Joseph Birkenheier Tuckpointing & Masonry

Excellent. Not only were they responsive but the work was very high quality. About a year and a half after the work was completed I had a small concern and they came out right away and checked on it and went above and beyond what was required. They take pride in their work and it shows. I can not recommend Them highly enough.

I was very impressed with the professionalism and thoroughness of this company. Workers showed up on time and kept us informed on progress of the job. They did a great clean-up of the job at completion. I am very satisfied with the quality of their work and would not hesitate hiring them again should the need arise.

The job was done perfectly. I would give them the highest recommendation. They did exactly what they said they were going to do and more. They were professional and courteous. They took more time than I thought. They came back more times than I anticipated. They got into more things than the original estimate had indicated once they got into the job. They took care of those in the original estimate. The patio looks like it was newly done. I could not be more pleased. They were all masonry jobs that were very extensive. It was like building a new patio. The price was marvelous. They were very fairly priced and did more than they said they were going to do for the price that they charged.

His father had a good reputations when he was younger but he passed away, some one had told me he was great so I hired him and the work was fabulous. He did an excellent job, the people who actually did the work were very professional, they cleaned up after they were done, they were very thorough and worked in to it step by step to make sure everything was in perfect order. He was very responsive to me.

We bought a home in 2012 and the front steps had loose and cracked bluestones, loose mortar, crumbling concrete sidewalls, and a handrail that was wobbling and about to pull out of the stone. The previous owner left us a file with records of work performed by Birkenheier and suggested we call them to have them follow up on a poorly done job. In May 2011, the homeowner spent $2,500 with Birkenheier to completely remove and rebuild the steps. In 2005, they spent $1,175 with Birkrnheier to initially build out the steps. So that is $3,675 invested over six years, and the stairs were again falling apart when we moved here in 2012. In spring 2013, I called Birkenheier to come out and look at the condition of the steps. I expected to hear something like, "These steps have not held up and this does not meet our standard of quality work." But they didn't. They said, "The snow and elements causes the mortar to expand and contract and the bluestone to deteriorate, and you need to have this repaired, at a cost of $1,075." Do you really think I'm going to have you come and do another shoddy patch job, Mr. Birkenheier? It's like throwing money down a well. In sum, very poor quality of work, high prices, and no sense of quality, "making it right" or even, "Hey, I'll throw in a 10 percent discount since my work didn't hold up."

They erected scaffolding and tore down the chimney stack, and then the scaffolding just sat there for well over a week. They also drove over the neighbor's lawn and parked on it, but that issue was quickly addressed to the satisfaction of the neighbor, and we were not involved. Eventually they came back to rebuild the chimney stack. Then a couple of days later a roofer came and replaced the flashing. The work they did seems very good (looks great from the ground and we haven't had any issues). It just seemed like the job got drawn out for a very long time between the time that the scaffolding was erected and when the job was finished (roughly 3 or 4 weeks). But maybe that's just how this type of work is done.

I wish I could give this company an A++ because an A doesn't begin to tell the story. When I experienced water leakage into my house a roofer suggested I have our back wall tuckpointed as well as have the roof repaired. I did so and still had a leak-both the roofer and Joe from Birkenheier came out numerous times and performed visual inspections to determine the source of the leak. Joe repeatedly did additional work on the brick and window sill in an attempt to stop the water in flow. One morning after more leakage he spent three hours on the flat roof water testing the area to identify the problem Notwithstanding all these efforts and repairs the water still came in-After another very painstaking inspection and water test Joe was able to find the source of the problem-a small hole, no bigger than a nail head in the bottom of the window frame had its drainage area clogged and instead of draining out of the frame the water was draining down inside the wall. This was a unique situation and could have gone undiscovered had Joe not prevailed. Through this all Joe was unfailingly polite, responsive and professional even when I was less so myself due to anxiety about possible structural damage the extended leakage could be causing. I received true 'customer service' above and beyond the call of duty- a rare thing these days.

