Marion Restoration

Based on our experience, we will not use Marion Restorations for future work.

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They did some tuck-pointing and rebuilding of my chimney. The work was completed in a timely manner and on budget. Besides fixing the chimney my main concern was matching mortar to original. They did a perfect job. You can't tell recent work was done. Very pleased and would use their services again.

They are very professional, clean, thorough and it was nice to have workers that weren't playing loud music or smoking. They also offered very high quality work.

An estimator visited our house to examine existing conditions, get a report about ongoing issues and provide us with a quote.  The approach laid out was much more detailed than was was proposed by other contractors and seemed likely to offer a much longer lasting solution.  The cost was significantly higher than the other contractors' proposals, but we thought the more thorough work and Marion's reputation justified the cost.

We scheduled the work for June.  This project and landscape work being done by other contractors in our yard were delayed by extremely heavy rains over the course of several weeks in spring.  As soon as conditions were dry enough, we scheduled a firm date.  The masons showed up on time and completed the work on budget in the time frame that was quoted.  Their work was thorough and meticulous, and we were pleased with the results. 

Many heavy rains over the summer put their work to the test, and we've had no leakage in the area they repaired.

They really knew what they were doing. I have an older house. I've had other people do masonry work before and they really did the finest work. I have recommended them and I'm going to have them do more work on a difficult project. They were probably a little higher on price but it was really extensive work. All masonry work is expensive. It was very complicated and very big.

Marion was punctual, friendly, and professional from the start. Promised to send workers every day until work was completed and they did that, including working on saturdays some weeks when rain or extreme heat made a full day impossible. Abundant excellent references with good reason -- they take superb care, including of our landscaping. They cleaned up every day, using a vacumn cleaner even on the soil to pick up masonry debris/dust that was not caught by tarps. The supervising engineer, who inspected the work each week, was especially impressed with their care in grinding -- there was virtually no damage to the edges of bricks, leaving them in good shape for the next 90 years (hopefully). They did a perfect job in matching the mortar color, too -- it is like an excellent haircut, where people mention how great you look and can't put their finger on it, rather than saying with a shock "oh, you had your hair cut".  Also great -- no radios, just very accommodating guys very hard at work. 

Marion Construction sold us (verbally) on a product in which they did not deliver.  The initial quote requested included all of the para-pit walls including the front limestone para-pit wall as well as the limestone on the front of the house, but when they gave us the quote, they forgot to include the south para-pit wall.  This was overlooked until later at which time, they asked for another $5k to complete this wall. They did not begin the project until much later than earlier promised as well they did not show up at their scheduled time nor did they show up regularly to finish the job.  In all, it took months for the job to be completed. Further they used a drill when they earlier expressed to us that the massive cost was due to the fact that everything was hand done with a chisel.  Also, if it weren't for our constant checking of the work being done, it wouldn't have been done correctly.  For example, when they rebuilt the chimney and the para-pit walls, we noticed multiple issues with the work more than half-way done and they had to go through and redo what was done plus create a new approach on finishing that section.  If we didn't know what to look for, it would have been spotty workmanship all the way through. Further, they failed to protect the windows and the front door when power washing the front of the building when finally finishing the job and our windows were filled with soot and such from outside that was actually pushed through the edges as well our front door absorbed so much water that we had to remove and repair it ourself. When we approached the sales representative, Martin, about our repeated concerns, he would stand by his team, that is until the final time we reached out to him.  It was then that he said he lost trust in his team and then replaced them with different people.  This response was taken towards the end of our stretched out masonry repair project.  Aside from the lack of professionalism from the workers (Martin excluded), they left their tools all around, failed to clean up after themselves and killed sections of lawn with the plastic overlay that was just left to lay during their extended stay at our home.  In all, the project was way overpriced for the amount and quality of work that was done.

