Straight Up Masonry

We contacted Straight Up Masonry at the end of Summer 2014 to rebuild a section of brick wall that was taken down to accommodate a major structural re-configuration of our house. Tony visited the house and provided a complete assessment of the scope of work including accurate estimate of time and cost.
Seeing that other areas of the house needed to be completed first, we delayed the masonry work until mid-Summer 2015 and Straight Up Masonry was more than accommodating. They even kept the original estimate on file so, a second site visit was unnecessary.
The area preparation was thorough. All surfaces were covered and protected. The scaffolding was installed over a finished area and much care was taken to prevent marring all finished surfaces. The shape and colour of mortar joints blended in with the existing walls of the house. Where an electrical outlet needed to be placed, the masons happily cooperated with the electrician as the box was positioned into the wall and even custom cut the brick to fit the outlet. The window needed a new stone sill to match the existing 100 year old stone sills around the house. Straight Up provided and custom installed an exact match Limestone sill.
Special note to homeowners wishing to re-install reclaimed bricks: make sure they are clean of all the old mortar. We calculated that making skilled masons clean old bricks is not a good use of their time so we cleaned the bricks ourselves. This is not a huge cost savings, this is done more to have a perfect match. Also be prepared to discard a lot of broken and chipped bricks and therefore you will likely need to supplement them with new bricks too. If you apply a labour cost for cleaning the bricks, you will likely find that using all new bricks is easier on you, and the masons. Either way, you will receive good direction from Tony on the best course of action for the result you want.
Every aspect of the job from the estimate, to speaking with the office, to the masons on the job was a pleasant and easy experience.
The attention to detail and the end result far exceeded our expectations. Duration and cost were exactly as estimated.
We have a couple of upcoming jobs for which we will be hiring Straight Up Masonry. We have already been recommending Straight Up Masonry to family, friends and neighbours.