Minor Brick Re-Pointing and Doorway Opening Restoration
As an engineer who often inspects buildings (many with awful looking masonry repairs) and a respect for maintaining century old construction, I was very hesitant to hire just any mason to undertake repairs to my 100+ year old solid brick home. After researching many masons who specialize in historic and heritage construction, Mario (the owner) of Invisible Tuckpointing was very quick to meet, review my walls, and provide a fee proposal. Residential work appeared to be too small-scale for most other masons who specialize in historic and heritage construction; most of whom did not even return requests for quotes. Invisible Tuckpointing's quote included repairing all settlement cracks and failed mortar joints.
Mario's attention to detail and perfectionism is unmatched for a contractor, since in my professional experience, most contractors simply "don't care". As an owner-operated business, Mario displayed more concern for the finished product than I.
During the course of the work, under my own initiative, a request to expand the scope of work was made. Mario provided a fair and reasonable quote for the additional work. This work involved replacing bricks that had been significantly damaged when the previous owner had a patio door opening created, where one did not originally exist. The bricks to either side of the door had been poorly cut and were parged over. Horrendous!
Since my bricks (a rare cast concrete as opposed to a more common fired clay) were of an unusual size and a unique texture, it was difficult to source replacement units. Mario found a brick imported form Europe, which had similar dimensions. The final product, while not an "exact" colour and texture match, looks great. It surpassed my expectations, which are realistic based on my profession. Invisible Tuckpointing even rebuilt some bricks at the door jamb that could not be replaced.
Refer to attached photos for the "before", "during" and "after" of the door opening restoration.
We are very pleased with the outcome and intend to hire Invisible Tuckpoiting back to complete another masonry job later in the season.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $6,400.00
- Company Response
You were great to work for. The communication between us was always fluid and felt very natural to me. I've also enjoyed our casual conversations and your general disposition as a person. It was a pleasure meeting your wife as well. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to inject back some character into this unique type of brickwork.