Irish Construction

They were fast and friendly

The 80-year-old, 120-foot-long, three-foot-high, concrete retaining wall between my property and my down-hill neighbor was cracked, leaning, and in danger of collapse. After a preliminary research phase, I determined that it was leaning too far to safely be repaired again, and therefore needed to be removed and replaced. The collapsing fence on top of the wall needed to be replaced as well. To prevent future water damage to the new retaining wall, the back yard needed to be regraded. I also decided to demolish the badly water-damaged sunroom at my back door rather than repair it -- especially since it turned out to have been added to the house some 30 years ago without a permit and was not built to code. I would replace it with a small deck after the yard was regraded. This is a large, expensive job but I could only budget about $30,000 for the whole thing. So I contacted five different highly-rated contractors for bids, including Irish Construction. Anthony was very accommodating when I had to reschedule because of my husband's unexpected hospitalization; as were all the other contractors. Anthony and Tony arrived promptly at the rescheduled appointment time on May 3. One of the first things Tony asked was what other bids I had on the project. I told him that I had gathered some preliminary ballpark estimates in my research phase that had ranged from 5k up to 30k for replacing the wall and regrading the yard. But I could budget no more than $15,000 for this portion of the job, I said, because of the other work that needed to be done. I explained that I was interested in doing the work in as cost-effective a manner as possible while still being workmanlike, not shoddy. I told him that I had not yet received any formal bids. Tony then asked if I was ready to do the work right away. We had already arranged financing, so I told him that, yes, as soon as we signed a contract he could start the next day. I was very eager to get the work done as soon as possible. I also told him, though, that I had other contractors bidding on the job. We would have to hear from all of them, and my husband would have to recover his health enough to review the bids with me, before signing a contract. After he and Anthony had looked over the property, Tony suggested that instead of replacing the entire wall he would replace only part of it. Instead of removing the crumbling, unused stairs at the end of the wall, he would refinish them with a new coat of concrete. This sounded like it would save money, but I was concerned that it would only be a stopgap. I asked Tony if that was a solid, workmanlike solution that would last another eighty years. He waved away my concerns by saying that in eighty years we'd all be in heaven anyway so what would it matter? I asked about regrading the yard and replacing the fence. Tony replied "that's for the landscaper", not a job for him. This concerned me, because I'd hoped that the grading would be done by whoever replaced the wall at the new grade. Tony said that instead of demolishing the sunroom he could remove the damaged siding, repair the damaged wood in the wall, and then plaster over the whole thing. While I was intrigued by the idea of a plastered addition on my neoTudor home, I told him that I would rather demolish it. Besides the buckling siding, water-damaged exterior walls, bad electrical wiring, insufficient insulation, rattling windows, moldy drywall, and leaky roof, it was inconveniently located and therefore never used for anything but storage anyway. Tony insisted that having a room was better than not having it, and he could fix it for 10% less than anybody else. It seemed that Tony was not listening to me. But he had a good reputation as a craftsman, and might be right about all this, so I reserved judgment. Tony sent me a bid that very evening. The $14,000 bid was for replacingonly a portion of the wall and resurfacing the sidewalk and stairs, not removing them as I'd wanted. The bid did not include grading or fencing. Considering the reduced scope of the work bid on, this was by far the highest bid we received. Also, I worried that Tony might be difficult to work with, since he was not as responsive as I'd like to my concerns and wishes. Again, though, I reserved judgment until hearing from everyone. Over the following week, four other contractors came out to bid on all or part of the job. Anthony called me every single day asking if I was ready to start work with them. I pressed the other contractors to give me bids quickly, to accommodate Irish Construction's need to have a quick decision. My husband and I thought it over, and within a few more days we decided to split the work between two other contractors. We entered into the process of negotiating contract specifics with those contractors. Until we actually signed the contracts I did not want to close off my options with the other three companies. But I wanted to give them the courtesy of letting them know what the situation was. Two of them told me that they appreciated that I had considered them, and they hoped they could get my business in the future. Irish Construction was another story. First Anthony tried to bargain with me, saying that if I would send him the bids from the contractors I was considering, he would do the same work for 10% less. I explained to Anthony that I was uncomfortable doing that to two workmen that had given me acceptable good-faith bids, when I'd already told them I would accept those bids. I also preferred to use the same contractor for the regrading as for the wall, and with Irish Construction I'd have to hire a separate landscaper. I said that I still thought well of their craftsmanship and would certainly consider them for future work (the brickwork on my front porch). Tony called me later that same day and attempted to haggle some more. He said his bid had been based on what I had told him about my budget, not on what his costs would be. He said he could actually charge much less for more work. He said that he could bring in a landscaper as his subcontractor to regrade the yard and replace the fence, that he could replace the entire wall, and that he would replace the sunroom with a deck if that was what I wanted. He also insisted that he could do all this for 10% less than the two contractors I was already dealing with. I tried to explain again, as politely as I could, that I do not enjoy haggling. I expect straightforward bids on work, and I would treat bidders in a straightforward manner. My word is important to me. I would not undercut offers I had already verbally accepted, unless those bids fell through for other reasons before the contracts were signed. Tony became loud, rude, and abusive on the phone. He said I had lied to him at the time he came out to bid, saying I could start work right away when here it was almost two weeks later and I still hadn't signed a contract. He insisted that the only reason why I would have told him that I had not signed contracts yet was to bargain with him. He said that I had brought him in to bid first so I could show his bid to others and get them to undercut him. I had done no such thing, and told him so. I told him that I felt insulted. Tony yelled a more plain insult, then slammed the phone to hang up on me. I was literally shaking after the call, it was so disturbing.

