TWIN CITIES MASONRY

Beware: Do not use Twin Cities Masonry or owner Terry Holter for your home repairs/projects On 3/1/24 Terry at Twin Cities Masonry (TCM) provided an estimate for two projects I was considering at my home. I explicitly asked that he break out the prices for the two projects, as I was getting numerous estimates for the work, and wanted the ability to easily compare and choose what portion of the work I wanted any particular vendor to complete. He provided the following: 1) A stucco repair for cracks in the stucco on my chimney. a. Recommended a complete chimney tear-down and rebuild. $24,500 2) A minor repair and resetting of some cosmetic stonework on the front of my home. a. Recommended new footings and reset stones with new mortar. $1200 To complete the contract, Terry wrote “$25,700 or circle choices.” After receiving several other estimates for the first repair, with no other vendors recommending a full chimney rebuilt, I chose a vendor who was able to complete the chimney repair for $3800. On 4/29/24: I emailed the executed contract to TCM, and followed up with the mailed copy. As instructed, I crossed-out the chimney work, and circled the portion for #2 - the cosmetic portion of the work and mailed it with a check for $600 - half of that work, as instructed on the estimate. On 5/13/24: since I had heard nothing back from TCM, I sent a follow-up email. On 05/14/24 at 5:05 PM, Terry Holter from TCM called me to discuss the contract. He asked what happened with the Chimney repair, and why I had opted to not have him do that work. I told him I went with a vendor to repair the stucco for that work, rather than replace the entire chimney. He then said he wasn’t interested in doing the second part of the work for the $1200 he quoted, and suggested that he would do it for $2400. I told him that wasn’t acceptable, as he had quoted $1200 for that portion of the work, and told me to circle which portion of the work I wanted to have him do. He said “ok, if you want to play it that way.” I told him I wasn’t attempting to “play” anything, and simply expected that any contractor would abide by the terms of their written estimates. He said “well, it may take a while to get to you then.” I told him that was fine, as it was cosmetic work, so he should contact me when he can fit this work in between other work, as I know it isn’t a large job. At that point, TCM proceeded to ignore my repeated follow-ups: 06/14/24: I sent an email: “Good afternoon and happy Friday Terry, I wanted to follow-up on the executed contract I mailed on 5/15, with a check. The check hasn’t yet been cashed so i wanted to confirm you received it. Please let me know. Thank you.” 7/10/24: I sent another follow-up email: “Good morning Terry, I hope your summer is going well. I wanted to follow-up again on our contract, so we can get the work scheduled. I haven’t heard back from you since our conversation in mid-May, and while I know the work is not top priority, I do want to get a sense of approximate timing.” 08/07/24: Good morning Terry, I am again following up on the executed contract. I have received no response at all to my repeated inquiries. The only time was our phone conversation on May 14th when we confirmed the work to be completed under the terms of the contract, and you indicated the work would be scheduled as your existing jobs allowed. While I understand summer is a busy season, and I can be flexible for the work completion date, I do deserve a response and at least a provisional start date. The favor of a response is appreciated. As always, you may also reach me by voice or text at XXX-XXX-XXXX. 08/07/24: For the first time, Terry responded to an email from me as follows: Hi Aaron, Is this a joke? We have no executed contract… The proposal wasn’t sent within the 30 days of the original proposal date and thus was revoked as it states on the proposal as it also states we will not be bound by an oral acceptance. I have no idea why you continue to email me. I have no signed contract or deposit from you and have no interest in working with you. Good luck with your project. Best Wishes, Terry Holter Twin Cities Masonry 2002 Ramlow Place Saint Paul, MN 55116 612-702-9210 terry@twincitiesmasonry.com Summary: 1) TCM is recommending repairs that go far beyond the scope of what is required, to enrich themselves. 2) TCM is attempting to change written estimates after the fact, to charge far more than originally quoted. In cases where customers refuse to allow this, TCM then simply refuses to honor the original estimate – effectively “ghosting” their potential clients. 3) TCM then claims to have never had such a contract or agreement. In this particular case, since I did not execute the contract within 30 days, there would have been nothing illegal about Terry simply stating that he wouldn’t accept the contract during our conversation in May. While that would have been unethical - as he was trying to double the cost of the quoted repair within 60 days of the original quote – it would not have been illegal. But – that’s not what he did. He agreed to move forward, and did not change his story until months later. However, Terry Holter and Twin Cities Masonry are a business who I would never work with, given their shoddy, unprofessional and unethical business practices.

