I have been doing business with Ed Baker for 35 years and believe him to be a man of the highest…read moreintegrity, with fair prices and quality work. I recently called him when a shingle blew off my roof to examine the roof and repair the resulting "drip." What followed was nothing short of amazing. Three years ago I paid a tucking pointing company to rebuild my chimney. Second City discovered that the work had been poorly performed and in fact GARBAGE had been stuffed in my chimney before a terrible repair job was covered with a layer of mortar. They completely rebuilt the chimney for half the cost of the previously poorly performed work. Before & After photos attached.

DO NOT WORK WITH THIS COMPANY! I DO NOT RECOMMEND THEM!…read more Stay away from them if you want to save money and time. Mike first came to give me an estimate by walking around the house while I explained what needed to be done. He gave me an estimate of $10,000 and mentioned that if I wanted to fix the small roof in the front, it would be an additional $1,000. I told him I would think about it and get back to him. When he returned for a second look, he said the first chimney if nothing connects it we will close it if something connects it we will rebuild it (which he refused to rebuild it and he said if I want to rebuild it I need to pay extra $1400) and the tuck pointing under the second chimney required the chimney to be removed and rebuilt, raising the total to $14,000. Even though I received lower estimates from others, I trusted Mike and decided to go with him. We went to his car, where he wrote the proposal, but I didn't realize at the time that he left out the small roof area we had previously discussed. I signed the contract, and he told me they could start the following week. After I handed him the check, Mike suddenly said his foreman had called, and they couldn't start next week, but in three weeks instead. I was frustrated but decided it wasn't a big deal since the work was outside and wouldn't affect my tenants too much. After that day, Mike never called to give me updates. Three weeks later, I called him to ask when they would start, and he said he would call me back, but never did. I called again four hours later, and he said his foreman would call, but that didn't happen either. I called the next day, and Mike's phone went straight to voicemail. I contacted the Second City Roofing office and explained the situation. Someone there said they would get back to me, and a few hours later, Mike called saying they couldn't start that week, but would begin mid-next week. I was still patient, trying to keep things cool. When I called again the following Tuesday for an update, Mike said he would come by with his foreman to inspect the bricks needed for my place, and they would start Thursday. At this point, I had waited almost a month, so I told him if they didn't start by Wednesday, I would want my money back. They finally started on Wednesday, but Mike never inspected these bricks with his foreman as he said. When the work was done, Mike didn't offer to do a walk-through to review the job. He came to collect the final check without a ladder, so I refused to pay until he did a proper walk-through. The next day, he brought his foreman, and we did the walk-through, after which I gave him the last check. This whole experience was incredibly frustrating. The delays, poor communication, and lack of professionalism were unacceptable. I will never work with them again.

We recently hired 312 Masonry to completely tear down and rebuild our entire parapet wall--a job…read morethat came with some serious challenges due to the height, tight access, and tricky location on our property. From start to finish, the team handled everything professionally, safely, and with outstanding craftsmanship. Their attention to detail was impressive--clean lines, solid mortar work, and a beautiful finished look that really elevated the whole building. I highly recommend 312 Masonry. We couldn't be happier with the results and would use them again in a heartbeat!

312 Masonry was fantastic to work with. They replaced seven rusted basement window lintels,…read morerepaired cracked brickwork, rebuilt our basement stairs, and tuck pointed our chimney--all with excellent craftsmanship. They also fixed a front column that had mismatched bricks from an old repair by reusing original bricks from the window work. The result looks seamless, as if it's always been that way. Professional crew, beautiful results, fair pricing--312 Masonry truly stands out. Highly recommend!

This. This is the kind of local crew you want!! Art does a great job of managing the whole process…read more He came out promptly for an inspection, made a few recommendations, quoted them in a couple days, and communitcated throughout. The whole crew came on time each day (10 min early in fact), the work is solid, they were quick, and they even put up with neighbors being salty about trucks in the alley (hi nieghbors - sorry, it's city life!) Aside from that glowing overview, the project itself was a garage tuckpointing. Much of the garage is intact but the top few feet of brick wall was completely erroded and one section of the garage was splitting and bulging away. We've wanted to get it all repaired but many contractors had quoted a price that was bordering on the cost of a whole new garage! Art's quote was reasonable and the work he recommended was appropriate. Nothing flashy, just good work. Now the garage is all fixed up, sturdy, and ready for another 100 winters - Thanks guys! The kind of crew I want to hire again even though I really hope I don't need you for a while :)

We had a few issues in which they came out a second time after completing the job. Then we found a…read morefew more overlooked areas. I had written a more negative review, because I had not heard back from Art regarding the issues at stake. I finally heard from him. He had been out of the country for a bit. Anyways, I would like to thank them and edit my review in order to reflect a positive experience. They were always pleasant and easy to work with. The price was fair. Art and crew came out three times to rectify issues we had. The customer service and eagerness to satisfy customer was superior. Thank you for making our house look great.

