Holmlund Masonry Inc

The angle irons supporting my basement windows were so corroded that I could pull them apart with my fingers. The crew, Mario and Marcello, did a beautiful job. They managed not to disturb the stucco above the brick; they cleaned and reused the old brick above the angle irons, so there was no need to get new brick that would not have matched as perfectly. The new angle irons arrived primed and painted on only one side. I immediately phoned Tim Holmlund, and he brought paint-primer spray to the work site. Not the lowest bid, but I chose this contractor because of their 5-year warranty on labor and materials. Their bid stated they would leave the area in a clean condition at the termination of work “equivalent or better than per-work conditions.” However, I had to remind them twice to clean up the dust left on my deck, rear entry and garage door from grinding out the old mortar.

Arrived as promised, work was completed within one day, even with a rain delay, good cleanup. Globally a good experience.

I had an excellent experience with Holmlund masonry. They returned my phone call and promptly gave me an estimate. They worked with me to stay within my budget. Each detail was clearly explained. They returned the next day at about 8:00 a.m. and stayed until about 6 or 7:00 p.m. to complete the job. They left the area clean. I can't say enough about the quality of the work. Also although they replaced bricks with a different less porous type the match was perfect.

Overall, Holmlund Masonry did an excellent job. The estimate was prompt, clearly written in sufficient detal, and the estimator clearly explained what was to be done and answered my questions. The work was done promptly and professionally. The old chimney and planter were removed and most of the new chimney was built in one day. The excellent roof work was completed on the third day. I had several questions during the construction that were promptly and satisfactorily answered by company representatives. Cleanup was done promptly and completely. The workers were diligent and quiet. The new brick was a very good match to the old brick. My wife and I are very pleased with the results. Contractor promptly delivered samples of brick before the work began.

The owner was involved in the bidding process. The brickwork did look nice when they were done. We thought it was decorative brick along the bottom of our home, but we didn't know and they didn't identify, that it was actually concrete molding on the bottom. They demolished that and half of the foundation wall before I actually came back from work, so there was a lot of negotiation about how to remedy it. I was really uncomfortable about filling in with cement where the foundation was. The owner did stay involved and they offered a really long warranty. They did it one way and I was uncomfortable, so they did the rest of it another way. I was pretty frustrated about that. The owner came on the final day of work and wanted payment right then. The price was pretty good.

Very well, the crew came at 8am and finished within 3 hours. They were professional and took care of the yard to ensure a clean job that was well done. We were very happy with the service.

Service was timely. Company representatives were easilty reached. No issues or surprises.

They were great. They were prompt and cleaned up. They job they did was wonderful. Their prices were competitive; they were neither the highest nor the lowest.

Overall it went very well. They were very quick to respond to my first call and did an estimate fairly quickly. The estimate was typed up, easy to read and detailed. It included pictures of what was to be repaired and a brochure that explained their services. They started the project when they said they would and completed it within 2 days. They cleaned up everything very thoroughly. I couldn't even tell they had been there. They were also very friendly. I would definately recommend them.

Once I gave him the go-ahead, the work was done about a week later, all in one day. A crew came out early in the morning, and finished up around 8 or 9 at night. Everything was cleaned up nicely when they left. The chimney now looks great, you can't really tell where the new bricks are unless you really get up close and look, they did a great job matching the color. (The old bricks were spalling and not in good shape, so they couldn't be reused). Very happy with the quality of the work.

Tim came out to my house to estimate a job in that involved cosmetic work on an interior brick wall facade of a fireplace that had been water-damaged, particularly the mortar. The fireplace brick is called "Old Chicago," and is reused brick from buildings in Chicago that were torn down at about the time my house was built. The fireplace was originally wood-burning, which I had converted to a gas insert fireplace. I thought the water problem that had caused the damage was solved. But Tim got up on my roof and took pictures of the cracked concrete "cap," and also showed me where the mortar had eroded between some of the bricks. The pictures were helpful, but these problems were also evident just from looking at the chimney. Nonetheless, I was sort of dubious... I thought to myself "just because there is a crack in the cement cap doesn't mean enough rain is coming in to cause damage." (Duh) But then that night, after I had taken off the glass door of the fireplace in order to expose the brick, I heard a plinking noise in the firebox. Yes, it was rain. Now, I realize there may be a little rain that comes down one's chimney, but this wasn't an occasional drip. It was plinking a very merry tune. Well, I thought, this can't be good. So I was plenty glad I had signed the contract for repairs to the chimneys as well as doing the cosmetic work. The tuck pointing and chimney repair is great, and the cosmetic fix to the Old Chicago fireplace also looks very good. In addition to tuck pointing the interior fireplace, they "bricked in" four areas where originally there had been black metal grills that were no longer necessary to the fireplace's operation. Tim suggested I brick them in because they were no longer functional. I didn't expect it, but it made a vast improvement in the appearance of the fireplace. There isn't any Old Chicago brick around anymore, but they matched the brick so well that unless you specifically look for the patches, you really can't see them. I appreciated their craftsmanship. Just an additional note: In the course of getting four estimates, all contractors said it was "Old Chicago" brick, and all but one said there was also efflorescence (one contractor said it was paint, but the substance was powdery and came off when I touched it). But Tim was the only one who got up on the roof and pointed out the deteriorating mortar. Without repairing the source of the problem, eventually the mortar would have again deteriorated and I would have been right back where I'd started.

