Brick + Ember Outfitters

I had some masonry work done on my garage that entailed a small amount of patching. The work was not completed until almost two months after my initial contact with the company. It appears to have been performed satisfactorily.

Went fine. We just want to get our fireplace ready to use sooner than they could schedule us for.

With their emphasis on a 2 day response in their deal, I had expected a call or email. It wasn't until Angie's List notified me I had a message that I realized they had responded through the list. Their workers were all neat and polite. All I needed was tuckpointing on foundation blocks to a height of about a foot, so it only took about 1/2 hour for them to do the work. Upon final inspection there was a 6" area that had not been filled. They promptly corrected the oversight. Not mentioned in the deal (3 hours masonry for $111) was a $95 operations fee added to all jobs. To be fair, the estimator did mention the fee so I knew about it before I ok'd the work.

We did not use this provider as they did not return our phone call requesting an estimate.

They did a really great job. David came out initially but the front porch was not power washed (didn't know it needed to be done for an estimate). He was very kind and just said he would come back the next week. We power washed the front porch and he came back - when we weren't home. He called while he was here and sent me a quote the same day. The quote was very thorough. We set a date for his crew to come back and do the work. We had purchased an Angie's List Big Deal - so part of the work was covered under that for $111.00. The work would have been more if we had not purchased the Big Deal. The crew did a great job and even did some additional work that they were able to quote while they were here. We are really pleased with the results and the porch looks a lot better.

Very professional. Was honest regarding the fireplace not needing a sweep. Apparently we have some major issues regarding masonry, we were given an estimate for repairs including pictures of what needed repair and possible options

We needed to have the one side of our Family Room fireplace rebuilt after a remodel project. The crew from Masonry Outfitters used the brick that we saved from the tear out and were careful to match the color of the mortar that was in the rest of the fireplace. They made sure that the pattern of the brick laid was the same as the pattern on the opposite side of the fireplace. It took them all day to get it exactly as we wanted, but it was well worth the time. We're very pleased with the finished product and with their professionalism!

The initial contact was good. They were very professional and knowledgeable. They gave an estimate and I agreed to it. They started when they said they would. I never ended up seeing the person that gave the estimate again. They did the work as promised, in the time-frame promised but the work came out shoddy. The brick work was sloppy. They cleaned up fairly well. On the plus side, I had overpaid and they did refund me the difference, as I would probably not have noticed it. The contract was very unusual and unclear. The contract as well as the invoice had ads and product descriptions.

On time, professional and did a good job.

I purchased the chimney sweep certificate online. I did have some trouble getting the appointment scheduled but on the day of they were on time. They inspected the chimney and determined that it was clean and stated I should contact Angies List and request a refund b/c it did not need cleaned. They just as easily could have pretended to clean the Chimney and taken the money but they didnt. Very honest people, will do business with them in the future.

VERY good! The guys did an awesome job, very professional and excellent quality / price. We got the $111 (3 hours) masonry labor deal and combined that with the additional cost. They requested to come a day earlier than planned and came back the next day to complete. They cleaned after themselves both days and during their own inspection found some spots to be corrected and did the corrections immediately and extremely well. Highly recommended and will definitely use them again in the future! They did much more than I was expecting.

Once the Masonry Outfitters individuals arrived, they seemed knowledgeable and were willing to offer us alternatives. It was difficult tracking down their in-office staff member to schedule the service.

There was quite a bit of confusion about getting this service. They were not very good about responding by phone, but were very good about responding by e-mail (the next day). When they did come to the home, they gave me a rough estimate and told me they would get back with an accurate estimate, since I had asked about a warranty. I did not get a "final" estimate. I don't know why.

they were very punctual, thorough and professional. i will definitely use them in the future.

He did the work very well. He was prompt and professional. He answered all of my questions.

It went very well. They needed about a month and a half to get me worked into their schedule. They arrived on the day they said they would, cleaned up all the mess from the work, and hauled off the debris from the old masonry blocks that were removed.

