Birkenmeier & Sons Inc

The whole process from the estimate all the way through to the finished product was a pleasure. Al was prompt and professional. Everything was completed in a timely fashion and they were great about protecting my furniture and cleaning up after themselves. We would definitely us them again in the future.

It went perfect! Al and his co-worker Gary arrived at the appointed time and day and were ready to go. Securing the 2-story back "sun" porches was difficult and intense. It certainly was more involved than both Al and I anticipated. But Al did not charge me more for that additional work. Al has done work for me before and it is always done to beyond my expectations and my expectations are high. They did a great job for me and I feel very secure that those porches are safe to use. They increased the structural capacity. Installed galvanized hangers and other structural items to code. I don't understand all of it but the engineer who said it needed to be done gave me the ok. I read a previous review that stated Al was a misogynist. I am a woman and have worked in the woman's movement for 34 years and take great pride in being a feminist. I understand misogyny and confront it on a very regular basis. It is not a word to use lightly. Al Birkenmeier has never exhibited any behavior that even comes near being misogynistic. I respect him and he very obviously respects me and I highly recommend any client female or male to hire him. Sincerely, Michelle

Birkenmeier and Sons Inc. just completed an entire re-roof on our existing home where they had to do a complete tear off and install new architectural roof shingles over the proper Ice/Water Shield and underlayment. They did an awesome job and completed all in one day of our fairly large roof. His men were very polite and did a very good job of cleaning up. My husband and I highly recommend them for any and all home improvements as we know of several clients they have worked for with glaring recommendations from all of them.

I had multiple contractors come out a provide many reasons for the separation from a sinking foundation needing peering, water damage requiring full basement waterproofing as well as full tear down and replacement of the bricks. Al responded immediately to my phone call requesting a quote and had his masonry man Dan out to my house to inspect the brick work and advise what needed to be done. Dan showed me that the issue had been poor workmanship back in 1963 when the home was built. The contractor did not provide adequate anchoring for the brick to the framework of the home. The quote was competative and comparable to other similar repair offers. Dan was the only one who came to my house while I was there to show me what was needed and how it would be fixed. In addition, Dan went out of his way to find matching bricks for the home. The size of the bricks made in the 60's are larger than those made today. He found a number of styles that he thought would work and offered me the opportunity to look at them and choose what I thought would work best. I was surprised that the bricks Dan selected were nearly a match to the 50 year old brick on the front of my house. I selected the brick, they were delivered when promised and Dan's work was superb. He even went to extremes to ensure the mortar color matched perfectly. This team was the only ones that offered the opportunity for an exact match. The others promised "as close as possible". In addition I asked to have them to repair some cracked bricks and do needed tuck pointing. Finally, I told them I had water leakage around my chimneys and had a number of roofers come and repair the flashing on more than one occasion. The leakage continued. Al, inspected the chimney and advised it was not the roofing but the chimney itself. Dan came out and made the necessary repairs. The service, response and trustworthiness was wonderful. The service and workmanship provided was much better than anticipated and a bargain for what I had to pay

This work went GREAT and dust & debris was kept to a minimum!

It went GREAT & turned out beautiful!. Plumbing (natural gas and water) along with electrical was included.

It went GREAT & turned out beautiful!

I first met Al through Angie's List in March 2014. He was one of 5 contractors I interviewed to complete a large home renovation project. He stood out immediately from the other contractors as someone who was knowledgeable, responsible, honest, and fair. We hired him and were not disappointed. Al completed our first project on-time and on-budget. He was a dream to work with. Al completed our first project in August 2014. He allowed us to call with any questions or concerns long after it's completion and went to bat for us against a major plumbing product company re: a defective faucet. He takes customer service to a new level. Al recently completed another large project for us, a complete basement renovation. Al and his team were just as wonderful to work with a second time. I give his name out to anyone I know that is considering home renovation projects. At least two of my neighbors have used his services just based on seeing him and his hard working crew getting started at 6:30 AM and completing a beautiful project in no time. I noticed a recent review that unfairly calls Al a misogynist. I was floored by this review, until I noticed that this reviewer did not actually hire Al for his services. She obviously does not know Al. I am a young woman, who knows nothing about home improvement. I dealt almost exclusively with Al as my husband has a demanding job and works long hours. I was also very pregnant and hormonal during our first project;). Yes, Al, I'll admit it. Al was always kind to me and treated me like an equal. He took time to explain anything I asked him and never made me feel like this was a man's territory. He was equally caring towards my children, who were often in tow for meetings. This judgement of Al is simply not true. Anyone who really knows him can attest to this. Al, I hope I am done with you as I can't handle anymore home improvement at the moment and you've made my house pretty perfect. You will however always get a Christmas card from me and we enjoy getting yours as well. We consider you family. Angie's List subscriber, you would be darn lucky if Al was available to hire for your job. He is one in a million!

