Dilullo Restoration

We just had spot tuckpointing done and two milkboxes bricked-in and are expremely pleased with the results. John went above and beyond the call, looking to match the unique 'combed' texture and brick colour at several yards. In the end the best colour match brick was too thick ...so they cut 1/4 inch off the height of each one! Wow.

Dilullo provides great value and service. A unique combination.

DiLullo Restoration just completed a tuckpointing job on my home in the beaches. John, the owner was extremely professional and courtious. His knowledge of the business is evident in his work. He is very knowledgeable in historical restorations. I am so pleased with the results. I was interesting in getting another quote from him for parging and he advised it was not needed, don't waste your money. Definately an honest contractor. I would not hesitate recommending John to friends and family. TOP NOTCH SERVICE!!!!!

We had several quotes from other members of homestars. We narrowed it down to John and another contractor who worked extensively in our area. In the end, we decided to go with John because he was specific about what exactly he was going to do and what the quote included. Our exterior wall is on a major road with a lot of foot traffic. John was the only one who was going to put a barrier as his team worked to make sure we didn't have complaints from anyone. He was informative and patient. His team was skilled in tuck and pointing. Our home is on a very busy street and many pedestrians were pointing out the good work that was done to our exterior wall. The work site was cleaned everyday. He was on time with his team and he supervised all the work carefully. Overall we are very happy with the result and we are planning to have John and his team work on interlocking walkway in the front of the house in the near future.

The back portion of a 105 year old house (31 ft) needed to be waterproofed. Before contacting anyone, I researched the specifics of waterproofing to allow for a better comparison of what each contractor had to offer.

The selection of a contractor was not going to be based solely on price. Since waterproofing the house would be a major undertaking especially since manual excavation would be involved, it was important to select a contractor who would do this job right the first time.

About 12 years ago, I had hired a company to waterproof a rental property. I was told the cracks would be filled with hydraulic cement and the wall would be parged with cement. However, on the day of the job, the entire wall was not parged as I was led to believe. Instead, I was told it was not necessary and only a small portion of the window area was parged.

Although this company did stop water from getting in, I felt I had been misled and they did not do a thorough job as promised. The property was sold 5 years after the waterproofing job. It is not known if the current owner had to get the house waterproofed again.

As a result of this experience, I decided that I would not make the same mistake. This time I wanted a contractor who would do the job properly, thoroughly, and not take shortcuts.

I spoke to 5 contractors before I decided to hire Dilullo Restoration. One contractor gave me an outrageous quote of $48,000 for the entire house; $32,000 for the back portion alone. Another contractor was evasive about the type of waterproof sealer. Although I was told it was not tar, the word “tar” was on the written estimate. One contractor gave me a great price but said he would dig 5 ft. down. When questioned about the height (the basement more than 5 ft. deep), his response was that he knew the difference between 5 ft and 6 ft. (Dilullo Restoration dug down past the footings and it was 6-7 ft).

Another waterproofing company happened to be working down the street. When questioned about the process, I discovered they skipped the steps that involved filling the cracks with hydraulic cement and parging of the walls. Instead, they just apply Aqua Bloc on the wall. When questioned as to why this crucial step was omitted, I was told it was not necessary because they can push Aqua Bloc into cracks and that would block water from entering. When I asked him if they would parge, he said they could but it would be additional cost.

Based on my research, filling the cracks with hydraulic cement and parging the walls are crucial steps. I believe this company was skipping an important step and not telling the uninformed homeowner.

I decided to hire Dilullo Restoration. The reasons behind my choice were:

1. John Dilullo did not tell me what he thought I wanted to hear in order to get the job. He was detailed and thorough in his explanation about the scope of the work, the timeframe and schedule.

2. He was professional, pleasant, and answered my numerous questions.

3. Product names that were to be used were given to me in a timely manner. It was his choice of waterproof sealer that separated him from the others. Based on my research, Aqua Bloc is typically used. However, Dillullo Restoration was the only one to use Blue Seal.