The service provided provided fairly good communication. They stated they did not have the appropriate chimney cap for my chimney and couldn't order a different type to meet the size/structure of my chimney. They suggested I contact Angie's List to obtain a refund of this deal.

It was fine. When they came to the house they explained that I do not have the right type of chimney set-up for this coupon. They said I would need to contact you for refund.

After viewing the area to be worked on, he explained that the job couldn't be done properly unless considerable more money was spent. I agreed with him and decided I didn't want to spend that much at this time. I was very impressed with him and would definitely use the company in the future.

I realized that the big deal is not exactly what is described in the big deal - specifically the photo provided. The photo lead me to believe that I would be getting a whole chimney cap, not just a single flue cap. The contractor was very helpful and courteous, but we have decided not to do any work at this time.

I received a phone call from Kourtney (company owner) that work would start 11/1, weather permitting. On the morning of November 1 I received a phone call from Scott informing me the crew would arrive about 9:30 - 9:45 AM. About 9:45 AM Scott and a crew of 4 arrived with a trailer of materials. Within a short time after introductions and a review of work to be done, the crew was busy setting up scaffolding and putting down protective tarps on the roof and on the ground. Within a few hours, they had removed the 21 rows of bricks, cut the fake flue and started rebuilding. All materials were lowered and lifted by means of a bucket, rope and wheel in a safe manner. By the end of day one, the 19 rows of bricks were rebuilt and the fake flue eliminated. On Day two, the top two rows were stair stepped out, a stainless steel chase cover installed, a stainless steel rain/animal cap installed, and a number of cracked/damaged bricks throughout the chimney below the roof line were removed and new bricks installed. A polymer modified mortar was placed on the shoulder at a 45 degree angle - but this material caused a problem. Then holes in the upper front of the firebox were parged with Chamber Tech and a crack in the floor of the firebox was sealed with hight temp mortar caulk. The crew cleaned up everything, cleaned mortar from the new chimney, washed off the acid cleaner, washed brick/mortar dust from the house and driveway and put away all of their tools. The next morning (Sunday) I noticed that the polymer modified mortar on the shoulder did not perform as described. It cracked, pulled away from the bricks and did not keep the 45 degree angle shape. I left a phone message with Kourtney on Sunday. Monday morning I called Kourtney to inform him of the problem but he was already alerted to the problem by photos that had been taken by Simon at the conclusion of their work on Saturday. Kourtney said he was already in the process of sending a crew back to remove the defective material on the shoulder and installing the same material that had been used on the rest of the chimney. I also asked if the color of the shoulder material could be made darker so as not to draw attention from the street view. No problem. Scott, Anthony, and Miguel arrived promptly and after a short discussion work was started. The old material was removed and new mortar with a bit of charcoal dye was installed. The work took about half a workday to complete. It looks great as you will see in my before and after photos. I was presented an itemized invoice when I paid for the work. I was also asked if everything was satisfactory. Waterproofing will be done in about 4-6 wks (weather permitting) There will be another inspection of the work to make sure everything bonds.

The company owner swept the chimney from the top down and took pictures of the outside of the chimney from various angles. He then vacuumed the firebox and again took pictures. Kourtney used the photos to show me the needed repairs.

Service provider was on time, friendly and seemed knowledgable. However, he seemed more interested in providing me a high priced estimate than doing the cleaning he was contracted to do. Also, he didn't have a camera that could be lowered down the chimney to examine the inside of the chimney for any issues. So, some of his advice was speculative.

I initially thought the price was excessive, but after getting other quotes found the cost to be about the same. Time between agreeing to the job and the start of work was longer than expected. Masonry was completed very quickly by two workmen (which makes one wonder why the cost is so high) and was of good quality. The metal cap that was ordered was not installed at the same time and after several weeks I had to call to learn why the company had not been back. I was told it was the manufacturers fault and it had not been made yet. I thought the masonry company should have been on top of this and kept me advised. Payment was made to the workers on the day the job was finished but I later received a call saying they had no record of payment. They later emailed to apologize for their error in record keeping If I were to employ them again I would hope that they would be more communicative and more on top of things.

Very well. Workers were punctual, polite, and professional.