Some time ago, I bought classic brick house. I wish, it could have been described as beautiful, elegant or eye-catching but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Umm, maybe except for the eye-catching part. It was that and more in the dismal, appalling way. If I haven’t seen the chartered surveyor expertise, I would have been reluctant even to stand in the house’s proximity not mentioning getting inside. Seeing such unflattering description you may start wondering, why the heck I bought the building in the first place. Well, it required plenty of renovation and remodeling but it had very robust foundations and frame and costed next to nothing. I was sure that I would be able to restore it to previous shape if not quickly the at least thoroughly. Unfortunately, I’m not an expert, so my initial optimism evaporated and I almost become overwhelmed by the scope of the undertaking. One of the things that gave me particular headache was masonry. Bricks seldom make it to the flashy lifestyle blogs, with the exception of occasional fireplace or two. Therefore, I had to look elsewhere. Fortunately, some internet browsing later, I stumbled upon several professional websites run by and for people interested in masonry and other construction works. I particularly appreciated Masonry Contractors in Chicago. With its tips and tricks on brickwork, tuck pointing and the like, it showed me the direction in which I should head, while dealing with my house restoration.
Of course, I haven’t grabbed the tools myself. As I said before (or maybe not), I’m not an expert and I could only make sensible remarks, regarding brickwork esthetics. So I was very happy that someone out there could tell me, what to look for in terms of both the best materials and people for the job. On this and other websites like for example Chicago General Contractors Reviews, I also found very helpful opinions of particular contractors. On their homepages, masonry companies can write whatever they like. But I wanted to learn, how all those advertising translated into real life services. You know, the usual things that clients share in their reviews, like punctuality, quality of materials and workmanship or if they got value for their money. Some people even described the way, masonry contractors responded to their queries or suggestions, that is, whether they were friendly, helpful and accommodating or quite not at all. You may think that learning such details from the review shouldn’t turn me away from masonry pro. But honestly, would you prefer to hire grumpy people, who won’t deign to explain what they do and why? Or rather easygoing team, who see that you are lay person and don’t have slightest idea what tuck pointing is? Of course, I want those nice guys to be masonry experts but that’s why I read reviews in the first place. Maybe lay people won’t elaborate on finer details but they definitely will be able to see the quality and precision of work.
