Monroe and Aguirre Masonry

It went well. There were some issues, but he did good work. He seems to have a problem with time management. A job that was supposed to take a day or two ended up taking a whole week. Many of the days he was late. There were just a lot of time issues. And if we had been in a rush, it would have been a real problem. Except for the time problem, he did good work. His price was good. It was difficult getting him out here. There were a lot of problems. His phones were not working and it was very hard to get through. Once he was here and once I was able to talk to him, he was fine and he was extremely responsive, almost overly so. He was great. I would use him again if I wasn't in a rush. I thought he did excellent work.

They did a good job and we would use them again. Good reasonable price. The quality was good.

He was flexible with working with my schedule. The job took a little bit longer that he first thought but it wasn’t a problem as far as I was concerned. He got on and did it to a reasonable satisfaction. I am happy with his work. It was not amazing but it was adequate. He was easy to work with. They are a small operation and scheduling can sometimes be difficult.

We did not use Monroe Masonary and Concrete because it is unacceptable that the person in charge of estimates cant make 2 appts.

They did not try to contact me today.

I am very happy with the results! Edwin and his crew were prompt and professional. Communication was easy -- emails and phone calls always retuned quickly. He was open to negotiation and was able to work within my budget. My old driveway was very slick and dangerous -- now it is much safer and better looking, too!

Bid was timely. Job was small so he used it for filler work on a neaby larger job, so he came a day later than originally scheduled.

When we first presented Edwin with the scope of work we needed, I was initially surprised by his confidence at completing the job at hand (100 yr old house, a tight work schedule, a task that overwhelmed other professionals, etc.). Edwin and his team far exceeded my expectations with the work and keeping within our construction timelines. In addition, the crew was very cognizant of cleanliness of the construction area and left at the end of the work day with all debris and a clean sight. I highly recommend Edwin Monroe and his team. Great work ethic at a fair price.

Edwin Monroe is a very courteous and polite person. He was always prompt and if he was running late, would always call ahead to let me know. My wife and I were remodeling our house. We needed to demolition one of our existing rooms to build two new bedrooms. Although Edwin doesn't do demo work, he proved us with Fred's Hauling who did an excellent job. Edwin, working with my general contractor, then proceeded to form the foundation area. It took alot of work: digging and then building the forms. Edwin's crew consisted of hard-working men who worked in upper 90's to 100 degree temps. They almost always left a clean work site at the end of day. (I dare anyone to find a contractor and his crew who is 100% clean!) We didn't pass our first LADBS inspection. Edwin and my GC misread the prescriptives (building codes) provided by the LADBS. The foundation needed to be dug out another 8"! This after the forms had already been built! It added another 3 days worth of work and of course the original estimate cost went up. I wasn't happy. However, Edwin's crew kept working. In the end, the Building Inspector came out and approved the work. The concrete was then poured and the foundation looks beautiful. As a side job, Edwin poured a concrete pad to my already existing patio. This was a small job in comparison to the foundation work. I had colored concrete that I told Edwin to try and match as best he could. We both decided on a color. Edwin's crew built a form and poured colored concrete the same day our foundation was being done. This job came out beautifully, too! I was nervous about the new concrete color matching our six year old concrete, but it looks fantastic. Overall, I'm very happy with Edwin's company. Despite the mistakes made with the codes and not getting passed initially on our inspection, Edwin tried to be as fair as he could when he had to raise the price of the first estimate. He is a fair and decent man with an extremely hard working crew. I wholeheartedly recommend his company.

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Edwin and his crew were awesome. They started when promised, the work was excellent and exactly what I wanted. They were always respectful of my family as well as my neighbors. They cleaned up daily. Overall, I would highly recommend them

We called three bricklayers/landscapers for quotes on an additional 50 square feet for our brick courtyard extension. Of the three, all of whom are on Angie's List, the only one who contacted us in a timely fashion was Ed Monroe. He gave my husband an extremely fair quote for the work needed and had some fantastic ideas for the look and "user friendliness" of the bricks to cover our deep-watering tubes. The initial extension was done in a single day and is exquisite. Clean up was fast and, at the end of that day, you would never have known that anyone had been there at all. What sets Ed apart, however, is the time, energy and ingenuity (at no extra cost to us) that he has taken to make certain that those "special" bricks meet our satisfaction and our needs. His diligence, courtesy and professionalism are exceptional...and by that I mean truly, truly rare. I only wish I had known about Ed and Monroe & Aguirre when we were installing our larger, original courtyard. I cannot...cannot...recommend Ed and his company strongly enough. It's almost enough to restore one's faith in sub-contractors, small business owners and people in general. Use Ed. Period.

t The job went ve3ry smoothly and without any problems. They finished on time.