We were looking for restoration of the upper part of the front side of our house. We needed to have everything basically torn off and rebuilt above the second-story window. They did the work. We were pretty disappointed with their work. They specialize in restoration of original brick work. They made promises to replicate a certain set of masonry joints, but they didn't actually deliver. They ended up replacing things that was not necessary. They dropped large pieces of masonry and broke them. We ended up having to replace those. We even had numerous problems with the management of the crew.

They prepared a detailed proposal. Once it was accepted it took two weeks to get into the schedule. They said the work would be done in 5 days and they were done in 5 days. They left the property immaculate when they were done.

Great.

All the work was done in a professional manner. Mario's expertise was beyond my expectations.

They were very professional and prompt. They worked quietly and did a great job.

I HIGHLY recommend using Marion, Inc. for masonry work ! The account contact Martin Bazula was fantastic. He took my calls at all days / hours it seems and really pushed to get my work scheduled and completed despite the year end rush. Marion is a quality organization and are highly experienced workers. The team who did the work were extremely receptive to my needs / input and did quality work. I will use this company again in the future !

Overall, it was a very good experience. The company was very good. I had 3 estimates and theirs was not the cheapest but I thought it was very professional. He presented himself professionally and had a brochure that showed his work. His price was on the upper end but for me it was worth it as I knew that a real mason was doing the work. We paid half the amount upfront and half after the completion of the work. They cleaned up after themselves. Everything was positive about them. They did quality work.

They price was great. They showed up on time. They got the job done quickly and efficiently. They answered any questions I had. They were very friendly and courteous.

The brick on my building, built in 1870, was "melting" from trapped moisture. A previous owner had, for some reason covered the brick on the lower portion of the building with concrete which no longer allowed the brick to breath. I had several masonry and tuckpointing companies come and assess the situation. Marion was prompt, knowledgeable, quick to respond with a very thorough quote and always available to answer questions as I was deciding what to do. They were also $1000 less than the other quote I got. When I awarded them the job, they stayed in touch to coordinate the best time to do it. I was concerned because the building is on the alley and I assumed it would block traffic and cause a big disruption. It did not. They showed up one day with a dumpster and four or five very polite, hardworking men, who worked diligently, in sections, for four or five days, always cleaning up after themselves. The work is the best quality I've seen and I've done a lot of rehabbing and building over many years. They were fantastic and it takes a lot to impress me!

It was done in one day. It was not necessary to block use of the steps during or after the work. They are very neat and they clean up well after themselves.

They did a great job and really knew old structures. They gave us options on different materials and seemed extremely knowledgeable. They were very thorough and we felt we got what we paid for. This was a huge investment, and the work was done with high quality.

There was a language barrier. Once we started communicating via email it worked fine.

These guys put this stone back together molecule by molecule. The owner, who did the work was very knowledgeable and works with a international preservation group and gives seminars on this subject. (Being an architect myself,) I thought the job was very cost worthy. They spent a lot time on it and they also cleaned up well when they were done.

It went as expected. I would include that they covered the windows and doors during their work when this was needed which cut down a great deal on the dust and dirt that always comes inside in this kind of work.

They took down all of the bricks, took them and cleaned them to be re-installed. We could not find the bricks anywhere to have them just replaced. We've used them in the past to rebuild our chimneys and were happy enough to re-hire them again. They did mortar analysis to make sure they mixed the mortar the same way the original was mixed. The mortar has to be the same consistency as the original to keep the bricks from cracking.

I am very satisfied with the quality of work they did on a relatively large and challenging restoration project at a fair price. I highly recommend them.

WE WERE EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH THE WORK THEY DID. THE STONE MASONRY WORK WAS EXCELLENT, AND THE TIMBER MANTEL ANCHORED WELL AND LEVEL ON ITS STONE SUPPORTS. MARIO MACHNICKI WAS VERY HELPFUL IN PROVIDING ADVICE ON AESTHETIC CONSIDERATIONS, AS WELL AS TECHNICAL ISSUES. THE CREW WAS PROFESSIONAL, AND COMPLETED ALL WORK ON TIME.