BB's Bricks

I ended up hiring someone else because they could get several things done at my house, but I LOVED spent a lot of time considering their quote. They called me the night I sent a request for a quote and came out a few days later with a very, very reasonable price.

I did not have this company do the work, although Brian and his coworker were extremely professional. I had multiple concerns that kept me from hiring BB's Bricks, even though so many Angie's List members rated them very high. Here are things that kept me from using them: 1) When I asked for a certificate of insurance (workers' comp, general liability), I received the top page of the insurance, which is not the same as a COI. I issue COIs in my job (I'm a safety specialist and my company does workers' comp). The top page shows only limited info on the policy. I ended up calling the state to see if there was valid workers' comp for the company. Brian himself does not need it, because he is a sole proprietor, but his crew does. Only two people were covered on the policy. 2) The general liability insurance I asked for came as a PDF from the insurance agent after my note to Brian that I still didn't have enough info. The insurance agent sent me a PDF file that would not open. I am an expert w/computers and have PDF Pro (formerly Acrobat Distiller), so I wondered if the agent knew what she was doing when she sent it. 3) The quote was the biggest concern. It seemed a little too inexpensive and Brian emphasized the word "cash" several times. While I'm happy to pay a contractor cash, it was the emphasis on it that made the next item look really odd. He also was sure my chimney wasn't moving or sinking and, while he did a lot of measuring with a level, I later confirmed with a structural engineer that the chimney was moving. He seemed to know less about the foundation than Brickworks. I don't fault Brian for that and I appreciate he gave me a very low-priced job. I would have preferred if he said, "This is a big problem but there's a cheap way to address it if you plan to stay here only a few years, and just be sure you disclose the problem to the next owner." 4) The quote was written on a blank, carbonless form like you could buy at any office supply store. Brian wrote "BB's Bricks" in the address section. There was no address, no license number, and no identifying info for the company anywhere on the form, other than this hand-written info. There were no legal terms or disclaimers or anything to protect me or him. Here's the part that really scared me: he wrote his first name and the first name of his coworker on the top, along with cell phone numbers. Guaranteed work ought to come with last names! 5) Brian seemed very reliable and returned phone calls/responded to messages. On the day he came to give me a quote, meeting me when he promised he would, he phoned beforehand and said, "I'm finishing up a job in Troy. I'll be there within an hour." He and his coworker arrived and they were the two cleanest brick guys I'd ever met. If he truly had been finishing a job, I would have expected to see a little brick dust on him. It sort of took away from the credibility, although I appreciated he'd probably cleaned up to come over and do the quote. I hired Brickworks instead due to past experience as well as completely correct paperwork and quote. Brian Borsa seemed very reliable and I know everyone else at Angie's List loved him, so I'm not criticizing his work. I'm suggesting that, from a legal perspective, a homeowner could run a risk hiring this company if all insurance paperwork is not correct. Get a COI (certificate of insurance) that clearly shows liability AND workers' comp so that, if someone were injured, you would not get sued. The B and C grades below are not because of bad work, because I had no work done. They are because of missing paperwork and inability to produce standard business documents. As a young businessperson, Brian may be able to improve this with time.

The job exceeded expectations. They were prompt, polite and professional

Couldn't be happier with the work that Brian's crew did. We have a relatively old pinkish style brick that somehow they were able to find matches for that other contractors told us wasn't possible. Very good quality work! Would highly recommend them to anyone.

Extremely well. They treated the work on my house as if it was their own home.

Outstanding! The workers showed up early and worked a full day!!! No long cigarette breaks, no long lunch breaks. Most of all, they were meticulous in finishing the work and took great care. They also fixed a few things they saw without charging us. We called many chimney contractors, some didn't call back, some didn't show up for the bid and BB's bricks were by far the most reliable, reasonable and best of all finished the job well--not very common for contractors!

It went very well. The typical weather issues at times that no one can control. They look good and my mom thinks they look wonderful. She was getting too old to deal with the old stairs. All these years of dealing with uneven steps, tread sizes, and rise are finally over with. Now it has nice even 8" rises to the top of the porch. The pad was slightly bigger than anticipated but, I am pretty sure I was informed they may have to do that in advance. I am just glad I don't have to worry any more about my mom and those old steps. Job well done Brian and BB's Bricks! I am not easy to please but, you have made me happy(and my mom exstatic). Thank you, Rob

We couldn't be happier with the way the job went from all perspectives. Brian always let us know where they were in the project, when they arrived to start work for the day, and when they were finished for the day. Clean up after the day's work was thorough. The communication throughout the project was great; Brian and Chris checked in with us whenever they had specific questions. They were definitely after making the client happy. The final result is great. We're very pleased. The team was always very respectful and helpful; adjusting schedules if needed, considerate of where they kept what they needed to do their work (ie. sand in the driveway). Frankly, one of, if not the, best experience we've had with any vendor.

Let me say from the start that this is a good company to hire. I have used many subcontractors through the years for work on my 58 year old home and this company ranks in the top tier. Brian came out to give me an estimate within 2 days of contacting him and arrived at the appointed time. His prices were right in line with other estimate's I received. Once I decided to hire Brian he put my project on his calendar and beat his estimated start day by a week due to cooperative weather. Brian's crew arrived on time, completed the project to my satisfaction, and left the site clean. Thank goodness for Angie's list! I hired BB's Bricks due to the company's favorable ratings on this site.