In 2014, Al Birkenmeier and multiple subcontractors (all identified and managed by Al) assisted us in major renovations and upgrades in an older family home in Kirkwood. Al and his team did an excellent job and we are very pleased with the results (as noted in my lengthy review posted in December 2014). Based on this positive experience we asked Al to assist us with some additional smaller projects. He organized and supervised the repair and partial replacement of siding at our home and also with the adjustment of doors and jambs after the original reno, which had included repair to a damaged foundation wall. He also assisted with oversight for some exterior landscaping work and followup. We needed a custom built bookshelf for our sunroom and Al personally oversaw the planning and design of all the components of the shelf and then returned multiple times to ensure that the spacing, molding and painting were done correctly. This is not just a bookshelf, but a masterpiece, which really completes the wall in the sunroom. Al?s attention to detail and commitment to quality are exemplified in this final work, but reflected in all that he did for us in remaking our home.

I have hired Al Birkenmeier for a number of projects over the last 5-6 years, ranging from this relatively modest fence repair project to a large-scale kitchen and office renovation. The best review that I can give is that I will hire Al again for my next project. His combination of skill, quality and communication set him apart from all other contractors that I've ever hired. Al will do the job the right way and will keep you informed of any issues. Most recently I noticed some rotting in a very expensive wooden fence around my property. Al identified some faulty construction techniques as the source of water infiltration and devised a plan to permanently solve the issue that did not involve replacing more of the fence than was necessary - but did involve taking extra time to seal all the new wood being used before installing it. He also introduced me to a new painter who provided good service at an attractive price.

Our first contacts were great, and Al was pleasant and attentive. I was impressed with Al's ability to bring together all of his subs to my property to determine a bid. I met with each sub separately to walk through the project with him. I felt Al was knowledgeable and would be a good contractor; I hoped his bid would be on budget. He told me he understood that I was in a hurry and would try to expedite the bid, which I greatly appreciated. As time went on, Al had various reasons about why the bid was not complete-- he's too busy, he's a "top shelf contractor" (per one email exchange) and may not be the best option for my job, he was waiting for subs to respond with numbers. After nearly a month of waiting for his bid, Al emailed me and said that my plans were not complete enough, he had too many questions on the project from his subs, he could not "guess" on what the numbers would be, that he had a responsibility to his existing clients and 4 more clients waiting for bids ahead of me, and that he would no longer provide a bid. This was unprofessional; he could have told me from the initial meeting that he just didn't have time for my project --or even that he was too busy to give me a bid from the very start! If he had so many questions about my plans, I would have been happy to pressure the architect to finalize the details and send them to him immediately. If his subs had questions, they all had my information (and the information for the architect/designer) and could have contacted me or asked him to follow up on the information. We had several emails where I inquired about the bid and he responded with why he hadn't finalized yet, without ever asking for additional information. Instead of providing me a chance to assist with the detailed plans or additional information OR just declining the job from the beginning, he cost me two weeks of work while waiting for his bid (in the meantime, I received three other bids for the job). Nothing personal to Al himself-- he was a nice, decent guy. UPDATED IN RESPONSE TO PROVIDER: It is an unfortunate truth that being a woman in this industry is not easy. Misogyny is alive and well, and is clearly exemplified by Mr. Birkenmeier's comments. I (a woman) am the client in this situation, and I contracted my husband's architecture firm to do my drawings (a firm that has been incredibly successful for over 40 years.) Mr. Birkenmeier is merely displaying his hopes at discrediting my review, and I will not let him bait me into some sort of childish slapping contest. Mr. Birkenmeier previously contacted me via email after my first review in an attempt to guilt me into changing it. I did edit the wording to be somewhat softer, but I cannot be dishonest when it comes to these reviews. It defeats the purpose and ultimately is a disservice to all Angie's List users. Needless to say, the roof is still standing. The architect and the structural engineer involved are both at the tops of their industries, and to be quite frank, the only amateur here appears to be the one who was unable to complete his job with the adequate information required. It makes me sad that in this day and age there is still so much anti-woman sentiment, but at least there is a place like Angie's list where I can let other women see for themselves the depths to which some of these men can sink.

Al Birkenmeier, and his assistant, Gary, did an exceptional job on the renovation project that I needed a general contractor for. With over 40 years in the contracting and home building profession, I could not be more pleased with the end product...he gave me exactly what I wanted. Very professional, easy-going, prompt and precise with all the tools of the trade to get the job done. I would not hesitate to use Al again in the future and/or refer him to anyone in need of general construction. Exceptional work.