Terry gave us a sound estimate, explained thoroughly what he would do and showed up at the promised time. He did the work in less than two days and the results are excellent. He kept expenses consistent with the estimate. We would definitely hire him again.

Terry is great to work with. Other companies would not do the work (or did not follow through with an estimate). Terry was very responsive, gave an estimate on the spot (and added in a couple of things at no charge). He saw the work as straightforward. He and his worker were here first thing in the morning ready to go - organized, considerate and thorough. He came back the next day to clean everything. He is busy so get on his schedule early.

Excellent. Good communication. Good work. Wish we could have gotten work done quicker but busy season and happy to wait for quality work.

I contacted Terry in the late summer in the hope that the work could be completed before winter. He responded promptly, came to our home and met with us. He advised that they would be unable to complete the work this year, but assured me that the work could be done in the spring and completed prior to an event which we have scheduled in our home for late May. Terry told me that he would prepare a written proposal with pricing for our consideration, which we looked forward to receiving. We waited patiently for the proposal,, knowing from what Terry told us that this was a particularly busy time of year as the season winds down. When we had not received the proposal by late October, I called Terry for a status report. To my surprise and disappointment he told me that they would be unable to do the work and denied having assured me of their availability to complete the work in the spring. I took Terry at his word—which was a mistake.

Terry, from TC Masonry, was great to deal with. His work and communication were excellent. I would highly recommend TC masonry.

Very professional. Beautiful job

It went extremely well. Visit for estimate was prompt. Terry provided written estimate on the spot. We sent the deposit and he soon called and left a message that someone would be coming to complete the job. They came and did the task.

I called the owner asking for an estimate for a masonry repair near my front door and gutter that needs some tuck pointing. I clearly stated on the phone it was an area of water intrusion and needed repair. He was able to come on the same day as the call, but forced me to come home from work early. He looked at the job and stated it was too small for him and he did not take on water leaks due to liability. I clearly stated the scope of the job on the phone, so why waste my time? If you need masonry repairs, don't bother with these guys. They only want big jobs. I was not happy with the interaction and refusal to even consider writing an estimate. I've never seen a contractor do this on Angies List. Ever.

Terry (the owner) responded right away and gave us a reasonable estimate. He noticed the chimney was not properly capped, so in addition to tuck-pointing he installed a lovely limestone cap to protect the brick. He came back the next day and washed and scrubbed the residual mortar off the brick. Beautiful job. I would definitely hire Twin Cities Masonry again.

Terry, the owner, was always there personally and very hands on. The crew was very hard working and super nice and easy to talk to! Terry and his crew are truly artists. Would definitely recommend them 100%

Overall, very pleased with the work and would recommend and hire again.

Terry the owner or I will never know because he was too busy.

I requested a quote on September 19, 2016 and they never bothered to get back to me.

The work done met all my expectations, which are always on the high side. I found the owner, Terry Holter, very good to do business with. He knows everything there is to know about masonry work, he is smart, pleasant, hard working, fair and honest. I will use him in the future for all the custom brick and stone work that we need to have done.

Two guys that were mason some other guys was helping them cleaned up.

