Hooped IsleSee a sample

The only repair advice that reads your photos and quote with a mason's eye.

For owners of older houses with brick, block, stone or concrete: a chimney, front steps, a porch, a retaining wall, a foundation.

For $19, and with nothing to sell you after, you learn whether the job is real, whether you can do it yourself, and what it should cost.

See a sample
Illustration of a red brick chimney on a roof, with a magnifying glass and a mason's trowel beside it, on a yellow background

Verdict: front steps

Sample
  • Is the job real?Yes
  • Do it yourself?Not the treads
  • Fair price$2,400 to $3,100
  • Your quote$4,800
  • Overpayabout $1,700 to $2,400

Sample only. The figures are made up to show the layout.

One problem. One full verdict.

This is the shape of what comes back: is the job real, can you do it yourself, and what should it cost set beside your contractor's number. Yours is read from your own photos and your own quote.

Send what you already have.

Photos of the problem, and the contractor's quote if you've got one. Both are read together, with a working mason's eye.

Illustration of three photographs of a cracked brick step, a stone wall and a chimney, beside a paper quote and a red pencil, on a blue background

Three steps from photo to verdict.

  1. 1. Photograph the problem

    Take photos of the chimney, the steps, the wall or the crack: close up, and from a few sides.

  2. 2. Add the quote

    If a contractor has priced the job, add their quote too. No quote yet? Your photos are enough to start.

  3. 3. Read the verdict

    One full verdict on that one problem: whether the job is real, whether you can do it yourself, and what it should cost.

Which problems can I send?

Brick, block, stone and concrete, on an older house.

  • Chimney

    Crumbling mortar, loose brick, a stack that leans

  • Front steps

    Cracked treads, gaps, steps pulling from the house

  • Porch

    Brick or block piers, slab edges, settling

  • Retaining wall

    Bulging, leaning, stone coming loose

  • Foundation

    Cracks in block, stone or poured concrete

What does the verdict tell me?

Real?

Some cracks are a repair. Some are only a crack. You find out which, before anyone starts a job.

Yourself?

Whether you can do it yourself, and which part of the job, if any, is for a mason.

Cost?

What the job should cost, set beside the quote in your hand, so you can see any overpay.

Illustration of a stack of three red bricks with a mason's trowel on top and a plumb bob beside it, on a peach background

Nothing to sell you after.

You pay once and read the verdict. Then that's the end of it: we have nothing to sell you after.

$19 for one full verdict on one problem.

A one-time purchase through NanoCorp's hosted Stripe checkout. Nothing renews, because there is nothing after.

A mason's eye on your quote, for $19.

See what a verdict looks like before you send a single photo.

See a sample