Al was fantastic from beginning to end. A downright nice guy, he communicated promptly and professionally. Perhaps we could have gotten the services at a slightly lower cost elsewhere, but he seemed like a great balance of cost vs. quality and he made sure we understood what he was doing and why throughout the whole process. On some things he was a perfectionist where it counted: our front door closes butter smooth. On other things (the particular drywall mudding sub-contractor he chose, for example) he could have done better, but it was a matter of getting an excellent drywall job in exchange for having to deal with a less-than-professional person doing the work. In the "win some, lose some" game, Al won in all the areas that counted. I will go to him first in the future for work that needs to be done.

Every aspect of the work and service from bid to final bill was outstanding. Al was always communicative, professional and helpful as were his employees and subs. The work was done on schedule and on budget. He even did some custom work to make the vanity top and vanity that we purchased separately fit together when we thought they wouldn't. Throughout the project they were very organized and used plastic walls to contain dust so their presence was of minimal impact to our daily routine. We now have a GREAT looking bathroom with pocket doors and a new walk in closet in one of the rooms.

Of the quotes I received from various companies Birkenmeier and Son's was the most thorough and realistic. They showed up to begin work on schedule and stayed with the job until it was finished. I was unable to be present during the work and had no reservations about allowing them in my home. The work was completed on time and to my satisfaction. I would certainly use them again.

When Birkenmeier and Sons did some repairs on my home it was not necessarily my intention to have him also do my roof and gutters. However, the first job was so painless that I asked him to give me a quote for the roof and gutters. His pricing was better than I had been expecting and the convenience of using the same team was very appealing. The roof and gutters look great and they fixed what was a problem for many years with water getting behind the siding.

I called and left a message with Al with my concerns about my garage. Al called me back in a very timely fashion. We set up a time for him to come look at the situation. Al arrived to my house on time on the day of the appointment and called me to tell me he was on his way. He was thorough and unrushed in his diagnosis of my problem. After he left, we emailed several times to discuss the details of the project. Al is prompt in his response to e-mails and phone calls, which I really appreciate. The work was done sooner than completed and Al was great with communication. I think the price may of been a tad high for the work done, but I think it was well worth it for the peace of mind to know it was done right and that Al was always there to alleviate concerns. I wouldn't hesitate to use him again and I have several other projects I will use him for in the future. Thanks, Al.

Great job, extremely clean job site after each day and at project's completion.

Al was very professional from the beginning. Most of his sub-contractors were easy to work with and did excellent work. Al doesn't do design, but he recommended someone to help us with that who ended up doing a great job. He estimated the job to take 6-8 weeks, and it was finished as predicted in 8 weeks. He was very responsive to all our questions and concerns. I will use him again in the future.

Al was very professional from the beginning. Most of his sub-contractors were easy to work with and did excellent work. Al doesn't do design, but he recommended someone to help us with that who ended up doing a great job. He estimated the job to take 6-8 weeks, and it was finished as predicted in 8 weeks. He was very responsive to all our questions and concerns. I will use him again in the future.

Al of Birkenmeier and sons, Inc. was extremely professional, punctual and courteous, as was his crew. Unforeseen issues arose when the wall was taken down. The wall, which was not supposed to be a weight bearing wall, was bearing the weight of two bathrooms above it. The ceiling above had to be jacked up 2 in.in order to begin. The main stack of the plumbing was found to leaking, and had to be replaced, as well as supply and return water lines moved to the opposite side of the room.Termite damage was also found in the tearout phase, with replacement of subfloor needed. Despite these setbacks, Al and his team worked diligently to keep our project on schedule, and kept inconvenience to our large family to a minimum. He and his team were polite, and proactive with subcontractors, keeping the project moving. Al was communicative, direct, and congenial to work with. We are completely satisfied with our expanded kitchen dining space, the openness of our new hearth room, and the beauty of the added natural light.It has modernized our 50 year old home in such a livable way!

Going into this, I was worried that my construction job was going to be a big mess but it turned out to be a very pleasant experience. No matter what questions I had, Al was available to answer them. He called or emailed me back quickly and made sure I was comfortable with all the steps of the project. He took care of a couple of issues before they could became problems, and that was such a relief! His workers were very kind, professional and treated my home with total respect! I would use Birkenmeier and Sons again without hesitation.

We were very pleased with the whole experience, all the way from the bidding process to the finished project. The workers were punctual, courteous and professional. They did a great job of cleaning up when they were finished. Our roof looks beautiful!

Everything was great and they kept my house CLEAN!!!!

They were clean, fast, professional and I trusted them to be in my house while I was at work. I already have them coming out to do more work for me around my house. They loved our dog and could not haven been any nicer, professional and fair. They were half the cost of our other bids and did an amazing job. I highly recommend them.