Brick + Ember Outfitters

On 8/20/13, I purchased an Angie's List Big Deal from Masonry Outfitters for 3 hours of masonry repair. I had expected--and was not disappointed to learn--that the cost of the job would be more than the $99 Big Deal (aren't they all?) since the mortar is white (silica sand). After they looked at the wall, they estimated an additional $138 to do the project. Masonry Outfitters was fairly prompt and provided the estimate on 9/12/13, We agreed to the price and they scheduled the work for 10/11/13. First, it would have been nice to have been informed what a mess grinding out the old mortar would make. Cement dust covered all of our patio furniture, lower level windows/doors and screens, plants, and ornaments. Had we been forewarned, we would have moved and covered everything, including the windows and doors, with plastic. It took us a full day to clean everything up, including the chunks a brick and old mortar they left on the patio. And, there were cracks between the tuck point and the brick (the whole idea was to fix the cracks). I called Masonry and they came back out on 11/5/13 to fix the cracks. However, this time they did not use white mortar, but rather a dull gray color; as such, the tuck point did not match the rest of the wall. I called Masonry on 11/7 and again on 11/27 and left messages; they finally called me back on 12/6; apologized for the wrong color, and said they would return the first warm day to correct the problem. Scott, the production manager, emailed me on 2/10/14 to apologize again and to repeat that they would be back out as soon as the weather was better. In fact, the workers returned later that week (although it was still pretty cold out) to do the fix. However, this time the mortar was a yellowish color; better than gray but not white. Scott emailed me on 2/18/14 to state they have completed the work and invoiced me for the additional $138. I replied to him that the color was still wrong and could they come back and make it white? I've never heard back from him as of this date (4/2/14); and, the tuck point is now cracked again (probably tool cold when the tried to fix it). Overall, a rather poor job. Later this summer we'll hire someone else to come out and fix the tuck point correctly.

1) He completed the chimney sweep and quoted to repair masonry inside the chimney. I had also asked him to bring a cap for the top of the chimney which he did not and did not offer to get. He did a good job with the sweep. 2) He sent out a couple guys to do the repair which was functional but sloppy. This work was completed a yr or 2 ago and the steps are already coming apart again.

They will return this spring to waterproof the chimney.

Purchased an Angie's List voucher for a chimney cleaning, inspection, and masonry credit. While it took a bit of time to coordinate the initial visit to our house, the technician sent to our place was great. He was honest and up-front about the fact that we really didn't need to do a cleaning on the fireplace, and helped put together a detailed estimate for a variety of external re-pointing work that needed to be done on the house, explaining that the full value of the AL voucher could be applied to the repairs. Once the weather warmed up, we were able to easily schedule an appointment to have the exterior of the chimney inspected and the re-pointing work done. The mason, Allen, who was dispatched to our house was friendly and professional and took care of all of the work (including a late addition to the list of requested "to-dos" in just a few hours, and with the results looking FANTASTIC -- no mortar mis-matches at all (which previous work on the house had involved). It's nearly impossible to tell where the repair work on the brick was done.

We signed up for one of the Angie's List Group On style deals. These guys were great despite having to reschedule twice during blizzards (it is not safe to be on a roof with a foot of snow and temps below zero). They communicated great and the service was great too!

The mason who did the exterior rebuild of the chimney was excellent. He did a beautiful job. Unfortunately he was leaving town to work someplace else right after he finished this job. The installation of the chimney liner was a very messy job and we had not been warned about how messy it would be. There was mortar dust all over the house. The end result was good, however, and they did a good job of cleaning up. We still had to do some cleanup afterwards, though. We did appreciate the fact that they pointed out to us that the 2nd chimney (which had been leaking when it rained) was no longer in use and could be removed rather than being rebuilt. The workmen were very respectful and nice as were the supervisors. However, communication from the supervisors was a weak point. We did not always know what to expect or when to expect it. All in all, they did a good job and we would recommend them. Just be sure to get all the details in place before starting.

They came to his home to inform me him couldn't do the work because it had snowed. My son works nights and he had stayed up to greet the gentleman who only came to tell him he couldn't yet do the work. They rescheduled the service for April 1. It has been an extended process because we originally scheduled in February.

It went pretty well. The technician that came out was very professional and polite. He actually had to stay a little longer than expected, but they didn't charge us anything extra, which was nice. The price was reasonable and I was satisfied with the quality of the work.

Purchased two discounts from company for two projects. Basically they offer a coupon for a discount you think will cover a majority or provide a real discount off the project - instead they create a price quote and expand the project to basically rebuild everything. Seems like a scam car repair people run.

