Midland Masonry Inc

I highly recommend this company. James Kowalski, the owner is wonderful to work with and his employees are very good at what they do.

Best experience ever! Best communication! Best crew! Best pricing! Seriously, I hired MM to rebuild my crumbling chimney. All in the same day (day I called) the owner: responded, showed up, provided a reasonable quote, and sent a contract. Once the work was scheduled, Jim keep me well informed and was flawless in his communication about the crew's schedule. They did have to move work back a day, but the reason was understandable and I knew in advance. On the day of the work, the crew arrived (3 men) at the agreed time, and 4 hours later, the chimney looked new, and the work area was clear and cleaner than when they arrived. They also were kind enough to replace an external flood light on a hanging fixture and even did a courtesy inspection of my flat roof against which the chimney rests, and gave a thumbs up on the roof. I am very impressed, pleased, and will certainly call on MM again to help out with any other masonry projects.

It was a great experience. I contacted many concrete contractors that would not even return my call. From the beginning Midland was always there for me. Any time I called the office, someone would answer the call and if not, would return my call within about 10 minutes. All the workers were very friendly and professional. They discussed what they were going to do and asked from my input. I was very pleased with Midland and would definitely recommend them and use them again for my concrete needs.

From proposal to completion, Midland is top notch. Quick friendly service and outstanding craftsmanship.

They showed up on time, performed all the work very efficiently and were done before the bad weather returned (we had a lot of rain this summer!) They were responsive and communicative whenever I had any questions. The finished job looks seamless with the rest of the building and I am very happy I chose Midland Masonry. Jim was great to work with.

The company was responsive in getting me an estimate. Their estimate was very reasonable compared to the prices that i received from other contractors. They showed up on time and did a great job. My general contractor oversaw their work. he hands on compliments very rarely. He enjoyed working with this company and said that they did a great job.

They never finished the job, and not only that, they did damage to my home. This is the letter I sent to them, to which I received no response: "Dear Jim: Because of the problems your crew had my wife and I thought it prudent that we make an inspection of our property. We found for a start your cleanup was non-existent. The rain gutters were full of mortar that was just dropped down and landed on any thing that was there. Normally covers are applied under places that you are working. We tried to wash it off with our hose only to find the hose you used for your water was also broken. We found part of the water control that was broken off and discarded on our lawn. So you broke two glass pains on the green house roof as well as the damage caused on the bar b q hood from falling bricks. The green house is built over our basement. You did not cover the roof where you broke the glass out. We had a heavy rain that of course found its way to the basement Fortunately no damage, just clean up. We have engaged a clean up crew for $6oo.oo to clean everything. Now we are left to worry if your job will even hold up as there was very little skill shown here. If it does not you will here from us in the spring if not before. As you must imagine we would never recommend you."

Results were mixed. On the positive side, the cracks were sealed and Midland was the only one of 3 companies that proposed the correct solution to the problem (based on further research of the problem). The workers were pleasant and worked very hard. On the negative side: the finish on the caulk was not as smooth as we would have liked, the tuck pointing work left residue on the brick and was not consistent in depth and appearance with the rest of the house. We had asked to be home for the original estimate and for a return visit to "wash" the area. We had agreed that I would give them a check for the work when they returned. Both of these visits were done when we were not home. When we withheld payment waiting for them to come back to resolve concerns (we did not even know that they had come back to do the wash), we were subjected pressure over the phone and in emails to pay including a threat to take us to court if we did not. They did come back and improve upon what they did originally and we did pay them the full amount. I do not think they would have come back if I had not withheld payment. It was not a pleasant experience and I would not use them again.

Work was completed in 1 day clean up the following day lasted 1 hour. Miscommunication over start date, woke my wife up at 7am. but no big deal. Needed a block window replaced, went with another contractor, I felt Midlands price was to high on spot quote. I am interested to see how well tuckpointing holds up over coming winter.

Initial contact with Midland went well. Company reps were prompt with estimate and providing write up. Midland secured permit from Village and provided a copy for display in the window. Midland was very good with keeping me informed of their progress, plan, etc through numerous phone calls. Additional materials bumped the quoted price of $2,775 to $3,000 After both the chimney and walkway were done though, the problems began. -Nearly five pounds of silt and debris were left in the rain gutter just below the new chimney. I had to scrape this out so that rain would flow down the pitch of the gutter. Attention to clean up was seemingly a low priority. -A section of the newly poured walkway was graded towards the house instead of away from it. This lead to water accumulation along the house. When I told Midland about my frustration, they argued that the 'finish was bad' but the 'grade was fine'. When told that the point of the new walkway to stop water along the house and that I am basically back to square one with less money in my pocket, Jim Kowalski argued that it would be unrealisitc for them to come out and break up/repour the section. While he admitted that his guys poorly finished the section, he was unwilling to correct it. So again, I have water along my house and am out $1,600 for that part of the project. -The front lawn was not protected and it appears that tools were washed out on it, thereby killing some of the lawn. Jim said he would send me a check for a bag of grass seed but that never came. Next time, I'll go with George's concrete, a staple in Oak Park.

I sent out for estimates on this job and Midland Masonry was the first to respond to my request. They gave me a very precise and what I thought was a fair estimate. They didn't try and sell me work that I did not need. After receiving a few more estimates, I decided to have Midland Masonry do the job. They started the job when I left for work and it was completed by the time I came home. They left the property clean and I think they did a great job on the tuck pointing. I was very impressed and would definitely recommend them and will use them for future work!!