I was told that their only problem was their promptness. I called them out and they proved that wrong, because their timeliness was amazing. The the work was great.

The job went well. Tim Holmlund gave us detailed and professional quotes in November of 2007 for several different options, ranging from repairing the flashing only to complete replacement. We were not ready to have the job done at that time. We called them again in August of 2008, and Tim came out right away on 8-19-08. The original prices were not changed. We decided to do the complete replacement. They did all the masonry work on Saturday, 8-23-08, and completed the flashing and roof on Monday, 8-25-08. The results look very good. They cleaned up well.

There were some confusion about our address but Tim was very nice once he got there. We thought we had more damage but it wasn't so bad and he gave us two options. Fixing it for $300 or rebuilding it from the roof for $2,400.00.

I would give the company another chance.

They were very prompt and responsive to our call. However, they were very highly priced.

I called for an estimate and someone came out at some point (they didn't tell me when they were coming, and when they came they didn't alert me) soon after I called. Tim Holmlund sent me the most professional estimate I have ever seen. (This was the reason I selected this company over others). The estimate was well put together, outlined all the work to be done; it was really great. I called Holmlund to schedule the work and didn't hear back for a couple of days; when I did hear, the worked was scheduled for later that week. The crew arrived at 8:30 on a Saturday morning (earlier than expected) and completed the job (and cleanup) by 12:30. They didn't alert me to their arrival, explain to me what was happening, or tell me when they were done. I wish there had been a bit more interaction; you can't tell if they did the job by just looking at the chimney (which, by the way looks great!) There was some confusion about payment, due mostly to poor communication.

It went well. Tim Holmlund showed up promptly to give an estimate and then started work on the bricks the next day (spring time), he went up and took picture of our chimney and showed us that it needed to be recapped, etc. We also had him build brick foundations for our new columns on the back of our house. He had to come back a number of times to complete the job.

They were prompt to come out and do an estimate, and fairly priced, so I went ahead without another bid. They come out and did the work on the day they promised and the work was well done and I think the price was fair. It was an easy process because of my faith in Angie's list.

We needed a significant amount of masonry work. The team spent just two days grinding, and one very efficient day of tuckpointing. Tim Holmlund was very responsive through the whole process. They cleaned up after themselves. The color of the mortar matched very closely with prior tuckpointing work that had been done on our home. The crew started with one batch that didn't quite match the original color, and Tim decided to undo the work and re-do the section to get a better match (without us asking). During the quote process, there was an area that we mentioned a concern about, but it was not included in our quote. After the work was completed and we noticed the section wasn't done, we mentioned it to Tim. He came back and did the work on that section for no additional cost. We are very happy with the work they did, and definitely will consider them for possible future work, and recommending to other people.

Tim arrived on time, and was very pleasant to work with. I felt he did a thorough job of reviewing the project. He bid separately on each chimney - the cost listed is the total for all three chimneys. I obtained bids from three contractors - ranging from $3,000 to $13,700. Tim's bid was by far the highest. Nice guy, but way too expensive. We chose the mid-range bid, which was half of Holmlund's price.

Tim was on time for the estimate and listened to my concerns talked about how the process was going to work. He worked around my schedule to complete the work on a Saturday that way I could be home. His guys arrived on time and spent all day working hard. This was a very challenging job, and I think Tim might have under-estimated what it was going to take. That didn't change the quality of work, these guys were perfectionists. The Birch arch matches the fireplace perfectly. Me and my wife were so satisfied with how things were going we bought them pizza for lunch and gave each of them a $20 dollar tip at the end. I highly recommend these guys.

The workers arrived and removed the old brick. Then they put in the matching brick. We had a busy day with other work being done and I was impressed with their speed and skill. Tim came over in person to collect the payment a few days later.

Work was satisfactory - garage was done ok - planter tuckpointing repair was shoddy - was sloppy and color did not match well. Work crew was very messy - had drops of concrete on my front concrete walk, brick pavers and driveway. Company came back to acid wash the walkways, etc. - noticed little improvement.

The quality of the work was mostly very good. The tuck pointing, masonry, & general concrete work was mostly very good. However, I was disappointed in the attention to detail in a few portions of the work, in particular to a section where the border to the concrete steps was sloppily applied and did not match. I complained and they were responsive, they cleaned up what they could and applied a sealer, but there was only so much they could do after the concrete had been poured. In addition, I was also frustrated by some of the initial communication describing exactly the details about the way I wanted the project done. By the time I was able to communicate with them, the concrete forms were already in and the concrete was ready to be poured. I feel Holmlund was responsive to my issues, which I do appreciate, but the situations I encountered should have been avoided by proactive communication and attention to detail. I would recommend them with pause & encourage close oversight.