After contacting a few masons, Twin Cities Masonry was the only one that called back in a timely manner. The owner, Terry came out in June to look at my front stoop. The lower step was disintegrating and coming away from the rest of the stoop. After looking at it, Terry said he could repair it by taking the cap stone off and using rebar and concrete to stabilize it. Then he would replace the the cap stone, replace two ugly cement areas with stone, tuck point and power wash. I was relieved that I didn't have to replace the entire front stoop. Terry put me on the schedule and thought it might be late August as they fit in the small jobs between the bigger jobs. I got a call in mid-July from Terry stating that they could do it that week. One of Terry's crew arrived early on the morning of the job, worked all day, cleaned up and finished by dinner time. Terry came by that evening and reviewed the work and made sure I was satisfied. The finished job looks fantastic. Once repaired and power washed it looked like an entirely new porch/stoop.

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We couldn't be more pleased with the result of fine work done by Terry Holter and his capable assistants! Terry was professional from first contact to the end of the job. He responded quickly to our request for an estimate, then kept in touch about scheduling--both with us and with our roofers, who would be coming in shortly after his work was complete. He showed up when he said he would, and completed the work on time. Throughout the process, he was directly involved. His selection of new brick to match our old brick was right on, and when I got nervous about the first chimney being too light in color, he patiently reassured me that it was because he hadn't completed the acid-washing part of the process yet. When that was complete, the brick looked great! On the second chimney, which was to be a roof-up extension of a full chimney (ground up), he offered to reuse the old brick (which was still in great shape) instead of new so that the match would be exact. This involved cleaning the mortar off the old brick in order to secure it with new mortar--more time-consuming than using new brick. So, we have two beautifully rebuilt chimneys, which do not look like they are new. All mortar joints are even and there is no line of demarcation between old and new sections. I looked at a LOT of rebuilt chimneys before we chose Terry, and nowhere did I see the quality of craftsmanship that we experienced. One final comment: when Terry first bid our job, he wrote: and quot;I would love to help in keeping your house beautiful.and quot; That care was demonstrated throughout the project and beyond, as he took the time while he was working on the chimneys to survey the house for other spots that are in need of tuck pointing, and offered a reasonable estimate to do that work as well.

Terry and his crew are top notch. They are efficient - took 9 days to take down the 2 and rebuild. Work site was cleaned each day. Terry is an artist and a mason. Go see the chimneys on his list of references to get a sense of the artistry he can add to a house. My 85 year old house got an unplanned refresh with the new chimneys.

Not knowing the full extent of the damage, we first contacted a stucco company (Think Stucco) to repair the stucco at the top of chimney. They came and tested the the structural integrity of the top of the chimney to determine if it was sound enough to re-stucco. They determined that the structural core was too deteriorated for a long lasting stucco life. Think Stucco could have re-stuccoed the chimney and we wouldn't have been the wiser until five to ten years from now. However, due to their honesty and integrity they said that the stucco job alone would not be long lasting due to the underlying poor condition of the structural brick at the top of the chimney. Think Stucco recommended that we contact Twin Cities Masonry. Terry, the owner and prime tradesman of Twin Cities Masonry, responded to us very quickly. He has rebuilt numerous chimney tops in St. Paul and Minneapolis, and quickly determined the extent of work necessary to provide us with a long lasting chimney. . .one better than the original construction! We found Terry to be honest and trustworthy. His work is of the highest quality and with nice attention to detail. He has two crew members that work with him. As a team they they were very efficient and effective. From the start of the demolition to completion only took three days. We are very proud of the end result.

Terry came out last fall, eyeballed our aging chimney, gave us a quote for a standard chimney overhaul/rebuild. We didn't have the budget to do the work until this spring but when I called him he honored the original quote and put us on the project list for the next several weeks. Shortly after that, he called and said he needed to fill a one-day project opening and that ours was a one-day effort, so his crew could come out the next day. They did a great job and cleaned up well after themselves. A seamless, very enjoyable experience. His communication skills are great - very responsive, easy to get ahold of, does what he says he will do, etc.