SUMMARY: Overall, the project went well. This was a very complex, tedious, and labor-intensive job, and I am absolutely thrilled with the ultimate result. The work performed was of superb quality, and Chuckie and Edwin went above and beyond to ensure the end product was great. They have a can-do attitude and a willingness to ?make it work,? accompanied by experience and a great skill set to pull it off. I am especially impressed with the stamp-work and stucco job. Everything looks fantastic. They were always courteous and friendly to deal with. They do need to work on communicating better with their clients to keep them updated on what?s going on, as well as build a larger, more reliable, and more conscientious stable of for-hire workers so there are no work-stoppage days or unfortunate incidents. In the end, though, we still enthusiastically recommend them -- and have already done so. I would gladly use them again in the future and probably will when I have the money to build a block wall along the huge property line in my backyard. <p> JUICY DETAILS: In February 2012, I was in escrow on a home built down a slope in Woodland Hills. My physical inspector discovered the driveway-bridge that connects the home to the street had severe dry rot and termite damage. It would need immediate replacement before I could move in. I went on Angie's List and started receiving bids from contractors with great reviews. Nearly all the bids were ballparked and wildly ranged from $12,000 to $84,000. Apparently, they were afraid to commit to official, itemized estimates because of how the driveway-bridge was cantilevered into the house between the first and second floors, and they were unsure of how they might perform the repairs. <p>Only one company had given me a formal, itemized estimate: Monroe and Aguirre. I threw caution to the wind and offered them the job on April 8, 2012. I met with Chuckie again and we went over the project, color choices, and stamp patterns and inspected the bridge more thoroughly. On April 16, they sent me a contract, which was a little late in coming. We negotiated some warranty language in the contract and discussed the load-bearing capabilities of the type of wood on the invoice. (My partner is an engineer and wanted to make sure the new wood would meet or exceed the load-bearing capacity of the old wood.) A few drafts went back and forth. The final draft of the contract was completed on April 22 -- again, taking longer than it needed to. Having worked as a legal writer, I am accustomed to firing back and forth drafts of documents 3 or 4 times in an afternoon. Here, it took 8 days. I guess when you are your own office staff yet are on job sites all day, things take time. <p>At long last, the job started. I gave Chuckie my garage door opener, so he could store his equipment and tools in the garage. <p>On the first day or so, I showed up to do some repairs in the backyard while the demolition was happening in the front. Chuckie wasn?t there, so I awkwardly waved to the crew of people I didn?t know as I made my way across the warzone. I went to retrieve the ladder I had stored under the bridge only to find it buried under thousands of pounds of stucco, wood, and debris that had fallen onto it. Apparently, the demo crew didn?t think or bother to move my ladder from underneath the bridge before demolishing it, and now it was completely buried. The crew did spot me struggling to move huge pieces of debris, and two of them came down to help free the ladder, which wasn?t too trashed. Then, I went into my garage to get my nail gun, only to discover that one of the workers was using it and my air compressor without asking. The guy asked if it was okay he was using my nail gun. I sputtered out something like, ?Sure no problem,? but I felt extremely uncomfortable, which got only worse when I saw that all my other power and mundane tools were mixed up with the crew?s stuff. I eventually got to know and become friendly with the crew, but on this first day, my thought was, ?Who the heck are these guys and why are they using my stuff?? I ended up working on something else that day. <p>When Chuckie showed up a few hours later, he apologized profusely without me saying anything about the incident. The worker must have copped to having been busted. He explained that his nail gun was getting repaired or they had forgotten it (I forget what the issue was) and that he had admonished his crew about using a client?s belongings. ?It won?t happen again,? he promised. Once the main demolition was finished, the job shifted to replacing the rotting support beams. Because the old bridge was cantilevered into the house, the rotting support beams extended over the ceilings of the media room, which was beneath the garage, and second level stairwell. In trying to wrench out the last remnants of the rotting support beams, parts of the ceilings in both areas caved in. This was expected by Chuckie, though I had misunderstood him in an earlier conversation about those beams, so I was a shocked to see the large holes in my ceilings with daylight streaming through. At his expense, Chuckie brought in a drywall guy to repair all the holes, and, HOLY COW, did his work look amazing. He managed to match the existing smoothed-splatter texturing on the wall perfectly. I was shocked that it looked so good. In my nightmares, I was dreading square-shaped patches with visible tape lines and unsanded mounds of plaster. Fortunately, my nightmares never came to fruition. The ceilings looked like nothing had ever happened there. Plus, they went ahead and voluntarily repaired part of the ceiling in the stairwell that had been previously damaged by leaks caused by the old, disintegrating bridge. Again: above and beyond! <p>There were some days, however, when no one would show up to work, and the project was already closing in on two weeks over schedule. One day in particular was when they were supposed to pour the concrete. I scheduled certain things that week based on when I would be able to cross the bridge, so it was a bit frustrating to show up in the late evening to see how the pouring went, only to discover no one had been there all day. I could have spent that day working on the house! Grr. It wasn?t until days later when Chuckie explained that the local cement mixer wasn?t available (or whatever the issue was). He attributed the other missed work days as having problems finding or scheduling workers. In all cases, a simple heads-up beforehand would have been easy to do and much appreciated. It totally get it that stuff happens; all I would have needed and appreciated was just an update. <p>Other unfortunate incidents included walking into my second floor bathroom in stocking feet and stepping in a 12-inch puddle of urine that had been left there by the guy(s) repairing the ceilings in my media room and stairwell. Not a few droplets, but an actual PUDDLE of urine the size of a large pancake in front of my toilet and now soaking my socks. I literally almost vomited. It was so. Incredibly. Disgusting. I took off my socks, and they were dripping. That?s how soaked in urine they were. Now I know that not everyone is as hygienic as I and not everyone was reared in the States or with manners, but when you?re working on a home that reached a peak valuation of almost $2,000,000, you don?t treat the client?s place like revolting gas station restroom. Every guy has an errant stream once in a while when his goods have been smooshed all day -- I?ve had my share -- but a grown man should have the wherewithal to clean up after himself, especially in someone else?s home, regardless of occupation, culture, or upbringing! (The drywall work was so outstanding, however, that I didn?t say anything.) The upstairs bathroom used by all the other workers wasn?t much prettier. I refused to use it until after the construction was completed and by then it looked like floor of a taxicab. <p>Even though Chucky had assured me his workers wouldn?t be using my tools anymore, the stucco guys didn?t get the memo. They went into my backyard, unscrewed one of the heavy-duty, kink-free hoses I use to water the trees at the far end of my 20,000 square foot lot, and used it for their stucco project in the front. I had literally just purchased the hose a few days prior, along with a fancy nozzle set, and now the hose and the nozzle were completely trashed, stained, and encrusted in splattered stucco. I have to wonder: what would they have done if I hadn?t just bought that hose? The answer would have been to use their own darn hose. Also, the stucco guys finished all their work on a Friday, but left EVERYTHING, including their cement mixer, a wheelbarrow, and all the scaffolding blocking my exterior staircase for the entire weekend. I had to move it all out of the way and disassemble their scaffolding myself because I had to haul a huge swing set out of the backyard. <p>Nevertheless, for everything that was annoying and unprofessional about the job, there were 10 things that were fantastic. So challenging was the job that crews worked for days just chiseling out the old cement connections to the street apron. It was tedious, intricate work, yet everyone did a wonderful job. Further, more support beams were needed than originally set forth on the invoice, yet Monroe and Aguirre did not ask for more money. They absorbed the cost and made it work. <p>So while I do mention the few unfortunate incidents (because some of their workers DO need to be told on how to conduct themselves in polite society), I am overwhelmingly pleased with Monroe and Aguirre. They?re a couple of great guys growing a business in a repressed economy, and I wish them all the best. Their end product is superlative, and you would be well-served by hiring them. With just a little bit of fine-tuning, they?ll be perfect in all areas.