Blue Seal is a liquid applied rubber membrane that cures to a non-deteriorating flexible rubber membrane whereas, Aqua Bloc (720-33) is a product composed of asphalt and rubber and cures to a rubber-like membrane. I decided Blue Seal would be a better product to have applied on the wall since a rubber membrane is better than a rubber-like membrane.

4. Not only did he show photos of his work, I was invited to visit a house that was being waterproofed while I was still getting estimates. I was impressed by the quality of the work. The work was neat and clean. I saw his crew torch dry the parged wall before applying on the Blue Seal. The homeowner came out and gave a glowing recommendation.

During the waterproofing job, I found the following:
1. John and his crew arrived everyday at 8 am. They were punctual, friendly, professional, and got along with everyone, including the neighbours.

2. He kept me updated on a daily basis. He was on the site at all times to oversee the entire job and delivered on his promises. No steps were omitted in the waterproofing process to save him time and money nor did he take any shortcuts. He was honest and upfront. I was reassured that the entire wall would be parged with cement after the cracks were filled with hydraulic cement. He did not disappoint.

3. The crew took time and care in preparing for the manual excavation which was extremely difficult given the limited space.

4. He and his crew went well above and beyond to ensure the job was done correctly and that I was satisfied. There were several unforeseen problems with this waterproofing job. New footings had to be poured because they were missing or incomplete. At one section, the brick foundation wall was found to be caving in toward the interior of the house. It was only the stairs inside the house that was preventing this wall from caving in. His crew took the necessary steps to pour new footings and a new cement wall (rebar was used). This was a major undertaking given the limited space to work. Prior to this additional work, John gave a thorough explanation of the scope of the work and the additional cost.

5. The job site was kept clean daily. The job was completed professionally and successfully.

Overall, I was very satisfied with the work carried out by John and his crew and have no regrets hiring Dillullo Restoration to waterproof the house.

Price: $ 9,145
Additional work: $7,300
Total $16,445

This is the second time I have used Dilullo. This time I had a leak on the floor starting in the corner by the bathtub. John and his plumbers (Brian and Fred) re-did all the piping, installed a new bathtub and tiled the shower area in a subway style. Bathroom looks very sharp. Also had them replace two of my toilets with water efficient toilets.

The second job was to restore some of the mortar and some tuck pointing in the patio in the backyard. Patio area now looks a lot nicer and cleaner.

I highly recommend Dilullo Restoration. They are honest, fair and get the job done right.

John described in detail (written and photos)what he would do, and what the cost would be - he delivered as promised and on time and with a . You won't regret working with him.great attitude

I found John on the BBB site and sought him out. I got 3 other quotes for my project. 2 quotes were within a few hundred dollars of each other. John followed up with me, so I went with him. He gave me a detailed quote, showed up on time, completed the project when he said he was going to, gave me good advice, did an amazing job, cleaned up his site every day, and referred me to some other tradespeople that he trusted for other work. All in all, it was a great experience. I am keeping his business card, and would use him again!

Under the leadership of John Dilullo, the family member who represents the tradition, enterprise and the exactingly, high standards of the company, I am impressed with work done on the east, west and back walls of the house, back basement window, in addition to the garage,- parging and all unmentioned and undescribed tasks that I omit in this commentary.
The company is recommended for capability, neatness, resourcefulness and consideration of others. /Colin B.

I have a brick column on my house that needed some bricks replaced. Dilullo replaced the bricks and tuck pointed the entire column by filling in the joints with cement. All the other companies were only going to replace the bricks and tuck point where necessary and others were charging way too much. With the remaining cement, they even tuck pointed a few spots on my other brick column at no extra cost. Dilullo was reasonably priced and did exactly what they said they would. Their clean up job was amazing too. By the time they were done, it did not even look like they had come by. John was very honest and reasonable. I would highly recommend Dilullo Restoration.

We needed some brick work done to the rear of our building, He came quoted the job and three days later its all done. Very professional and fast. They left the job site very clean. I will use them in the future.