They were very professional, did a good job, cleaned up very well when they were done. Took slightly longer than planned due to unpredictable March weather. Also brick took longer to arrive from Pennsylvania to Illinois.

Excellent communication and service from first contact through completion of job! After receiving a number of estimates and reading the reviews on Angie's List, we decided to use Midland Masonry. I was able to e-mail a PDF copy of the signed contract back to them (snail mail was never needed); they called before coming out, as I had requested; and the job was completed to our satisfaction. We are very pleased with the sill replacement! If we need any type of masonry work done in the future, we will definitely be calling Midland Masonry to bid the job. Good work at a fair price! Thank you :)

They were supposed to come out, but never showed up. They claimed they had the wrong address, but after several phone exchanges they still didn't show up.

Jim the owner was great. Great communication. He was there when the job started to instruct crew as to what we wanted. Had small fixable issue after it was done. I emailed him and he had his foreman out in 2 hours to fix the problem. Good business man. Rare find.

I was concerned about the structural integrity of the walkway so I had a structural engineer look at it who basically said that he could not tell what was going on with the brick wall and walkway until you start taking it apart. Jimmy came out and looked at the project and agreed with the engineer, it could be a cosmetic fix or you might have to replace the steel. Once the steel was exposed Jimmy called so I could view the steel to see why it needed to be replaced. I was going to have them install a 40 ft metal railing to replace the brick wall. Angelo thought it would be better to put up brick piers every 6 feet and attach the railing to the piers in order to anchor the railings better. They replaced the concrete that had deteriorated from the concrete slabs, as well as added bricks that were missing from the building. The crew cleaned up at the end of everyday. Jimmy, Angelo and the whole crew were always accommodating and professional people to work with. I have had so many compliments on how beautiful it looks as well as what a great job Midland Masonry did. This was my second time using them and will definitely use them again. They are a wonderful company to work with.

After my initial contact via their web site, Jim called a day or two later and said he was a block away, and could he come by. I happened to be home and he came over. We talked about what needed to be done, and a day or two later he emailed a proposal. I actually had three estimates for this work. One was over $3,000, one was roughly $1,800 and then there was this one. The high one was just too high, and I didn't like the attitude of the cheapest guy - he didn't seem interested in listening to what I had to say when he came by to do the estimate. After some thought and discussion we sent the signed proposal back. There was a little bit of scheduling confusion - they didn't seem to really have a good grasp of when they would be finishing the job(s) ahead of me - but Jim and I went back and forth via email and it was fine. I got a call on a Tuesday that they would be there on Wednesday, and despite an estimate of 8:30 they got there at 8:00. I expected it - it seems like contractors and the like always show up before they say they will, so I got my wife's car out of the garage, talked to them a bit, and got out of their way. I had mentioned to both Jim and the senior guy who was actually there (whose name I just can't remember) that my daughter's nap time is 1 PM, and if they could try to be a little quieter then, it would be much appreciated. Instead, they left at 1 on Wednesday after having the wall fully torn down and a bunch of prep work done on the rest, and returned on Thursday, again at 8:00. I had to go to work on Thursday, but my wife told me they left around 10:30 with everything done. They left a neat job site both Wednesday and after completion on Thursday, and were professional and patient at all times. They even fixed some stuff that I didn't expect them to do! They also left a pile of about 30 bricks out of the wall that they had cleaned the mortar off of. I don't know if that was because they thought they needed that many or if they thought I should have them, but it's good to have some spare bricks that match your house, so I really appreciated it. I just don't have anything bad to say about this experience, and if I need masonry work again in the future I know who I'll be calling.

They were very professional, and did a great job, nice and respectful crew. Couldn't be happier with the outcome. I never realized the artistry that goes in to stone work. My house loooks great.

I was very impressed with Midland Masonry from the very first visit. They came out promptly, and provided a complete, well documented proposal. They kept me informed of their schedule. They were very careful, laying out tarps and plywood so they did not cause any damage to the grass, pavers or plants. They also cleaned up the work area every day. Their work was excellent. Its nice to see that their workers take such pride in their work and make sure the customer is happy. I highly recommend them.

Jason came out to give me an estimate on the top corner of my building since it was taking in water. At that time Jason pointed out several other areas that needed tuckpointing as well. Jason had thought it be best to do the entire back side of the building. He stated they could just do the parts that needed to be done but in a few years the good parts would start popping and I would be calling them back out again. For a couple thousand dollars more it made sense to do the whole thing at once and be done with it. I checked the job when they were done and was very happy to see that they left no mess behind. I am very happy with the job, Jim, the owner and his crew.

Everything was fine. They did have a quick response. The price was a little too high.

He was very good. He came on short notice and he was professional, efficient and very nice.

They were very good. We were very pleased with the work. They did everything they said they were going to do. Based on the estimates I was getting, they were fairly priced. If I had further I wouldn’t hesitate to hire them again.

Excellent. We really have no complaints about Midland Masonary and would definitely recommend them.

I found their advertisement in the local paper and checked their references on Angie's List. I called them and they responded immediately with an estimate and references. I was impressed with their knowledge and suggestions and followed up with their references. One was positive and the other one was unreachable with the email address given. I decided to ask them to do the work but it was awhile before it was completed as the weather was a factor in putting off the job. Also, the scope of the job was changed and Jason did find the appropriate information about adding lighting to the job but, ultimately, we decided not to do that. Once, the date was set, the workmen arrived on time, did a good job, tried to clean up as much as possible (it's a dirty job). I have subsequently called Jason to ask that the porch bricks be cleaned and he has said that they will come back and clean the bricks.