Missed appointment. Although they did come to the property and measure, etc., never did get a bid even after repeated calls.

I liked them and their company. They were really good. Their estimate was reasonable and I felt they were a solid choice. I would use their services in the future.

Ed quickly came out to the house to give us an estimate. What I loved most about working with Ed is that he is a "yes man". We had other masons bid the project and say we had to do things one certain way without giving us much flexibility or taking into consideration our needs. Ed, however, heard out everything we wanted and always responded with "sure, we can do that." It was such a breathe of fresh air to work with someone so agreeable. So only are Ed and his team friendly and kind, but they worked quickly, always left the site clean, and just did an overall excellent job.

Ed was very quick return my call and come by to give an estimate. They showed up on time and did their job cleanly an quickly. I'll definitely call them for other work on our home.

Completely unprofessional not to call, in my opinion.

From start to finish they were great. I am an executive with a large construction company, experienced in very sophisticated and complex concrete work. I aso know good work when I see it and have high standards. From day one, they came when they said they would , worked hard and completed the work in an unwavering window of time. The craftsmen were highly skilled. I have to say most hillside work is more difficult than commercial work and they handled the challenge expertly. They were great provlem solvers and improved the work shown on the plan.They came back to repair some minor flaws without complaint. I couldn't be happier and would definitely work with them again.