I contacted Tony at the number listed. He was able to come over to give an estimate the next day (a Saturday no less!). While waiting on other contractors to come over and provide estimates, he followed up to let me know he was still interested in doing the work and an opening had come up in his schedule to get us in sooner than later. I declined as I wanted to finish gathering the other bids, but thought this was a good sign. Irish Construction's bid ended up being slightly lower than the other estimates I had received. More importantly, he seemed the best prepared to do the work as we had desired. We scheduled the work, but were contacted to let us know they would need to push us back a day as another job had unexpectedly taken longer than planned. This was no problem as I understand that this can happen sometimes. Tony and his team arrived promptly on the newly scheduled date (a little early actually - unusual in our experiences with other contractors). They worked efficiently and the steps looked great. I was so happy with the work, that as they were wrapping up that day I asked about some other smaller items I had been considering (bricking and stuccoing old boarded over basement windows). He was able to quote me a price, which I believed to be quite fair, and he offered that they could come back the next day to tackle those items. The next day Tony and his team arrived promptly again and took care of these other items. I was very happy with how things went. The stucco work was blended so well that if you didn't know where they had done the work, you wouldn't be able to tell. In addition they repaired some cracks in my patio as well. Overall, my experience was very positive and I would be more than happy to refer Irish Construction to family and friends. Working with them has restored my faith that there are very good contractors out there that are professional and take great pride in their work.

THE FIRST CONTRACTOR IN ST LOUIS THAT WE WILL USE AGAIN AND ALSO RECOMMEND TO OTHERS! Two years ago we moved into our home in University CIty, and during these last two years we have had many contractors, painters and handymen do work for us. None of them have lived up to what they said they would do. Until Irish Construction!!!!! We invited 4 contractors to give us bids on the tuck pointing our home. 3 of them came to our home, asked no questions and submitted a bid for the work they assumed we wanted. Irish Construction came and asked, explained, and listened to what we wanted as well as made recommendation on the work that they felt was necessary. Day one, I rish Construction arrived on time and completed the removal of the old joints between the bricks on one side of our home. The amazing thing was that I did not even notice that they had been there when I arrived home from work. They cleaned up after themselves each day and even made sure that our neighbors were happy with the clean up as well. One day I arrived home early to see one of the workers removing part of the work that was completed the day before. They were not happy with the quality and wanted to get it right before they continued on with the rest of the work, by their own pride and passion for doing the right thing. This was not something that we have found in other contractors in St Louis, until Irish Construction. Even after we have paid them in full, they have been back to clean the mortar on the bricks to make sure that the final product was to their standards as well as ours. We will have Irish Construction back this summer for them to resurface our front walk and our steps!!!!

