We recently tuckpointed our entire house, and solicited multiple bids from multiple tuckpointers. We compared not just the pricing, but the proposed scopes of work. It was interesting how much both price and scope varied. While not the least expensive, we felt that Thatch offered the best value in terms of comprehensive scope and competitive pricing. We gained more confidence after seeing some of their work and speaking with several of their references.
Our dealings with the owner, John O'Donnell, were very straightforward. He's not an overly sales-y guy (which for us was a positive), a very straight shooter. Yet with this type of work, it to a large extent comes down to the quality of the work crews. Thatch's work crews were great. Unbelievably hard working and thorough, and also sensitive to being "low impact" on our neighborhood; we're in a single family home on a typical city lot with two neighboring homes, and tuckpointing creates lots of dust and noise.
The approach they took was not one of simply slapping mortar over existing joints, but grinding out all existing joints, then re-mortaring. Once the job started, it became apparent that this grinding process was taking longer than expected. My initial concern was that this might lead them to do a half-baked job to "stay on schedule" but, to the contrary, they maintained their work quality, and simply took longer to complete the job. No compromise or corners cut, and no requests for additional funding.
We are extremely pleased with the quality of the work, the work crew, and our dealings with John O'Donnell. I'd like to think two of the factors contributing to this were:
1. Not being ridiculous about getting the cost down to match some of the competition; it's the old adage of "you get what you pay for". Thatch's pricing was fair, and that's all we were looking for.
2. Clear expectations for both parties (contractor and home owner) on how the work would be performed, and what the outcomes would be.
But, at the end of the day, I think the biggest factor was the integrity of the people we were dealing with, both John and his crews. We've personally had some difficult experiences with contractors who over-promise, then woefully under-deliver. It was a real pleasure dealing with a contractor who performs quality work for a fair price, and keeps their promises.
I'd highly recommend Thatch to anyone who's looking for the best value, as opposed to the lowest price. read more