This work was done in 2004, I thought the mortar work/tuckpointing was sloppy. But simply noted that we would not use them again. Also, when we received the final invoice, I noticed that they billed us wrong... $2500 in our favor! I called them, pointed out their error, and they sent us a corrected bill. In the fall of that same year an owner was having trouble with their furnace. It was discovered that pieces of mortar had dropped down the chimney and were blocking their vents. Upon calling them to come and clear the obstructions... they were far from pleasant about it, but did clear the debris. 4 years later, all the work they did had to be redone. I have had 3 contractors look at the work, and have been told that the mortar was merely patched. It could never have been ground out and tuckpointed. (as their contract said it would be) for the amount of cracking that is going on now. I can pull out large chunks of mortar from the cracks. 3 1/2 stories up shows loose crumbling bricks. I decided to call Birkenheier and ask that they come and look at their work. I have left detailed messages with the woman who answers the phone... and have received no calls back. I have sent a registered letter stating our complaints, and asked for the work to be redone correctly. This biggest problem is that their contract states no warranty period. But their contract also states that they would do work, that they could not have done. And this is something that is only apparent years down the road. We, as a Condo Assoc. are trying to asses how far to pursue this. We are a small Assoc. only 6 units and don't have the resources to keep paying for the same repairs year after year. I am stunned that a company that has been in business since 1940 and is on Angie's List would do such inferior work. I have been Condo Assoc. president for 8 years and have dealt with many contractors, almost all from Angie's List. Hoping that Angie's List can at least get them to come look at their work.

There workmanship was very good, they were very easy to work with and they came out when they said that they would come. I would recommend them to others.

Robert Birkenheier was punctual in providing an estimate. This was late September of 2007. We signed a contract and paid a $275 deposit (1/3 of the total job cost) in early October. About four weeks passed and we heard nothing further from Mr. Birkenheier. In early November we phoned about the status of the job and were informed that there was "no work order yet" and that someone would call us back. No one returned this call, or any of the calls we made after that. Seven weeks after our deposit check was cashed no one from this firm had contacted us about actually doing the work or to apologize for the delay. We sent a certified letter (on 6 December) requesting a refund of our deposit. By the end of the year there was no reply to this. At the beginning of January we filed a complaint with the BBB and sent another letter - to no avail. Overall? Worst contractor experience ever. Birkenheier didn't simply do poor work, he took payment for work which 3 months later remains to be done.

Not very well even the second time around workers were very arrogant! Really did not know what they were doing!

The people in the main office were polite and responsive. I felt like they gave me a fair description of what needed to be done, and they didn't try to sell me any work I didn't need. The gentleman that did the work was not the most experienced person at the company, but his work was fine, and he was, again, polite and responsive. I was a little disappointed that the power washing discolored portions of some aluminum decorative work on the front of the house, and hoped it would just fade, but six months later, it has not. I suppose I'll have to pay someone to clean that completely.

After putting on an addition, the area between the old brick and new frame needed tuck pointing due to settling. Also needed old gutter brackets removed and holes filled. It was a small job but they were glad to do it.

The guy who came out to do the estimate was fine, but the crew was supposed to start on a certain day and was no-call, no-show. I called the office and they had no idea what was going on. Finally called back later to reschedule. The tuckpointing was so-so, BUT they installed the glass blocks incorrectly and when we called to have the problem corrected we got the run around. They finally came back to correct the poor work and the workmen were very rude. I caught them pouring cement water down our basement floor drains. We tried to resolve this issue with the company and had NO response. Tried to file a complaint in small claims court, but after 3 failed attempts to serve them we gave up. We would obviously NEVER use them again!!!

I CALLED BIRKENHEIER BASED ON POSITIVE ANGIE'S LIST REPORTS AND BECAUSE WE ARE ALSO LOCATED IN EVANSTON. MR. BIRKENHEIER CAME OUT TO DO THE ESTIMATE AND WAS A LITTLE ACERBIC IN HIS MANNER, BUT I FIGURED HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING SO I LET IT GO. HE SAID I WOULD RECEIVE AN ESTIMATE IN A WEEK AND IT HAS BEEN 3.5 WEEKS. I HAVE CALLED TWO TIMES TO INQUIRE ABOUT THE ESTIMATE. ONCE, I SPOKE WITH A LADY WHO SAID SOMEONE WOULD GET BACK TO ME AND THE 2ND TIME I LEFT A MESSAGE. IF THEY DO NOT WANT BUSINESS, THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE WASTED TIME WITH THE ESTIMATE. I'M STILL WAITING, BUT AT THIS POINT, THEIR UNRESPONSIVENESS HAS LOST THEM OUR BUSINESS AND FUTURE BUSINESS.

