to the highest standard as we learned when we finally got a look at the chimney’s interior tile which had been assumed in four work quotes to need replacing but was found to be in perfect condition (being twice as thick as tile generally used in construction today). While it was important to identify the underlying problem and repair it, I was a nervous wreck thinking about the importance of a superb cosmetic result if the integrity of a beautiful house were to be maintained. In addition to diagnostic error about the source of the moisture that was damaging the field stone, four contractors insisted that the only way to rebuild the chimney was to take it down and rebuild it from scratch. Only Tony was comfortable with the option of retaining the sturdy sections of the fieldstone (with new tuck pointing) and, using the old stones and re-grinding mortar to restore the rest. My idea was that preserving existing stone work would maximize the match of the chimney to the facade of the house. I can imagine, however, that contractors feared that a two-part chimney would not match to itself —which would be worse than a chimney that did not match to the house. That Tony was calm about technical challenges was part of what inspired my confidence in his expertise- and he happily delivered on it. T In contrast to Tony’s precise, pragmatic, (and frugal) approach, I felt other quotes were overly speculative, imprecise and cost-adding. I see two aspects to this: Pragmatic sequencing of work. We tackled the masonry repair first which had no drawbacks and had two advantages. It reduced the potential that further sections of the cladding might collapse —including potential harm of falling rocks (large and heavy). The rocks had already damaged shingles and the oak railings of a sun deck—and could endanger humans. Once Tony’s scaffolding was up and the condition of the chimney could be visually investigated, he worked collaboratively with a heating contractor (who does chimney linings) to diagnosis the problem— which was exterior not a problem with the lining. 2) Confidence in skill adequate to the cosmetic goal. I cynically suspect that doing everything (as in new construction) indicates either lack of confidence or, perhaps, motivation, to be parsimonious. Working with Tony was aa pleasure. He kept me apprised daily of progress. The work proceeded without any interruptions except for bad weather days. Each day I enjoyed close-up photos. I was particularly fascinated to see the reconstructed chimney before the last mortaring. In the end, I got the chimney I hoped for— the chimney is itself coherent (old and “new”) and blends well with the house. There is a new concrete cap on the chimney that overhangs slightly to protect against moisture. On Tony’s business letterhead *used for his quote and his invoice) is a logo that is hard to see except when enlarged on a monitor. I laughed because inset into the logo is a field stone chimney such as my job called for. Perfect. I’m wondering if buyers get their own customized stationary! I enthusiastically recommend this contractor for the easy jobs—and for the hard ones and to serve both high standards and value for money. P.S. (The expense of the service that I entered to this form does not included a reduction using an Angie's coupon"

"Rivera concrete did a good job, they were on time and professional and answered all my questions. Had to come back for a touch up and is now complete."

"Great job on my siding"

"Generally well overall. Unfortunately, the weather (early spring) put off the date for the final paving over the outside drain tile. There was also an area along the basement wall for which they didn't install the seepage material (no explanation why). The team broke one basement window, reported to the manager that I had approved replacing ALL the windows with glass block ($200 each for 5 windows). I explained that I had not spoken with them at all, and I'd be willing to replace the ONE broken window. They replaced two. At no extra charge to me. I felt as though it was my responsibility to nag (when will you be able to finish? what's going on with the outdoor work?), when that should be the priority of the business... keeping me informed about what's going on. Finally, when moving appliances, they destroyed my washing machine (cracked a cement part so it couldn't be repaired). I wasn't aware this had occurred until after the fact. I complained but have had no response. Despite the carelessness and unresponsiveness, that basement is dry as a bone. Can't complain on that note. I marked that I would hire again... slightly unsure about that. I'd like to think there's a perfect company out there that would contact me up-front about when work stops or will continue, or when they break something. Otherwise, the foundation work + sump pump install was superb."

"Excellent work taking out old cement between large stones on landing and steps and reapplying cement.  They also tuck pointed the whole stairway structure which is quite large.  They did this over three days, were on time and reliable.
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"5 out of 5 stars for : A.O.Handy Inc. - Masonry Restoration & Repairs. Bricks replaced, mortar removed and replaced and in a very timely manner. Vines removed, total clean-up of the yard and they even cleaned out the fireplace. They take great pride in the quality of work they perform and at a reasonable price."

"Called Brandon out he said they was really busy and we try and have someone come out that day that didn't happen but they came out the next day and gave us a great price and explained everything very well would definitely hire again"

"Things started very slowly for us, because of constant rain in the beginning and then one or two of the guys were out sick or injured (not work related). But, once things got under way, everything went really well. First of all, our house is three stories tall and the garage is not attached, also the homes in this neighborhood are quite close to each other, so there wasn't a lot of space on the sides of the house for working. The stucco work made it so that you couldn't even see where the patching and repairs were. And, the painting is just beautiful. We needed some gutters replaced and they even cleaned out gutters which were not part of the job or contract. While the work was being done, there was stuff all over the yard, but at the end of each day it was all cleaned up and piled nicely. Bruce and his guys were very courteous and friendly. Whenever we brought up anything that we felt needed doing, they always took care of it. They never gave us some reason why it couldn't be done. As the work went along we discovered that a ceiling had fallen down in a sleeping porch that we just used for storage. It turned out that water was coming in from poor roofing that had been done years before. After first trying to calk it and finding out that didn't work, we had Bruce repair that section of the roof. So that was a completely separate job and the room is now dry and being brought back into working order. We were so happy with the exterior painting that we have now gone ahead to have some interior rooms redone (the walls torn out and replaced and painted.) The one bedroom that has been done is so beautiful that everyone now wants that to be their room. We went beyond what we had planned to do, so we are having to come to an end here, but we will definitely be getting Bruce back to do further work in the future."

"We removed the wood paneling in the basement shortly after moving in.  That's when we noticed 13 cracks in the foundation.  None of them structural issues.  They came in and repaired all of them in one day.  A couple of them were difficult to get to due to stairs and piping, but they did a great job on all of them.
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"explained everything. Did a pretty good job. some Lines in concrete were not straight. Did a good job next to the house and the back steps. The 100 yr flood here in MIlw. left our basement dry, partially from the sidewalk sloped properly and having it next to the house. gary"