Mike in Toronto

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.

Paul only needed about 5 minutes to read the drawings, and tour the house and he “got it”. Most other contractors didn’t get it. It also helped when we realized a happy coincidence: Last year when another master carpenter built a section of our 1st floor, it was Paul who was the structural consultant. Even with all our planning we still needed peace of mind that the work would flow smoothly and Paul was very courteous to make another special trip to the house to meet with us prior to knocking down the chimney and ripping off the roof. Well the new structure is built and it’s fantastic! Paul and crew are the definition of a team who are each talented yet work well together. I knew the house and the drawings might cause some challenges to the build so I arranged to work from home to be nearby to answer any questions. There weren’t many but when there were questions, Paul was very patient with my often non technical explanation of the design. When Paul and I agreed to deviate from the drawings to improve a structural component, he even arranged for the engineer to do a site visit and oversee the changes. When the Building Inspector arrived, Paul was happy to accompany him through the work and satisfy all his questions. When the new dormer was closed in, we realized we now had more than enough room to widen the cramped upstairs hall. A quick meeting with Paul to go over the potential new scope of work (demolishing another wall and building a new wall incl. 2 doorways). Paul not only said yes but he said they will build it right there and then (and not have to come back weeks later) and the best part is it didn’t lenghten the job, thus his next client was not delayed. While I was still shopping for a roofer to put the roof on the new dormer, Paul and crew were finished. Paul suggested a roofer he had worked with, and after meeting several roofers, I went with Paul’s reference who re-roofed the entire house. The crew were extremely careful with carrying rubble out and building materials in. They worked delicately around exposed plumbing and electrical that had to be pre-installed. Knowing that we would have the house exposed to the elements in the month of April, we were prepared for rain to come in the house and it did come in and it was easy to deal with because the extent that the crew went to tarp the whole house at the end of every work day was an engineering feat unto itself for which they must be commended. Paul even went so far as to use up his lunch break to go out to buy bigger and better tarps when heavy rain was forcast. That is "above and beyond". Even our neighbours were in awe and impressed. Paul and his team are welcome in our home any time.

Marsh’s installed 3 fireplaces in our 100 year old, 1½ story house. The 2 existing coal fireplaces are too small and shallow to use for wood fires. This was confirmed when our home insurance provider told us not to use them and to seal them up. The basement was recently converted from storage space to living space and perfectly suited for a wood fireplace. Main goal: Functional, heat producing fireplaces. Secondary goal: aesthetic; must blend into space. We approached our local neighbourhood fireplace shop and our furnace installer who also sells fireplaces. Both were disappointing. They didn’t listen to what we wanted and therefore they couldn’t offer creative ideas of their own or, they simply handed out brochures and price quotations. We found some other fireplace shops but they had the same lazy response, as if their work is just a hobby or as though they had better things to do. We almost gave up on the fireplace project to start concentrating on a different part of our home renovation when I cold-called Marsh’s Stoves and Fireplaces. Robert took the call and within a minute of talking to him, I knew I was finally talking to an intelligent human being who was probably interested to help. That brief phone call motivated me to visit Marsh’s later that day to check them out. I met with Robert who amazed me. I described our home and our wants the same way as I did to the “lazy” staff at the other fireplace shops. He understood immediately what I was talking about and proceeded to describe all the possibilities and challenges ahead of us. He then gave me an education on almost every wood and gas fireplaces in the shop. Within 20 minutes, I realized that our original plan was narrow and that we had to open up our minds to the wide range of fireplaces and options. Robert arranged for Alan, the owner, to do a Site Inspection particularly for the wood fireplace in the basement as he is WETT certified. Upon entering the space, Alan immediately saw that our original idea of installing a traditional “hearth-style” built-in fireplace in the basement would not have fit in to the architectural style we were creating. He said he will install it if we insist but he made good arguments for why we shouldn’t. The choice of a modern, efficient woodstove with less heat output than we had originally planned, took a lot of family discussion, but was the most logical decision for that space and for the whole home, as was the choice of gas fireplaces for the 2 upstairs fireplaces. Having always had a prejudice against gas fireplaces, I wouldn’t have imagined that there would be 1, let alone 2, gas fireplaces in my home. After using them for several weeks now, I can sincerely say that they are the smartest choice for filling up those old coal fireplaces, and none of the charm of having a fire is lost; they can really crank out the heat. They actually add value through their multi-function, programmable remote controls and if your electricity goes out, they still work! One of them was available in a choice of either polished cast iron front or black front. Either would match the space and we liked both and couldn’t choose. Alan showed how classy he is by sending over both fronts so we could live with both of them in the space for as long as we needed until we could choose. Is that customer service or what?! The wood stove is both charming and “old-school”, and a modern sleek and efficient heat producer all at the same time. We had it going for days and the furnace never came on. Having watched the installations, I saw that each fireplace had to be custom installed for each space. This custom work is precise and high end. Some parts had to be specially fabricated at the shop and communication between the shop and the installers is excellent: real teamwork. Speaking of teamwork, the installers are the best. Hardworking, calm, good listeners, good humoured, and able to solve the problems of dealing with an old quirky house with creative solutions. The only bad part came when I called our home insurance providers to inform them that the new fireplaces have been installed. No issues for the gas fireplaces but they added a 15% surcharge on the policy for the wood stove. This is something I am going to have to work out with them just before policy renewal time. Everyone at Marsh’s: those in the shop, the ownership, the installers, are all true professionals who are tuned in to the customer. As I told Alan: I wish I could send some of our renovation contractors and trades people to him to take some lessons on customer relations. He and his team made sure the job went smoothly and the education we received meant we got the right sized fireplaces that match the architectural style of the space they are in. On straight price comparison, Marsh’s prices were all lower. If we were to have stubbornly gone with our original plan, the equipment cost alone would have been about double and the installation would have required much more labour thus making it almost cost prohibitive. Add that to their extensive knowledge and customer service, it equals great value. When you shop for your fireplace, do what we did: 1. research what you want, 2. Go to your local fireplace shop and HVAC dealers who sell fireplaces and prepare to be disappointed, 3. Go to Marsh’s and have fun.

