Brick + Ember Outfitters

We bought a big deal but it took a long time to get it scheduled. By that time, it was in the dead of winter and the weather was a factor. It went fine once the weather cooperated. We rated price "B", but since we have no prior experience, readers will have to use their own judgment based on the work Masonry Outfitters performed.

It was a lot of work but they did it all in one day. We had sleet and they stayed on the scaffolding and got it done. They did a beautiful job. I would recommend them.

We did not actually meet the worker because he had to reschedule an earlier appointment. The work was performed as directed but we didn't have the opportunity to talk.

A recent Angie's List special promotion ($99 for three hours of work) made us decide it was a good opportunity to have our chimney repaired. Masonry Outfitters' Courtney Shawn came promptly to our house, climbed on the roof, surveyed the chimney from all angles, took pictures with his iPad, and came down to show me all that needed to be repaired (which I knew would take much more than three hours). He first suggested to do punctual repairs: replace 24 bricks showing visible signs of deteriorations, redo the crown with overhanging ridges to eliminate water infiltration. He noted that over time more bricks were likely to deteriorate. When I asked how much it would cost to simply replace the whole chimney, Courtney said simply $800 more. I thought that was reasonable (combined with the Angie's List discount), and we agreed that was the better solution in the long run. Arrangements were made for the work to begin about three weeks later. A contract was drawn up and amended via email. After some back and forth rescheduling due to inclement weather, the work began on a Thursday morning at 9 am sharp: Masonry Outfitter's David Dickenson (project manager) arrived with a crew of two men. He parked a trailer down the driveway, gave instructions to the crew, and left. I did not stay home but went to work. When I returned very late at night, the new chimney was standing in the dark, tarped over completely to protect it from the overnight downpour, with two steel beams jutting out. Clearly the two men had worked hard the whole day. A pile of bricks and cement rested on a tarp on the grass. It rained hard during the night but there was no leak. At 9 am the next morning the men were back, finished up the work, and cleaned everything. By 10 am David Dickenson was back and led me outside to contemplate the new chimney. The new brick work looked just fine, with colors very close to the original adobe. The crown's extended table and the ridges were all there. The upper flues had also been changed, and the two chimney caps had been screwed back on. I am very pleased with the result, and with the remarkable speed and quality of the work.

It was a young gentleman that came out and was not a seasoned professional. I'm not sure if it is difficult to repair limestone but you can definitely see where the repair job is. It just wasn't top quality work.

It went well. We had a hard time getting a hold of each other between our schedules-it was around Christmass. He was going to send me infomation on future repairs. I have had no issues. I would use them again.

Pleasant experience and good communication...

He said the work wasn't worth it and the sidewalk would have to be replaced. So the deal was not honored. It bothered me that he didn't mention a refund option.

All seemed fine until the sweep was finished & then they showed my husband a picture of cracks in the flue, stating that we would need to spend more money to fix them, but that they would gladly do the job. (I was at work & my husband, who has had a stroke 5 years ago, was home & saw the picture, etc.) He had no way to know if this was actually a picture of our chimney, but worried that the chimney we just had built 2 years ago was already damaged. I called the company who built our chimney & they explained that due to the construction of our chimney, since we had a special insert done, that this would be highly unusual, but that they would come out and see. They did & assured us that all was fine. I didn't use the company who built our chimney for the chimney sweep this year, trying to save a little money. I'll not do that again.

When I finally got a hold of them to make the appointment, there was only one person who could come out and scope the job and the job wouldn’t have been able to happen for 2 more weeks. They did not have the resources available to service me within the time frame I needed.

I was disappointed with the not-much-of-a-Deal, so I will be asking for my money back from Angie's List. The "deal" as advertised was for $99 for 3 hours of masonry repair, materials not included, work only. But when someone came to do an estimate, I learned that the amount I paid for the coupon didn't include an additional $85 as some kind of charge (administrative? trip? I don't remember), even though my job was a small, 2-3?hour job. That because my job was small, it might not be worth it. I was so surprised I couldn't comment at the time. When I pay a set price for a fixed number of hours, that's the price I expect to pay, plus anything specified in the coupon. No surprise office fee or administrative fee or trip fee or whatever the extra $85 is (it's not specified on the estimate, just as "remaining balance after Angie's List discount"). To me, the "deal" wasn't an Angie's List discount. It was an agreement for work for a certain price. That's the way it has worked for similar Groupons and Deals I've bought. This one was a let down. I felt it was misleading; if the price advertised is losing the company money and is not bringing them additional benefits, they should drop the deal, not mislead the buyer.

Never received a call back to multiple telephone messages.

Had to reschedule a couple of times due to weather but overall easy process.

After moving into a new home, we scheduled this company to come out to sweep the chimney and Initially, went well, Courtney was on time and did what appeared to be a good job. We also asked for a masonary quote to fix the chimney and a quote to fix the flute. Courtney said he would get the quote to us as soon as possible. Several weeks went by, my husband followed up with him a few times and then the quote was returned to us. It was over 4,000 and 3 times as much as other quotes we had recieved for the same work from other companies.

I purchased a Big Deal offered by this company for masonry work. When the representative came to the house to see what I wanted done, he presented me with an estimate that added company overhead on top of the labor rate. Feeling like I was baited and switched, I asked that ANGI return what I paid for the big deal. I promptly received a full refund from ANGI.

They came to do estimate only.

Great. We have used them for other repair jobs and recommended them to neighbors and friends.

David was very punctual and polite and performed the work in a timely manner.

Took advantage of the big deal which included a cleaning and a credit towards repairs. I needed the cleaning and subsequent tuck pointing in the fire box. The first guy cleaned and pointed out issues inside and outside. It was very detailed. I was in the process of selling a house so the cleaning and tuckpointing was my major concerns. I ended paying an additional $120 for the subsequent tuck pointing (which included the credit with the big deal).

They were great and the man was very nice. They did some work on the brick on our old house and they did a great job.

I bought an Angie's List Big Deal for this service but there was some confusion about what their offer actually covered so I decided not to have this company do the job. Their offer was a little misleading. The person who came out seemed to be nice and good; he inspected my chimney and other masonry thoroughly. He took photos of things and sent his quote to me via email. He was prompt to arrive at the time he designated and was knowledgeable; he seemed to know what he was talking about. He answered the phone and was very nice about that.

From beginning to end Kourtney Zahn, the owner, was fantastic. So were the guys that came and did the work too. I was extremely happy and will definitely use them again in the future. I highly recommend them to anyone!

Overall, the service turned out fine!

We are actually looking at getting another one of their super saver deals to do some additional work. I am very satisfied with their work. His workmanship was good. They did good work.

I think it was reasonable. Everything was good. They came, cleaned up the chimney and the fireplace and didn't leave any mess or anything. It was all done very thoroughly. He called me right back and was on time.