Get matched with top brick or stone siding: repairers or partially replacers in Racine, 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"

"Hector and his team did a GREAT job extending our driveway, removing old wood walkway and replacing with poured cement. his team were very professional and did good job of cleaning up. Professional lived up to their name. Our Neighbors even commented on how well the drive and walkway turned out. One even requested quote upon his completion."

"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"

"A building inspection I had done on my lovely lannonstone home (built in 1939) suggested there might be structural or drain tile problems in the basement. Jeff scheduled a wuick appointment and honestly told me that the leakage could be solved by mudjacking portions of the driveway adjacent to the area of leakage, a much less experienced and messy solution. I very much appreciated his honesty and fair dealing. He also walked the entire perimeter of the house to evaluate the landscape grading and emailed me a written report of his visit the next day."

"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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"Brandon was very responsive and his crew was punctual and easy to work with. They inspected the roof found the issue and repaired it all in the same visit. It has rained quite a bit since the repair and no leaks."

"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."

"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."

"The work was done well … sweep and replacement of indoor stove pipe was completed in 2 visits … and area around was all clean. Highly recommended!"