BILL GUARDINO BRICK POINTING

BEWARE! They did show up for two weeks after the scheduled start date; when they did arrive it was Bill and his Son; they did a terrible job that looked like it was a weekend DIY project; the mortar was applied by hand leaving a sloppy appearance and risk of water ingress; per the pictures my wife took and for the FOUR (4) hours they spent here its abundantly clear they did not even grind out or surface any of the existing mortar! I was not happy with the work but he had my money and I had little recourse except to wait until it fails and redo the work....according to my recent call with Bill Guardino I should be happy to have FIVE (5) years out of his work...since I paid 1500 that is $300/year; woohoo I made it SEVEN (7) years at a cost savings of 215/year!! The Guardino family sold us hook line and sinker...wife said this is a family business for 30 year and our repointing work is guaranteed for "life"....DONT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID! PICTURES...Shoddy Finger Work next to Real Masonry / Current State / Agreement showing scope, cost, date.

We called to fix the issue and do it THE RIGHT WAY. He came out immediately but did a rough sand to even it out..30 mins tops!! Than told us it was "impossible to make mortar look smooth or match like the rest of the house". Maybe that excuse works for some. During our conversation on 2nd visit, when he could tell we still weren't satisfied, he made it very clear he's friends with "people in high places" and fighting for a refund would be a waste. So, we left a review, and he became nasty. Telling us to remove it because it was hurting his company and family. You came out twice and did not do the job properly or offer a refund than drop idle threats and want us to remove review?!? I decided to leave a review on here because it was supposed to be a 10 year fix yet, we needed to bring in another company last month because our chimney was releasing smoke through the cracks he "repaired". The new company also criticized the work, did the repair, and now, it looks perfect and matches.

Three calls and no return calls, didnt have the courteosy to return a call and just give an excuse.

When I called Bill Guardino to bid on the job he came out within in an hour.    He said that the job would not take more than 4 days to complete and that he wanted 1/2 the money up front.  I agreed and he wrote up a contract on March 1st with a scheduled start date of March 12th.

Work took a month longer than agreed, and the work was very poor almost like a third grader had done it.  They left a huge mess and damaged my yard.

On the day he was to start the job he called me and said that he couldn't make it because he was bit by his dog.  He told me that he would be here the next day.
 
He showed up early the following day with his crew (his son and another helper) and started work around 9:00am.  They started on removing the damaged tile and on the brickwork.  Bill never did much of the work, he sat around most of the time.

The job they did on the tile was terrible, the gaps between the grout were crooked and inconsistent.  One tile in front of the fire place wasn't seated properly and popped off the next day.  Also,  they never wiped up the excess grout on the tile in the entryway while it was wet so it dried on the tiles exemplifying the epitome of shoddy work.  Bill told my wife that he would clean the dried grout off the tile before they left that day.

He had his son do the brick pointing work on my raised bed.  The mortar is all over the place, on the front of the bricks and oozing out of the back in to the raised bed.  The bricks weren't clean, the excess mortar was not removed from the face of the bricks as they were set and there was way too much mortar between the bricks.  It was a very sloppy job done with no care or skill. I was disappointed when I saw the work but I decided not to complain to because I didn't want to risk a bigger mess on my hands with a redo.  

They started to work on the driveway with a jackhammer they rented from Home Depot.  They spent half their time relaxing on my patio furniture instead of using the jackhammer they rented and then shortly after lunch they decided to call it quits.  They stored the jackhammer in my garage and left.   When they came back the next day it was more of the same, except they left even earlier, I don't think that they were here for more than 4 hours that day.

The following day was the best day of the week weather wise, it was in the mid 70's and sunny.  Bill called me and told me that one of his guys called out and that he wasn't going to make it.  In the mean time the jackhammer they were renting was sitting in my garage.

The next day it rained and Bill showed up in the morning to take the jackhammer back to home depot, but the demolition part of the job was no where near done.  No work was done that day either.

They returned the following week and started to work on removing the tree root that was causing the driveway to buckle.  They complained the entire time of how big of a root it was and how they were having a terrible time trying to remove it.  They didn't even have the proper tools needed to remove the root and had to borrow some of my tools.   They still never worked a full day, and spent more time sitting than working. Then,  Bill told me that he would have to rework the estimate he gave me because he wanted to rent bigger equipment.  He then tried to shake my hand as if I agreed to his proposal.  I told him to call me before he rents anything.  I never got a call and I didn't see him for a couple of days after that. 

The following week they returned to continue the work and did not bring bigger equipment with them.  It took them a couple more days (or half days I should say) but they had finally removed the root and stacked it up in front of my garage and left it there.  I told Bill that I didn't want the root to remain on my driveway.  He assured me that he would haul it away.

Then Bill came to me again and asked me for more money.  He wanted $500 more.  I told him that I didn't have it to give to him.  I went on to tell him that I wasn't going to pay for him leaving his rented jackhammer in my garage for a full day unused because he didn't show up, not to mention all the 1/2 days that it sat not being used because he left early.  Before I could even finish he interrupted me and told me that it's not that but that he had to pay his helper extra because it took longer than expected to remove the root.  I didn't want to hear it and told him that I just didn't have it.  He told me that he would still finish the job but he tried to gain my sympathy and practically begged me to pay him more.   I told him that I wasn't satisfied with the tile work and that before I would pay him what we originally agreed on he would have to make that right.  He agreed and said it would only take him a few minutes to "clean it up".  After that day, it was hard to get a hold of Bill and he didn't show up for a couple of days. 

At this point it was the end of March and they were ready to pour the concrete.  Bill told me that he needed to get a permit from the township before he could pour the concrete.  He said it would take 24 hours.  Another week came and went. I had left messages but didn't hear from him. I called the township to ask them about the permit, they told me that it was already issued.  I called Bill and left more messages.  He finally called after several days saying that he just got the permit and that he would be out the following week to pour the concrete.    He said that he would do it in sections and pour one section at a time.  A few more days came and went, nothing was done.  I heard from him again on Friday April 6th and he told me that he would pour the 1st section on Monday and finish the second section on Tuesday.  He poured one section on Monday, and didn't show up Tuesday, he showed up Wednesday afternoon but the concrete truck didn't show up.  He finally showed up Thursday April 11th 1 month after the original start date to finish the job that was going take him no longer than 4 days.   I was feeling ill that morning and my doctor instructed me to go to the hospital that day.   I knew that I was probably going to be admitted into the hospital and I had no idea for how long.  I left a check with a family member to pay but Bill only after he cleaned the tile,removed the roots and completed pouring that last section of concrete.  I shouldn't have paid him until after I got out of the hospital. I should have made him wait  but,  I didn't think that he would screw me while I was  in the hospital.  I didn't realize how unscrupulous he really was a mistake that I regret making.

He told the family member that he would be back the next day to clean up and convinced them to give the check I had written out for the balance we originally agreed upon.  I spend 3 days in the hospital, turns out I had a large ulcer, while there I was informed   that Bill never came back to take the roots, and that he also left a huge mess of concrete on my front lawn.  I called Bill from the hospital and left a message on his machine.  I didn't hear back from him.

When I got out of the hospital I came home to a bigger mess than I left.   The roots were still piled in front of my garage.  Bill had used my front lawn to mix the concrete and never bothered to clean it.   One side of my lawn was gone and  replaced with concrete rubble courtesy of Bill Guardino.   When I check out the tile that he was supposed to clean up, he grouted over the sections even sloppier than he did the first time.  The whole while he knew that I couldn't do anything about it because I was in