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BKtoJC, I just sent you a PM.

I am looking for someone to brick my concrete steps. The steps are painted but I do not want to re-paint because it looks horrible when the paint peels off. Thanks in advance!

Jack from Jersey brownstone is the BEST!

I wanted to see if anyone had any additional recommendations for someone to build about a foot high concrete waterproof barrier at our basement entrance to prevent water flow from the sidewalk as well as someone to put the sump pump drain/pipe under the sidewalk. I see PMJ come up often - any others who have done this type of work and can recommend someone?

Thanks!

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Ugh, that sounds awful. I'm sorry to hear that. I own a masonry company, but we focus on aesthetic design & build, not structural disasters like you described.

All I can say is to rebuild a structural brick arch with a 20-ft span is going to cost a lot of money. Just giving you the heads up to prepare you for sticker shock once you start getting estimates :(

The above recommendations seem to be general contractors who can do a bit of decorative and light work.

Can anyone recommend a specialist bricklayer who can do significant structural work? We have a 20 foot wide brick arch supporting the roof of our basement, which is collapsing and needs to be rebuilt.

Robin.

We used PMJ for our facade work. Although it was done recently, we are happy with the job. So we have high hopes for the long term. We did quite a bit of searching, getting estimates, and talking to references. Also, Jack was pleasant to work with.

In addition to other facade work, he redid the stairs: chipped it down and reconstructed. He did paint them, though. Looks good and feels solid. His prices were reasonable, especially compared to Jaime and Antiqua Restoration (related to Jaime, I'm told).

I hope that helps...

the stairs are concrete or stone - cant tell. the usual kind on the rowhouses around the hamilton park area.

want a simple scrub, clean and refinish without any paitn, just the natural concrete look

thanks

What type of stairs are they? What type of refinish are you looking for?

Jaime is unreliable.

hi

anyone have recommendations for a contractor to resurface and finish a stoop? what is the price i should expect to pay?
i have called a couple of them (kdk, pmj, jaime, etc. ) and 1 of them gave me an estimate which seemed high and i wanted to get a few more quotes before deciding.

its in a decent condition, but long rains cause some leaking to the underside of the stairs. we have about 12 steps.

thanks

Back to this thread.
Does anyone know of a good honest brick mason?
My condo has brick running along one whole wall and the brick around the non working chimney appears to be crumbling very slowly over time, as I'm always finding brick dust on the floor and crumbly brick pieces here and there. Also I've tried on several occasions to hang art, shelves etc on the wall but the brick disintegrates as soon as I try to drill into it. I've tried everything masonry screws, liquid nails, nothing works. My mom said that the old brick used in these buildings from the late 1800's contains a lot of lyme and that is why that brick isn't as sturdy as the stuff used today. She also said it will probably have to be replaced. Is that true? Any thoughts or advice wold be greatly appreciated.

rodrim...I actually have my own masonry business, and I live in Downtown JC (Van Vorst area). If you still need advice or any info, feel free to send me an email at tommyc_37 @ hotmail.com. Would love to help, especially since it's indoors (it's COLD outside!)

get some battens and sheet rock and build a partition out to cover the whole wall and fireplace - cheap and you'll lose only a small amount of space. You could also have built-in shelves in the partition or run wires in the created cavity for lighting to a special painting or art work ... or wall washer lighting

That's what I originally wanted to do. Remove all brick and fireplace, drywall and have more area in my room. Unfortunately, the fireplace is part of the building structure, it would take a lot of work in order to remove it and I would need permission from the condo association, etc. So I've decided to just "brick off" the opening and have it be one brick wall.

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If the fireplace isn't operational, get rid of it. It takes away an area that could be better utilized and reduces the options for furniture and wall placement for art.

I think for some buyers, an original brick fireplace, even one that is not working and is purely ornamental, adds value. But I also think for a large number of buyers, an ornamental fireplace neither adds nor detracts value. What I mean is, the fireplace alone probably does not add value but might be the distinguishing characteristic of your apartment to set it apart from other, similar apartments.

Ok new idea....

I have a fireplace in my home surrounding by brick from floor to ceiling. The fireplace is capped off and we never use it (it's wood burning). I was thinking of just closing up the opening with brick that closely matches what is there now. So I would have a brick wall. The other thing is that I'm buying an electric fireplace that can be hung on the wall. I plan to put this up on the wall and add some built-in shelving. Do fireplaces add value to a home? Does it matter if it's electric as opposed to wood burning? Below are some pics of the idea i had in mind for the electric fireplace (click on the pics that show up on the page to enlarge). Any suggestions/advice would be great!

http://www.vermontcastings.com/conten ... productdetails.cfm?id=370

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_hdivd/episode/0,1806,HGTV_10736_46626,00.html

These would be two separate walls. I would not be hanging the electric fireplace in the brick wall.

P.S. I tried fixing the second link but couldn't. You can copy the url into your browser.

I have a brick wall in my bedroom with a fireplace. It has an arch opening at the bottom (fireplace) but the arch is covered by metal strip. I want to remove this strip and just have brick. It's really an eyesore since the metal is not even a "nice" metal. It seems to be a small job, does anybody know any contractor willing to do this work or any brick contractors.

Thank you!

We had to have our brick porch re-done when someone drove into it (Happy New Year 2006!)

The guy who did the work Roger Juric is getting a bit busier but he's v. good. We had a cosmetic crack in one column and he came back and re-did it for free. His company is called NSGR Construction and masonry is one of their specialties. His phone # online is 201-943-2875 and the number on his card is 201-941-0559. Not sure which is most current but try both.

Good luck!

ps
Pat's or Geno's?

Just moved into a house and the exterior brick steps are a mess. There may even be some structural damage. Can anyone recommend a masonry contractor?

Thanks.