excell Posted December 31, 2016 Report Share Posted December 31, 2016 Looking for some advice on choosing the best quote for some masonry work. I have a 100 year old house with an 18” thick sandstone foundation. The parging (parget?) of the foundation inside is crumbling and in need of stripping and replacement. The outside exposed parts of the foundation need some minor filling of cracks, work on mortar, etc. I have received two quotes for the work from two reputable companies, but both have entirely different approaches to the work. Looking for guidance on which may be the best option. Quote 1/Contractor 1: Inside, the contractor proposes using a surface-bonding cement parging material with embedded composite fibers. Work would retain the look of the stones/bumpiness of the walls. Outside, they propose fixing deteriorating mortar and filling cracks and running a bead of silicone around the foundation where it touches the driveway to seal it and leaving the stones exposed/untouched as they are now. This is the cheaper of the two quotes. It is warrantied for 10 years (but the contractor says of course it’ll last longer than me). Quote 2/Contractor 2: Inside, the contractor proposes using "non-shrinking mortar" and cement and applying enough coats of the cement to completely build up and smooth out the walls (i.e. make them flat and not bumpy). Outside, they propose fixing deteriorating mortar and filling cracks, but also coating with “cement wash” to seal the exposed foundation where it touches the driveway. This quote is $1400 more than the first. Contractor has not stated a warranty (I have asked them about it, waiting to hear back but during the walk through they also said it’ll last longer than I do). Contractor 2 is far and away the most reviewed and highest-rated reviewed in the area. However, during the quote inspection, contractor 2 was not as thorough during the walk around. I had to lead them into questions about specific problem areas that contractor 1 caught without prompting, and in fact I only knew to ask because of contractor 1. Contractor 1 seemed very knowledgeable, was very thorough, and includes more for the price with other work I want done (exterior brick pointing) but there are enough reviews online that aren’t great about timelines and projects needing re-done more than once. To help balance things out, I’m interested in opinions about the methods above, to see if there’s any real difference or which may be more desirable. Contractor 1 sounds like the more "modern" approach with the composite fibers and silicone, but I have no idea... Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cstmg8 Posted December 31, 2016 Report Share Posted December 31, 2016 Either will work, really depends on the look you prefer inside. Flat or existing stone. Process 2 takes more time. FYI, absolutely no way silicone makes it 10 years between stone and concrete driveway. Concrete weathering alone would cause it to release. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excell Posted January 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 Either will work, really depends on the look you prefer inside. Flat or existing stone. Process 2 takes more time. FYI, absolutely no way silicone makes it 10 years between stone and concrete driveway. Concrete weathering alone would cause it to release. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk Thanks for your advice. What do you think of the "cement wash" -- any red flags there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cstmg8 Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 The cement wash is literally brushing on a thinned cement mixture to fill any holes or cracks. It will also leave the exterior a gray color unless coloring is added. It really depends on the condition of the surface, if the surface is solid, I'd say it could help seal it up, or at least make it more uniform and slow down bad areas. If the existing surface is chipping badly or sloughs off easily, I doubt it will adhere to anything long term. Lots of surface prep could prevent this I would assume. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excell Posted January 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 The cement wash is literally brushing on a thinned cement mixture to fill any holes or cracks. It will also leave the exterior a gray color unless coloring is added. It really depends on the condition of the surface, if the surface is solid, I'd say it could help seal it up, or at least make it more uniform and slow down bad areas. If the existing surface is chipping badly or sloughs off easily, I doubt it will adhere to anything long term. Lots of surface prep could prevent this I would assume. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk Super helpful. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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