They do quality work. Showed up on time for the appt and always returned phone calls promptly. Completed work for the agreed upon price and cleaned up after the work was done.

Irish Construction was the first company I saw whose services specifically included work on brick patios and walkways. Contacted on one day; site visit the next morning followed by an e-mailed written bid two hours later. Work started the day after that. Relaid the entire 20'X20' brick patio rebuilding the underbase with sand, lime and concrete. The, relaid the paving bricks in an "English pattern". It was long tedious work. Various laborers assisted in the work but Tony and John were there to supervise, inspect and work themselves to ensure the work was done to specification. We were so pleased with the progress that we asked to add additional jobs. The cleanup was like they were never there. I would easily bring them back for more projects and would recommend them to anyone.

Tony and crew arrived promptly and started chipping out cracked and broken concrete. These areas were filled in and the whole porch was covered in a thin, grey concrete-like coating to give it the look of fresh poured concrete and cover repaired areas. Work was fast and professional, clean up was very good.

Tony and crew arrived the day after I spoke with him initially. He's a very likable guy and him and his crew were professional and prompt. A small square (about 3.5x3.5') of concrete and a step were removed and Tony and crew poured a new square and step. Everything looked good when the work was completed and I was happy however the molds were still in place. Once the molds were removed and the concrete started to cure I got concerned. The concrete looks and feels very chalky and brittle. One corner has already broken off (and been glued back on by Tony). It has patterns of discoloration. No rebar was used and the edges of the steps were not softened or smoothed - I later learned that both these were common. Although they're solid and clean, I expect that I'll have to have these steps replaced soon. At the same time as the step and sidewalk, Tony and crew performed other work for me on the attached porch (filed under a different report) and I was much more satisfied with that work.

It went very smoothly. We gathered a few bids and found Irish Construction to be the most competitive in terms of the work they could provide for the price. They arrived early in the morning, completed the job within a day, came back for some finishing details and were totally professional. I would suggest that anyone looking for tuckpointing should check out a couple of providers, but you can't go wrong by selecting Irish Construction. Anthony Monaghan is particularly experienced having working on projects across the globe.

Very prompt & efficient work: 1] Repaired front walkway. Provided good information about options. For each option, the process & resulting quality was discussed in terms of years that it would last, and the relative cost. My situation made the shorter term (5 to 10 year) repair more sensible. I now understand what a full re-do entails in terms of work & cost, which can last for about 20 years. I will consider that later. 2] Repaired & finished a door frame that had been ruined by others. ~~~~~~~~~ The workers from Mirelli Tuckpointing did a horrible job by covering up jagged edges of brick, instead of repairing the bricks around a new door, that had previously been a window. The owner of Mirelli never followed up on repeated promises to assess & repair their poor work. They never came by to fix door frame, improve their tuckpointing done with a color that did not match at all, and replace a chimney cap. Mirelli promotes specializing in restoration for historical buildings, so they are guilty of false advertising. My personal responsibilities were extra time consuming, so pursuing the Mirelli's mistakes fell off of my list of things to do, but I could have taken them to court.

My wife called Tony and he set up an appointment to come out and look at our chimney. he showed up on time (even a litlle early). We tried to get a couple other quotes and couldn't even get a call back from other companies. So we called Tony back to schedule a time and he came out the next day and completed the job. The job ended up being a little more in depth than originally thought but he kept the quote he gave us even though it took a little longer than expected. His crew was very good to work with and we will definitely use them again.