PROMPT, THOROUGH, AND GOOD QUALITY. THEY RETURNED PROMPTLY WHEN I POINTED OUT THEY MISSED A SPOT.

THEY ARE VERY PROFESSIONAL, AND REALLY KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING. THEY WERE TIMELY, NEAT, AND THE QUALITY OF THE WORK APPEARS TO BE EXCELLENT.

ONCE AGAIN, BIRKENHEIER DID A GREAT JOB. THEY WERE VERY TIMELY. QUALITY WORK. AT THIS TIME, THIS IS THE ONLY COMPANY I WOULD CALL FOR TUCK POINTING OR CHIMNEY WORK.

DO NOT RESPONDED TO PHONE; SOMETIMES FOR 3 DAYS. EXPENSIVE AND THE OFFICE WORK IS LOUSY

I CALLED FOR AN ESTIMATE ON REMOVAL OF OUR CHIMNEY. THEY RETURNED MY CALL IN A COUPLE OF DAYS SOUNDING SOMEWHAT IRRITATED AND TOLD ME I SHOULD TALK TO A ROOFER. I EXPLAINED THE SITUATION AGAIN, AND THEY PROVIDED AN ESTIMATE THE FOLLOWING WEEK. THEIR PRICE WAS COMPETITIVE BUT ANOTHER CONTRACTOR WAS ABLE TO COMPLETE THE WORK MORE QUICKLY.

THEY DID NOT CALL REGARDING THE ESTIMATE. I HAD TO CALL BACK TO INQUIRE ABOUT THE ESTIMATE. I WAS TOLD THERE WAS SOME SORT OF EMERGENCY, BUT THE OFFICE WAS VAGUE. THIS IS A LOCAL COMPANY AND ANOTHER FIRM PERFORMED AN ESTIMATE AND FOLLOWED UP AND WAS MORE THEN A FEW MILES AWAY.

MY CALL WAS RETURNED PROMPTLY AND A PROPOSAL WAS RECEIVED WITHIN A WEEK. WORKMEN ARRIVED ABOUT TEN DAYS LATER. ONLY CONCERN WAS THAT NO ONE CALLED TO TELL US THE MEN WOULD BE ARRIVING. SINCE WATER AND POWER WERE AVAILABLE OUTSIDE THERE WOULD HAVE BE NO PROBLEM IF WE WEREN'T HOME.

VERY NICE, THEY MADE THE WORK AS EASY AS POSSIBLE. WE DIDN'T EVEN NEED TO BE HOME FOR THEM TO DO THE WORK. ONE THING: THEY WARNED US THAT SOME PLANTS MIGHT GET TRAMPLED, BUT IT WAS A LITTLE WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE. NO BIG DEAL, MOST OF THEM SURVIVED, WE JUST DIDN'T REALIZE HOW BADLY THEY'D GET TRAMPLED. ALSO, THEY COULD'VE HOSED THE BACK PORCH DOWN A LITTLE BETTER AFTERWARD, THE DUST WAS PRETTY BAD. OVERALL, THOUGH, WE WERE EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH THE WORK. EXCELLENT QUALITY, GOOD PRICE, AND FANTASTIC SERVICE, ESPECIALLY BY THEIR OFFICE STAFF.

EXCELLENT. THE FIRST DAY THE WORKERS DID NOT PERFORM WORK ON FRONT OF HOUSE ACCORDING TO SPECIFICATIONS. I LEFT A VOICE MAIL AND THE NEXT DAY THE COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE CALLED AND APOLOGIZED AND THE WORKERS RETURNED PROMPTLY IN THE MORNING AND DID COMPLETE THE WORK ACCORDING TO SPECS. I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY.

THEY DIDN''T DO A THOROUGH JOB. HAD TO CALL THEM BACK TO COMPLETE. ALSO, WHEN TUCKPOINTING CHIMNEY, THEY SPILLED MORTAR MATERIAL ON ROOF SHINGLES FROM BASE OF CHIMNEY ALL THE WAY UP. THEY HAD TO COME BACK TO SCRAPE AND CLEAN MORTAR OFF SHINGLES. THEY DID SO AND COMPLETED THE TUCKPOINTING ON HOUSE.