This picture taken by a Cincinnati homeowner is of a masonry repair that was done by a competitor of Handy Home Pro. The homeowner hired this contractor to perform this repair because honestly… they were cheaper than us. This customer was expecting a seamless and clean masonry repair just like the repairs our company does and advertises on this web site. What they got though – wasn’t what they expected. This happens frequently and is why I’m posting this comment on our web site. The simple truth is this; some tradesmen are just better at certain types repairs than others… it’s that simple.
You see this homeowner had used Handy Home Pro for a masonry repair in the past and was very pleased with the seamless repair we had performed for them. Then the second project came out and they got a bid a little lower and took it, wanting to save the money. You know I don’t blame them as they thought they were comparing apples to apples but as it turns out, they were comparing apples to crap. Now they requested us to fix the other contractors mess. Again we priced it to perform the masonry repair correctly but in the end, they still don’t want to spend the money it would take to fix it right!
The problem they have now, is when they try to sell their home. This poorly executed masonry repair will stick out like a sore thumb. Would you want this unsightly workmanship on the front of your Cincinnati home? I think not. Most any buyer will want a substantial price adjustment to solve this problem and rightly so. The final cost will likely be 2 – 3 times our original price.
Though anyone can mix a bit of mortar and slap it between a few bricks and call it a masonry repair. The results usually look like the above picture; haphazard. The fine level of skill required to blend in brick and mortar to existing materials, can take years to master. In fact in the commercial trade, there are specialty companies that blend mortars for restoration companies. Blending can require specialty labs and cost upwards of $1000 for a recipe. Not cheap!
These 2 lower pictures are a before and after of a masonry repair Handy Home Pro performed. Handy Home Pro has can achieve excellent results of color matching of their masonry repair by using a masonry stain. We don’t use the expensive labs for mortar matching because most repairs are not of an historic preservation nature.
mason, as his training has always been toward volume and acceptable skill of the trade of brick laying and not masonry repair.
