Get matched with top brick or stone siding: repairers or partially replacers in Dow, IL

I am a brick mason who is 8 years into the trade very knowledgeable in most general construction as well.

"RESPONSIVENESS TO NEEDS
There are different measures of success on any project and different constraints and issues that will challenge those measures.  My primary measure of success was a DRY basement, and Brian?s proposal to deliver it was comprehensive. He was committed to meeting my request while satisfying my second measure of success: do it at an affordable price.

ESTIMATE
Brian does all estimates himself instead of sending out salespeople (which I appreciate).  I scheduled Brian's first visit in the days following a large rainfall that caused flooding in neighboring areas, so his schedule was packed. Understandably, Brian was crunched between appointments when he arrived slightly behind schedule, but he had kept me updated in the hours preceding his arrival.  Brian quickly conveyed a focus on resolving the seepage problem.  He also listened to my concerns, identified primary and secondary issues, and said he would send a thorough e-mail containing precise details for a solution with a cost breakdown.  He arrived and left in about hour, and within a couple days he sent an e-mail estimate with two options. 1) A complete basement drain tile system with crack repairs, or 2) a partial system that he believed would resolve the problem at a lesser cost. He offered to allow me to "upgrade" to the full system in the future and pay the difference between the two estimates. This type of offer was not even discussed by the three other companies (two big names and one small business) that came for estimates.

With the exception of the extended (years-long) payment / financing options offered by the larger companies, Brian?s proposed solution was almost a hands-down winner.  The other small company was comparable, but after sending the initial estimate, Brian offered to return on the weekend to give me the opportunity to talk again when there was more time.  Other companies' approaches to doing exterior excavation ranged from doing minor reinforcement to not even wanting to touch it.  Brian, in contrast, said he can?t honestly guarantee a dry basement when he didn?t know what the previous repair looked like.  He offered to completely excavate the two walls that had work done previously and to replace (if necessary) any inferior quality materials with his own fix.  Now we're cooking with gas!  The cost of the job remained competitive, and this ?extra mile? effort on top of everything else fully satisfied my need to be 100% sure the seepage would be stopped.  I opted for the full drain tile system.

TIME
The timeframe Brian quoted was in line with all of his competitors: 2 days max.  The time element of the job met some challenges, taking 5 full working days to complete, (Tues-Fri plus half days Sat-Sun).  The reason?  The crew found the floor was new, dense 4-inch concrete poured on top of the original 4-inch concrete floor.  This meant twice the work for the breakup crew that was prepared for a conventional job, making it impossible to accommodate the original time frame. Brian promised to never leave a job unfinished, so he juggled his crews' schedules to make daily progress, and he never once raised his price despite the extra time or material (concrete) required. I was very grateful.  He also personally came to finish the job on the weekend rather than pushing it out to Monday or Tuesday.

EXTRAS AND RESPONSIVENESS
Some plumbing in the floor was impacted by the concrete breakup and required repairs due to its age and condition.  Brian took the time to find the exact materials I requested for the repair and installed them.  I was not present at installation so he took photos and video and sent them to me via smartphone so I could verify he got it right.  What other contractor does that?! He also paid attention to every detail for laying out the design of the downspout tie-ins, finishing touches, and every single special request I threw at him. He also spotted an additional leak in the corner of the foundation and sealed it up as well. His commitment to resolving every issue to my satisfaction was outstanding.

Brian made himself accessible via phone, e-mail and text, and he responded quickly to inquiries.  I wanted to know every detail of the work, and Brian accommodated. Another totally unexpected surprise came when Brian discovered that some of the promised work did not need to be performed, and he provided credit for this instead of using the difference for my extra requests.

SATISFACTION
"You'll be happy," is Brian's mantra.  He addressed a couple gripes - dust exposure to the first floor space; a few trampled plants outside - by providing equitable financial credits.  These professional oversights on his crew's part are unacceptable to Brian, and credit on the final bill was all he could do to make up for it.  Overall, the crew was polite, and one even brought a stack of extra floor tiles from his personal supply to replace some I'd lost during demolition work I had done weeks earlier!

