[Via Chicago]

theres a guy who did all his own tuckpointing on my block last year with a hammer/chisel and im not exaggerating he was out there every day by himself for almost the entire summer. i guess if you want it done right...lol

but yeah in my limited experience, you tend to quickly learn during the quote process who wants your business and who dosent just based on how they interact with you, their response time to questions, they way they present proposals, etc. Or at least it gives you an insight into how the work is going to go once it actually starts. Also, always ask for references/examples of similar projects theyve done to what youre asking for so you can go in person and actually look at it. The other thing is if you have an issue could that could be structural in nature but is presenting itself as a "cosmetic" issue, are they acknowledging that at all and are they suggesting other underlying issues you should be looking it. Also, probe them on the type of mortar they intent to use, their methodology for ensuring good brick matches for replacements, how they intend to grind out old mortar and how deep theyre going to go, what type of bead they intend to lay, etc. The good thing is once youve got a "guy" you should just be able to go to him directly in the future and save yourself the headache of vetting every time.

The approach youre taking is a good one tho! An ounce of prevention and all.