The day I called the company Tony came out, took a look at my problem, and quoted me an estimate ($400 to fix the step). After looking on Angie's List and seeing that some places were charging over $1000 for similar work, I decided to hire him. I mentioned to the receptionist that I wanted the paint removed from my steps as well (something I had not mentioned to Tony when he came out and did the estimate). A week or so later I called them back and said I wanted to hire him to fix it. He came out the next morning and talked me through everything he was doing as he fixed it. He lifted up the step (which had been badly patched after it broke into two pieces) and filled in concrete underneath. The step was now tilted inward a little bit but he waited for about 15 minutes then pulled out all the wooden supports holding it up and, sure enough, it sank back down to a perfectly flat level. He also notched a small hole in the inside corner of the step to let water run out instead of pooling on the step, something I've never seen done before but just reflective of his attention to detail. He then looked at the paint and told me it was virtually impossible to remove it (and, after the work I'd done on it, I believed him). Instead, he showed me a way to put a thin layer of concrete over the steps to cover the paint marks. He said it would cost me another $150 or so. I accepted and he got to work covering all the steps with this thin layer of concrete, letting it dry for about an hour, then carefully wiping it down with a wet sponge to make it smooth. The result looks almost exactly like the old steps. Before he left Tony gave me a few tips of how I could make it look even better myself in a week or so (which I will do). He spent several hours on coating the steps in total and I very much doubt he did it for much above cost. He and his assistant (Patrick) then meticulously cleaned up and left it all looking great. He even had some extra concrete left over and offered to patch up anything I had broken for free (sadly I didn't have anything but it is the thought that counts). Finding out he was from the same county in Ireland that my wife's family was from was just icing on the cake. He did great work and we plan on hiring him again for plastering work in the house as needed.

His team was very nice and worked very diligently on the project. I was impressed by their early arrivals, quick work and generosity in doing more work than priced. They were committed to solving the problems not necessarily patch jobs. They were finished in 1.5 days and i thought the price was very fair. I will definitely consider them for future work.

Tony (Anthoney) responded to my initial call on same day and appointment was made within 2 days. Initial meeting/estimate was to discuss site work. Initial impression from me was that Tony was a very honest person and I felt comfortable with his knowledge and ability to do work. Work was done in one day while i was away. I came home and was impressed that it was finished. Tony did have to return to extend length of wall which hadn't been built long enough, and when I called to tell him about it, he was out to finish job within hours. Payment was 1/2 done and 1/2 at conclusion of work performed..I would definately hire him again not only because I was satisfied from the work done but mostly because he was accessable, timely in performing the work but most importantly because he exuded honesty and integrity. Estimates were freely given. My advice to anyone would be to at least give him a call, meet him and go from there....at least give him a try and get his estimate if he can do the work and then compare with others that you get also.

We were very satisfied with the work around and on the chimney. Inside plastering repair was also completed promptly and we were very happy with the quality of work. We would definitely recommend this company. They have been doing repairs at our house for years and we have always been satisfied with the quality of work and the price.

I spoke with Tony on the phone about some work that needed to be done on a rehab home we just purchased and he came right over to give an estimate. When I mentioned that the furnace wasn't being installed until 3 days later, he went back to his home and brought 3 heaters to me. Way above and beyond the call of duty. His crew did excellent work, they were professional and clean. I was very happy with the service I received and will definitely use Irish Construction for future projects.