My experience with Masonry Outfitters went just fine. The gentleman that came out was very pleasant. He knew his job. He was very good at his job. He gave us both a verbal and written estimate on what he thought needed to be repaired. It was quite costly, and we're figuring out know if we're going to do it. I would use them again, and I would recommend him. It was a very good experience. His prices seemed fair and reasonable. It didn't seem outrageous or anything. He was very nice.

Representative came to home after I called in response to a promotion on Angie's List two years ago. The promotion as I recall was for three hours of masonry work in the range of $99 to 200. I cannot recall the specifics. They were courteous, professional and completed the job.

I would definitley recommend Masonry Outfitters. Not only were they the most affordable of all the quotes we recieved, they also provide quality work so you don't feel like you are getting less for your money. David came out and did an inspection and went over all of our options. We scheduled the job and it was performed one-time, all in one day! The crew worked inside and out throughout the day to make sure the job was completed on time. They were professional and curtious and did a good job with clean-up. Thank you!

I have a gas chimney so we actually did not need the service. They were very professional and upfront.

When I purchased this deal, I called to have an estimate as I knew the work exceeded the deal specifications. Masonary outfitters did send out a contractor within a week to give an estimate and contractor called me from the house reviewing the work and promised to send an estimate with numbers within the next few days. However, no estimate was ever received even though I called and sent multiple messages requesting the estimate. After 3 months of no response I went through another company and had the work completed.

I don't remember exactly when we had the service done, but it was in the late Nov or early Dec 2013 timeframe. I also don't remember exactly what we paid, but it was a "deal" they were offering. This company came to our home and cleaned the fireplace chimney. I assume they did a fine job of sweeping the chimney, but our carpets were filthy after they left. There was a black residue left on our expensive oriental rug as well as the wall to wall light tan carpet. I immediately vacuumed it and then had to have the carpets cleaned. My husband said they put down a cover on the carpet, but somehow the ash residue got on the carpet anyway. Maybe they put the dirty side of the cover down (from their last job) on our carpets by mistake or it was in the air and settled after they left???? I just don't know, but I do know that I will not use them again. We have had our chimney cleaned many times over the years and have never had this problem before.

The young man was on time that is a plus. He explained the service that he was going to performed.. he took photos to show the repairs that is needed. Scheduled an appointment with my husband to explained the cost of the repairs. Overall we give them a excellent . Margaret

They were great. They showed up and were able to ascertain that our chimney was not serviceable. They were able to do a quick diagnosis. They were totally upfront and honest.

They did recommend a repair and email a copy of what needs to be fixed for me to review.

They were outrageously expensive. We bought a Big Deal for $99 and they basically couldn't do anything for $99. The guy said there was so much wrong with our chimney that we wouldn't be able to use the coupon even if we wanted. We basically ate $99 on that. I will probably not buy another coupon unless I find out ahead of time what I can use it for. Their estimate was $3,000. I'm sure they do good work but we weren't willing to pay it. They were professional and nice. The thing that was frustrating was that they wouldn't even acknowledge the coupon; the coupon was a waste. We wouldn't use them because they are too pricey.

It was great! They were very professional, very thorough, timely and the quality of what they did was good. I have no complaints. It was done last fall, probably mid November. The final bill turned out to be a lot more because we encountered other problems once we got into it. It was over a thousand dollars. We had to rebuild the wall. I originally had them come out to do things that we thought were going to be cosmetic, but when we got into it we found out that there was a lot more involved. I give them an 'A' for price based on the amount of work and time and the crew that they had out here, I think that was fine.

It was okay. They came in and did what I asked. They made some recommendations. I never personally spoke to anyone of them but my roommate did. She said that they were friendly and quick.

I needed a repair done on some brick work around a light pole, but the provider told me that he could not repair it and that he would have to start all over and redo the entire thing a much higher cost.

They quoted me over $600, including the price for the Big Deal. I ended up having another company do the work.

It was an Angie's List Big Deal that I purchased. The chimney is kind of falling apart and we have to get it fixed, but right now we can't do that. He really didn't do any work. He just called us a couple of weeks ago because he said there was like 20% off. It will be around $4,000-$5,000. It's really high and right now we just had some problem at home so we just cannot afford to spend that kind of money, although we need to get it done but not right now. He was a really nice guy. There wasn't any problem. He was a well-behaved and very nice guy when he came inside and looked at that. When he went outside, I really didn't talk much to him. He just told me that he saw outside that there was a problem with the chimney, looked around and then he could send me the estimate. He came and he was right on time. He was in the area so he called me and asked an hour before it it was okay for him to come and I said it was fine because I was home so that was not a problem.

They came out to give me an estimate on chimney repairs. He stated that it would take more than 3 hours to complete. He stated that it would take 3 hours to even come set up the materials. We didn’t end up doing it. I felt that the Big Deal he was offering was false advertisement.