Poor Communication and Shoddy Work. They elected not to fix/finish job…read more A simple outdoor stair repair - a landing and ONE step - that should have taken 2-3 days dragged on for five weeks. Communication was awful--they rarely showed up as scheduled, and I was never updated on progress or tile design choices. I explained clearly how the tiles should match the existing pattern, even noting size differences. The workers nodded, but the final layout was random and nonsensical. When I asked them to redo it, they still arrived unpredictably, leaving me unsure when--or if--the job would be completed. The grout work was uneven, with gaps that wouldn't withstand weather, and some tiles were chipped during cleanup. They even missed areas hidden under flower pots. Despite repeated requests, the office offered virtually no updates, leaving the project frustrating and chaotic. After showing them photos of bad grouping and damaged tiles, they told me they would not be returnining. This should have been an easy job, but it was handled poorly from start to finish. I cannot recommend them.

North Shore did an amazing job replacing an entire wall of brick veneer that was degrading on the…read moreside of my house. The new brick seamlessly matches with the existing brick and you can tell that a high level attention to detail was used to complete the job. There were a few hick-ups along the way but project manager Luke and crew lead Roman went above and beyond to make certain I was informed throughout the process and that I received the best value for the work that was done and they even threw in a few extras. I wouldn't hesitate to contact them again if I need other masonry work done to my house in the future.

We had quite a large project that we did with Evanston Masonry. Our century-old brick needed…read moreconsiderable work, with all the mortar being ground out and redone, as well as new lintels, several rows of replaced brick (where previous homeowners had done the wrong thing, resulting in whole rows sagging and collapsing the top of the window), and even a chimney rebuild. From quote to start was more than a year (due to other constraints), and once started the project took several weeks with a lot of scheduling nuances and coordination with other things. Eric and his team did a fantastic job throughout. The crew was friendly and respectful and their work was and is impeccable. Eric was over-the-top communicative both before, during, and after the project. All little issues were resolved immediately, often going above and beyond. We were particularly impressed with how well Eric and his team worked with the older brick, which requires special care and mortar. Even *matching* old brick is quite hard because the size is different from modern brick and there aren't many companies which make it, meaning color options are quite limited. Eric did a fantastic job and I think most people would struggle to pick out the new from the old. Highly recommend for any masonry work.

Good communication and a very nice job on tuckpointing and various other masonry work including…read moregood daily cleanup which is sadly uncommon these days. Not the cheapest, but a very good option in Near North suburbs or far north Chicago neighborhoods if you really care about quality. Not perfect, but about as good as you'll find these days.

GSKI Construction Group did an outstanding job redoing my roof. From the first visit to the final…read morecleanup, the team was professional, punctual, and easy to work with. They walked me through the entire process, answered every question clearly, and delivered exactly what they promised. The workmanship is excellent, the crew was respectful of my property, and everything was completed on schedule. It's rare to find a contractor this reliable. I'm extremely happy with the results and would confidently recommend GSKI to anyone needing roofing work.

We have contracted AB Masonry for a few different jobs in our condo building and the work has been…read moreexcellent every time. The crew arrive on time, work hard and are incredibly polite, considerate and clean. They even took away some debris from a roof job a few weeks ago that they didn't cause. Marcin has been a pleasure to work with, always reliable, friendly, on time and honest. There are a lot of rogue companies out there but this one maintains your trust that there are good ones. I would not hesitate to recommend them and will likely work with them again.

We finally decided to get full tuckpointing done on our 80 year old red brick 2 car garage. After a…read morefew bids, it became apparent that the cost is greatly varied, so we went with the most affordable option. The crew kept to the originally proposed scope and schedule despite constant bad weather updates, and the work was finished on time and on budget without compromising on keeping the job site very neat and being very considerate to our neighbors. We really appreciated the friendly and detailed communication style along the way, one of the best customer service examples in this industry! The overall outcome was acceptable and we're looking forward to many future projects with this company. So yes, we would hire them again! Thank you!

Our condo building had Gralak repair some water damaged brick columns and some other masonry work…read more They were very thorough in The work that they performed and were always available for any questions I may have. Would highly recommend!

I hired Gralak to replace some basement windows and help me address overdue foundation brick…read moremaintenance. Rado was incredibly friendly and thorough and even had the generosity to come to my home twice to help me determine what work needed to be done. Honestly, he was a godsend after dealing with another masonry service that had nightmare communication skills. The quality of their work was excellent and I will definitely work with Gralak again.