The work men were very polite and accommodating. Other than the noise of knocking down the chimney's, we were unaffected by their comings and goings. It was a very messy process, however, the work men (Ted and Dave) left the side of the house extremely clean, which includied cleaning out the guttering where some debris settled and blowing the debris off of the roof to clean up with the rest. Since there was rain in the forcast, the workmen secured a tarp over both areas after they finished to protect the bare wood patched spots from the rain, until the roofers could cover them up in the next few days. The chimney demolition and clean-up was begun on Friday (starting after noon and working until after dark) and completed on Saturday (all day). The workers were willing to show up as early as we would allow them on Saturday morning. Ted was there at day break, set up and on the roof by 0800 hours to begin work. The work continued non-stop until after dark both days. I accepted the bid for tuckpointing and Ted was there bright and early Monday morning to begin work. He ground out all the damaged and cracked mortar, some of it where the brick was loose, and did a very neat job of remortaring (if that is a word). He ground the corner of the foundation and patched it perfectly! I honestly can't tell where the patch was done! He also spent extra time mortaring/caulking around the windows. Those really needed attention. Tuesday, Ted worked "in the rain" to acid wash the bricks of any mortar smears. The tuckpointing and cleanup-up took all day Monday and Tuesday, again from daybreak until almost dark. As I look at the work the following day, I cannot tell which areas were worked on, since Ted apparently did a really good job of matching the original mortar! In five days a large chunk of work that I planned to do on the house between now and next Spring was completed! What a relief! I feel that I definitely got my money's worth on both jobs - and the jobs were extremely well done! I will not hesitate to call them back next Spring to repair the plaster damage inside the house, caused by the leaking chimneys. I also have cement repair work that will have to be done. I feel very comfortable hiring them in the future for those jobs!

They respond right away and come out fairly quickly. I left a message on Sunday and they were out on Monday to give me a bid. At this point I am going to put the project on hold. The estimate was confusing, it was never put in writing. It was a verbal estimate which I am leery of sometimes, if there are any misunderstanding it's hard to clarify. In writing it is clear but the bid is for. They were very knowledgeable and I would say they are good, but I wouldn't say they are excellent. I think the professionalism could have been enhanced if they had put the bid in writing which they did not.

Tony was very responsive to my request for an estimate and was able to come out the day I called. Because he had another job within a couple of blocks of my house and was able to coordinate the workers between the two jobs, I got a very good price. In addition, they completed the work before a couple of contractors I had called could even come out to provide an estimate. The guys worked very hard and cleaned up after themselves and the finished product looks great. Tony was there when they wrapped up the work and came out the next day to double check the quality before the final payment was due. He even came back by a week later to check after the mortar had more time to cure. This is a contractor that cares about quality. Overall, I was very pleased and would use this contractor again.

I talked to Tony over the phone and he came promptly and after some negotiation gave me a competitive price. Within about a week, he had a crew of two men prepare the site and lay down the forms. When the concrete truck came, however, he had only one man rushing around trying to do both sides of the garage on a very hot day. As a result, the concrete was drying faster than he could shape it and smooth it. The slabs looked very rough and uneven with areas where water would pool. Cosmetically it looked pretty awful. He didn't have the time to put in contraction joints either, so he made cuts with a saw afterwards that look uneven. I called Tony; he came back the next day and tried to smooth out the surface and fill some of the valleys with another layer of cement. Things look a little better, but still leave much to be desired. The only way to fix this would have been to start over, which he was not prepared to do.

It was one of the best experiences with a company I have had. Excellent work. They showed up at seven a.m. and went to work immediately. I was home and barely heard them working. At ten, they came to get me and show me the work. Everything was repaired as they described. They asked if I had any questions. Tony told me how to use some vinegar to get the new concrete to resemble the older stuff. When I stated I was satisfied, they cleaned up and were gone.

This was a pleasant experience altogether. The work was done in a timely manner and looks great.

The job went very smoothly overall. They worked for four days, and only had a promptness problem on one day when one of the workers was a bit late getting to the job. Other than that everything was fine. They work quietly, too, with minimum fuss, and cleaned the site up EVERY day, not just at the finish. Tony,Monahan, the owner, knows how to run a crew of workers, i will give him that. As I said, no muss no fuss, no bother. The job got done quickly and the result was excellent. They even matched the color of the existing sidewalk so the transition from old concrete to new was very minimal.

The time taken and the quality delivered were above and beyond my expectations.

They did an excellent job. Very professional, polite, and clean. Turned out even better than I had hoped for. They did a wonderful job.