Situation: Mid summer 2011, we demolished the old basement staircase and adjacent sun porch and needed to fill the space by extending the first floor. We knew what was required to build the extension and how to price materials labour and time. We interviewed several carpenters. Half of them revealed themselves to be competent but over-priced the job. Some carpenters were incompetent. A few were highly skilled but busy with a list of clients. John presented himself and his work with pride and professionalism without being stuffy or formal. He was among the busy carpenters whose schedule was fully booked working on decks and porches during the warm months. Due to his backlog of clients, he would not be free for at least 4 months. However, he proposed that if we were flexible with our renovation schedule, he could work at our house during rainy days since it would be impossible to work on the deck and porch jobs in the rain. We agreed. As per John’s suggestion, I got the lumber and most of the other building materials delivered to the house to be ready for John to come over on a moment’s notice. It soon rained hard enough for him to start the project. John does not simply start cutting and installing, he takes the right amount of time to assess the room, how to deal with all the quirks of the existing structure, how to prep for future construction tie-ins, and works out engineering issues in advance. His use of traditional and new technology tools makes him very efficient. The floor extension took John and his apprentice about 2 days to complete. Our building inspector was happy with John’s work and commented that it tied in perfectly between new and old structure making it one with the house. His only criticism was the half dozen screws driven through the subfloor that did not hit the joists. I cannot directly fault John for this as I know that his apprentice was working on that particular side of the floor. Since it was easy enough to pull the screws and re-set them, I did this myself. My own main criticism was about cleanup at the end. Cutting is normally done outside but since they worked on rainy days, I allowed all the wood cutting to be done in my (yet to be finished) basement. As a rule, I always return things in the same or better condition and I expect the same. After John and the apprentice finished a great job and everyone was happy, I went down to the basement to look around. I would expect to see scrap lumber at the end of a job but to see it left all over my basement by paid professionals, was unpleasant. The 2 hours I spent sweeping and cleaning up was time I should have been doing something important. Back when I was a lowly apprentice, the menial tasks and cleanup duties were ones I willingly took ownership of. If John hasn’t yet taught these basics to the apprentice, I hope he does soon because he is a good guy and has lots of potential to become a carpenter. John’s own work is outstanding. He has a strong work ethic. He enjoys his work. He takes pride in his work. He likes people. He has a great knowledge of what is going on in the world (i.e. he doesn’t bury himself in his work). He is easy to talk to and he can figure out very quickly the technical details, the scope of work, budget and materials. Without John’s professionalism and his apprentice’s hard work, the job would probably be rated a 7.5 or 8. If John had built in a little more time to oversee quality control of his apprentice’s work and to get the apprentice to clean up, then I would have rated the job a 10. Overall we are very pleased with the new space. We hope that John is willing to come back to build the next phase of our construction.