From start to finish, despite delays and minor shortcomings, Brian executed on the proposed project by 100% nailing the two most important measures of success ? quality and cost. As for timing, the job ran long but Brian didn't quit until the job was done. I never expect perfection; nevertheless, Brian aimed to earn my satisfaction as his primary goal. I give an A+ on nearly every category, taking a point or two away for the issues mentioned.

Rain is coming in the next two days, and I'll only edit this review if the repairs fail to deliver a dry basement.  I am posting this review before the rain comes as a vote of confidence that I won't have to change a word.

The most important criterion to assess a job well done is whether you'd recommend a service provider to a family member or friend.  In Brian's case, I absolutely would."

"It was excellent. They got the work done quickly, they were very respectful, communicative and they work a lot of time."

"I walked into my basement on Saturday afternoon to discover a pool of water on the floor.  Looking at the walls I traced it back to right above the window that sits below my kitchen sink.  I popped the paneling off the top of the window box and immediately saw that the galvanized pipe leading from the sink drain to the stack had corroded and a hole had formed.  Frantic because it was 4pm on a Saturday and I knew I couldn't use my kitchen sink or dishwasher until I got this fixed (no easy task with two toddlers to keep up with), I jumped onto Angie's List looking for a plumber with Saturday hours and a good rating. 
I called McDonagh and was told they could have someone at my place in an hour.  Todd showed up at 5:30 and immediately got to work.  Patrick (the owner) showed up with his son Nolan shortly thereafter to take a look and get Todd some parts off of his truck.  We gave Nolan a piece of the pizza my kids were having for dinner as an apology for interrupting his Saturday too.  Patrick came back with a price estimate that seemed fair to me for emergency short-notice service on a Saturday night.  Todd replaced the entire section of pipe from the sink drain to the stack and was finished and out the door by 7:30, leaving us with a fully functional kitchen again. 
Huge thanks to Patrick and Todd (and Nolan) who really saved the day for us.  These guys are absolute professionals and really saved us from some major inconvenience.  Would absolutely recommend and use them again.
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"I hired the company to do a make ready [clean up & prep] on a single apartment in a building which I own in the  town where I live. I needed the property to be cleaned up so I could rent it again.  I have been a landlord for over 20 years & hadn't found a vacated property in such a mess in all my years. They did the complete interior clean-up which took about five hours. And, the complete prep of the property. they took out all the trash & junk, and cleaned up all debris left in the yard. They did such a great job with that I decided to use them for the yard maintenance also. They cleaned all my flowerbeds & got them ready for spring, placed mulch & trimmed the shrubs and flowering trees. On the inside they made everything look brand new! Cleaning the walls, painting, cleaned the carpets & stripped & polished the wood floors...making them look brand new. The appliances that stayed were cleaned inside & out. They even remembered to get all the light fixtures clean for me. Dusted all window seals & doorways. Shine mopped all they tile floors. To top it all off they even gave the bathrooms a fresh clean look by putting a new caulk seal around the tubs, sinks & shower...which gave the bathrooms a fresh face. All in all I found it to be a very stress free pleasant experience. And, I will definitely call on them for the next project because if they could do so well with a nightmare like that I'm sure the less difficult will be equally affordable and easily handled. Everything just looked so nice when they were finished. Thanks, Green Earth
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"He did what he said. Did something for me that was not a masonry associated task and did not charge me extra. He was fair, nothing hidden, cleaned up after himself."

Locally owned and operated, with over 10 years of residential siding and painting experience. We do it all!! We are reliable and always give the job a professional touch. What you see is what you get and we ensure you will be satisfied with our work. I would like you to be my next happy customer! We have an expert eye for detail and troubleshooting, as well as being able to work out the best solution for the client.

Family owned and operated small business.loooking to bring quality work at an affordable price. We do masonry work. Brick Block or Stone.

Cosntruction & Restoration Services has been established in the St. Louis Metro Area since 2001. Our years of experience in residential and commercial roofing, gutters, and siding will speak for itself.

My name Harley very hard worker and take pride in all my work I do for my customers and always make sure job is done fits customers needs