Brian and his crew did top quality work. The finished portion of wall looks great, blends well with the rest of the brick, and should stay in position much better than the original one thanks to their use of numerous connectors. The job took a bit longer than originally estimated, but the end product was definitely worth waiting for. The crew cleaned up well after themselves and left no mess. Brian kept us informed about progress and overall was a pleasure to work with. Highly recommended!

Brian came over and gave me a quote, and it was close, but i ended up going with another contractor. Even though I went with the other contractor this time, I would hire Brian in the future for services. I was impressed with his attention to detail and professionalism. The statement of work and quotes were so close, I had to ponder over them for a week to make a decision. Thank you, Arun Sivan

got to work right away. knew what they were doing and got it done. I was very happy with the work.

Did a great job. Fixed all mortar cracks and replaced cracked bricks.

Chris and Brian were great. They came out on the holiday weekend and tore down a huge chimney/fireplace and then rebuilt the wall like the chimney and fireplace were never there. These guys are very professional, safe, and make sure to clean up like they were never there. The work is beautiful and Chris is so easy and great to work with. Thank you to all of the guys at BB's Bricks for making this such an easy process. I hated that chimney and fireplace and now its gone. I am so happy with this company.

Brian and Chris did a terrific job. My step is 7 1/2 feet wide and 17 1/2 inches deep. My original estimate was $500 unless the foundation needed to be rebuilt which would be an additional $250.00. They thought it would take about 4 hours to do the job. They saved as many bricks as possible as they took it apart, and I had quite a few left over bricks from when it was originally put in 30 years ago. The foundation was a mess so that had to be redone as well. 8 1/2 hours later they were done. Because they were half bricks and wavy, it took a long time to lay them. Brian and Chris are perfectionists , and wanted to make sure sure the step looked perfect. IT DOES. They have a great work ethic and treated my step as though it was the most important job in the world. I know that they had better things to do on a Friday night but they didn't rush just to get it done, they wanted it done correctly.

OUTSTANDING!! We had 3 bids, this was in the middle. It was clear when they came to give the bid that they knew what they were doing. There was no effort to up-sell the job. They arrived on time, did exactly what they were supposed to do (even though they had some problematic weather -- hot and wet -- to contend with). And VERY importantly to me, they cleaned up afterwards so there was no trace of them having worked here. Because of the weather, the work took a couple days longer than originally expected, but there was no whining on their part, or additional payment sought. 3-4 different people worked on the job various days, but the core 2 were here all days. Very pleasant, personable, honest, and hard working guys. I'm normally a severe critic with contractors, but there were only accolades to give in this case. A job very well done. They even suggested adding a slight flare to the top of the chimney to improve the weather resistance -- looks GREAT!! Absolutely no hesitation hiring them again if needed.

Absolutely great! Brian and his employee do outstanding work. They were extremely customer service oriented starting from the estimate and setting up the schedule for the box. Keep in mind that his work is in high demand so plan accordingly. In our case, due to the bricks and limestone taking a bit longer to come in, there was about a 3 week delay from the estimate to the installation. It was well worth the wait. These guys do not slack on the job. Constantly working from the time that they arrive to the time they left. They communicated with us during the project as we checked on them in various stages of the install. In the end, the column looks outstanding and extremely professional. Highly recommend them to anyone!

I reviewed 3 contractors and this one agreed to do what I asked. Brian of BB's bricks communicated with me through the Angie's list system while the other one's demanded to talk on the phone. I don't like getting calls when it's inconvenient. BB's bricks did all that. We texted back and forth which I think is convenient for the both of us. The other contractors that I didn't go with wouldn't put grout sealer between the brick pavers on the porch but BB's bricks did. I found a design I liked on the internet as a template and then requested modifications like "coining" of the bricks which BB's bricks was happy to do. The brick mailbox they built looks great! I set a deadline of July 4th and they beat it by several days.

Have never had better service and would not hesitate to recommend the cleaning of gas fireplace.

BB's Bricks did a great job. Brian and his team were professional and incredibly polite. Brian answered all of our questions when he came out to do the estimate. His price was very competitive. They did great work and cleaned up everything when they were finished. Our porch looks wonderful. We would have them come out to do work again.

They were there for 3 days. They were very patient and kind as I had some issues with the water valve to my backyard. They finished on time and they even put all my patio furniture back in place. Brian and his crew are really nice guy's.

The screen on the top of the chimney looks good and the chimney sweeping job was very good. He was very neat doing the job inside and left it looking great! He noticed another potential trouble spot and recommended we get it repaired in the next year and gave us an approximate estimate. I feel he is honest and trustworthy.

Very nice on the phone, explained he was very busy, but I thought he would be able to make it out within a week. I need to move on my project and can't wait around just to get a price.

Brian responded quickly to my initial call and was able to come out for a quote in a timely manner. After having several other companies come out to give an estimate on the same work, we chose BBs because they were very reasonably priced and could perform the work immediately. Brian called to schedule a time to come out to perform the work, and he stuck to that time. He and his crew were on time and did great work for the three days they were at the house. They even did more work than was originally quoted. All were polite, worked the entire time they were here, and completely cleaned everything up after they were done. I highly recommend BBs Bricks and would definitely use them again.

very well, job fast good, people very nice and efficient