They were professional and responsive. Their estimate (and final price) for the job was in the mid range, but it was worth it. It was better to not go for the cheapest estimate, and make sure the job was done right. The work was done very fast, they left the area clean and from what I can see did the job right. Thanx!

good, solid, professional work -- nice guys

Eddie Monroe did extensive rock wall construction work for us in 2001 when he was a sole contractor. As was the case then, his bid for this job was fair and competitive. From the planning stages through the main job and to the end of all finish work, Eddie and Chuck (now working as partners) handled every aspect of the job professionally and personably. They responded to questions quickly, made adjustments and changes thoughtfully and at a fair price, and showed up with all appropriate crew members on time daily (with exceptions when rain interrupted the job early on). I handled the permitting at the building and planning department, and Eddie and Chuck supervised all inspections. The job was never delayed by any inspection issue. I would not hesitate for a minute to trust the work the professionals and construction team members of this company perform and would commend their work to anyone needing concrete, masonry, tile, rock or other related services.

First of all, I am an architect who works at a firm that designs minimalist buildings. We pride ourselves on the attention to detail and the craft of our work. The following project was a part of my own home, so I feel as though this review should be taken with the understanding that I had extremely high standards for this concrete work... The process began as all should; my wife and I had a design concept for a patio/raised planter in our front yard and we went to 4 different highly rated Angie's List concrete contractors to get bids on its construction. Immediately after meeting with Edwin and Chucky of "Monroe & Aguirre Concrete" (generously on a Saturday morning), my wife and I had a good feeling about them. They were kind, knowledgeable, and seemed to be genuinely excited about the project. In the end, we chose them because of this attitude and their willingness to help work with our tight budget by coaching us in ways to reduce the scope and even working the bid on their end. They started earlier than expected, but after getting the very complicated series of forms in place, rain was forecast. Fortunately they cancelled the pour. To me, this small detail meant a lot. They were not willing to risk the quality of the pour just to get the job done a day or two earlier. When the sun returned, they started bright and early with a concrete truck and pumper. They decided on bearing the expense of this method of pouring (versus site mixing) in order to get the most consistent finish possible for the concrete. The concrete was in place very quickly, and after the pour was complete, and the truck was cleaned, there was little waste at all. Not a drop of concrete was in the street, and only a small pile of extra concrete was in the yard. I have seen plenty of other job sites after a pour, and my yard looked immaculate. Call it "green", but to me it shows the signs of someone who cares. After only curing for about 4 hours, they stripped the forms. I don't know how else to say it, Chucky and his apprentice Geraldo are artists of the concrete trade. For a material that exudes permanence, they had the ability to understand the complexities of the material and manipulate it in ways I have rarely seen before. To be able to confidently strip the forms after such a short setting time is true understanding of concrete. What they told me is that this way they could still manipulate the surface texture while it still held its own weight. They hand troweled each surface about 3 times to get a perfectly flat surface (even though it looked pretty good after the initial strip), and in all honestly, the way they troweled the concrete made me feel as though they were caring for a child. Each stroke of the trowel very careful and calculated. In the end, the planter wall and curb surfaces were as smooth as velvet, and had nearly no imperfections. They then applied the top coat to get the desired sand finish, and left for the day. When they returned the next morning, the removal of the top coat went smoothly, and the sand finish looked flawless. No surprise at this point. They also 'saw cut' some control joints to encourage a more tasteful cracking when the earth decides to move next. The final day was the application of an asphalt based waterproofing to the inside of the planter, placement of the needed French drain, and then a general job site clean up. A nice way to end a great experience. I cannot say enough nice things about the ease of working with Edwin, and the quality of work that Chucky and his crew performed. Just to top it off, everyone on the job site were very courteous, friendly and a pleasure to be around.

In July, 2008 we had Edwin Monroe Masonry demolish and haul away our old backyard concrete patio floor. Little did we know that his crew would have to demolish a double layer of concrete. We were impressed by his professionalism and said when we were ready to plan our new patio, we would call him. When we called him, he remembered the double layered job! He said he would still honor the estimate he gave us. Edwin and his crew of three came early the next morning. While the crew cleared the area, we discussed with Edwin a plan we had in mind, noting that the patio next to the kitchen should be handicap accessible. The crew spent the rest of the day making the forms and laying re-bars for the cement which would be poured the following day. The crew did a great job of gently sloping the concrete to the patio door eliminating any steps. A meandering walkway connects to a second patio around the corner of the house. This patio includes a step up. Approximately 466SF of steel-reinforced natural grey concrete w/ light broom finish was used. Edwin repaired cracks, grinded an existing floor and overlayed 84SF of natural grey w/ light broom finish in the front entryway of the house. The entire job was exactly what we wanted and are very pleased with the outcome.