Rich Michalek Brick Pointing & Cleaning

Michalek Brick Pointing did a great, quick and clean job repairing my chimney. Rich and his team repaired my chimney in half a day and cleaned up well. He even took the time to explain why the old chimney mortar was blowing out and how they repaired it appropriately.

Excellent! Mr. Michalek was quick to review the job and submit a quote for the needed work. The price was reasonable and the time to start and time to complete were both excellent. Mr. Michalek actually had the opportunity to do my work a day earlier than expected, which I took advantage of. The work was done quickly and very professionally. I would hire him again.

Our chimney needed repointing, as did our two-car garage, parts which also needed some reconstruction. Once contacted, Rich promptly provided an estimate and, though in the midst of their busy season, Rich and his crew were able to do the requisite work shortly after the initial contact. Rich and his crew worked with exemplary diligence, competence, and professionalism, & the job was completed with meticulous care and to the highest standards. Based on my experience with Rich, who clearly takes pride in his work, I surely would hire Rich again and recommend him with enthusiasm.

Goid very very good

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Great and responsive

Great. The light-colored bricks look as good as new.

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Rich was great to work with. He was very attentive to returning phone calls and coordinating scheduling for the initial estimate as well as the work. His crew was professional and friendly. They did a great job matching the mortar and the new sills look great and blend in perfectly. Rich is an honest and helpful guy and I would definitely recommend him to others. We tried to have him do some additional work, but the scope of the job was beyond his capabilities and he told us this upfront. Great experience working with him and plan to call him again!

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Rich Machalek looked at our chimney and gave us an estimate verbally. We later called, asked a few questioins, and confirmed we wanted him to do the work. As scheduled, he relayed loose brick from the top of the chimney and repointed missing mortar joints. A two inch cement cap was installed. Cleaned up the work site and removed all debris. This was done while we were away. The chimney looks great. A couple days later he left the bill in our mail box.

Started out Ok, but...
I left a message on his machine, and he called back within a reasonable time (2/27).
He asked how I heard about him. I told him and quot;Angie's List,and quot; but his response led me to believe that he didn't remember that he was listed!
We talked about what I needed, he gave me information about his business.
He said that he did most of his estimates using binoculars (no need for me to be at home). I told him he could easily see the chimney from the sidewalk across the street.
It was a Thursday; he said he could come by, at least by the weekend. I was away for the weekend and expected a message when I came back, but there was none. I waited all week and then called again. I got his machine, at which point I told him that I no longer needed the estimate.
It's a shame because he had really good write-ups for quality and is very close by.

I really can't say enough good things about Rich. I live in an old Tudor with really odd bricks that would be really hard to match- Rich painstakingly removed each brick so that he could save as many of the originals as possible, and he died his mortar to match the mortar on the house. You can really tell how much pride he takes in his work - he was so excited each time he saved a brick.
If you look at my house you wouldn't be able to tell where he removed and replaced bricks, which I think is just a sign of amazing work. Hugely professional. A little tough to get him on the phone - but worth the persistence!

Very well. This is a rental; I have never met Rich. We communicated via phone, he sent an estimate via mail, and I checked on the work after he was done. He's a little slow to return phone messages, but everything else is in place. I'm getting an estimate for another property as we speak.

Rich is local and we called him when we noticed a variety of problems with our 100 year old chimney. We set an appointment with Rich and reviewed problems, promptly gave us a quote. Later that week we accepted his bid. He showed up when he was scheduled and did the work described on his bid. As we live in city neighborhood, houses close together, Rich was respectful of the neighbors property that we had to use for his ladders. Rich also gave us recommendations of future use of the chimney. Clean up was great. A good experience.

Their estimate was $750 for that work. They showed up when they said they would. They were pretty friendly and their bid was low. They had references from another company. They were willing to accept a lower price for cash as opposed to check. I will call him again.

Rich was recommended to me by the guy who did some concrete work for us. I called Rich and told him that we needed the house acid washed and the front of the house repointed/tuckpointed/whatever (masonry people seem to disagree on the terminology). He said he would stop by on Tuesday of the following week to take a look at our place. He showed up on Tuesday and, as our conversation went on, seemed reluctant to do the job for some reason. I don't know why this would be given we were standing on a $10,500 new concrete job that we had obviously paid for (why else would his friend have given us his name?) and it didn't seem like an exceedingly difficult job to me. He said he would measure the job and then get back to us later on in the week with quotes. But then he just got back into his truck and drove off, I didn't see him measure anything. After not hearing back from him I called him on Saturday, four days later. He seemed kind of confused, but then seemed to recall who I was and then said he would get back to me after "pulling out (my) paperwork" (he'd mentioned he "wasn't a computer person".) I didn't hear from him that day, or Sunday, and finally called him again on Tuesday. I left a message on his voicemail to at least let me know if he was too busy to do the job. Now five days have passed since I left that message and I've heard nothing. I should have known better I guess after he spoke dismissively about Angie's List!

Rich and another provider did test spots. We were pleasantly surprised to see the real color of the brick that had been hidden by layers of carbon. After providing a satisfying sample, going over details and hand shaking on a final price, Rich started within just a few days. Over one and a half days Rich and crew brushed an acid solution onto the brick then washed it off along with about 90% of the dirt. A few things that I really appreciated about how Rich and crew worked: + They brushed the chemical on to treated areas rather than spraying it with a pump sprayer. I think this reduced the chance of hitting areas of the property that were not to be cleaned. + Rich was at our house directing the job the entire time. He did not just drop off a crew and leave. + Rich was very clear about expectations. He said how much dirt he expected to get off (about 90%). He said the limestone portions would be difficult. We are very happy. We chose Rich over another provider primarily based on price, but now I know he provides great service as well as value. Rob Mt. Lebonan

Everything was great. He told me exactly what was needed and didn't try to sell unnecessary services.

Adequate at best. They were originally contacted to re-point all four corners of house and all chimneys. He didn't tell us until the end that he couldn't do the chimneys because of issues with height and access. He did a great job of matching mortar to color of brick and existing mortar. He left mortar residue on surrounding areas, sidewalk, and neighbor's a house. He removed downspouts and didn't reinstall them properly. He removed cable wires and didn't reinstall them properly. Communication was less than adequate. He didn't show up on time or at all on some days.