Affordable Masonry

He was a no-show, no-call on the appointed day. I called him and left several messages. Eventually he called back and left a long rambling message about health woes and respiratory issues. There were many back and forth conversations and lots of excuses from this guy for cancellations and reschedules. In his messages, he said he appreciated my being cool and understanding and promised that he's a good guy who wouldn't stiff me. After multiple attempts to get this job done to no avail, I asked for my money back. That's when things got nasty. Pleasant John became Nasty John, and his language became course and foul. Bottom line: this guy is a crook. He will schmooze you and take your money and take off. And then the chase is on.

Nine months after the pipe was replaced the entire 5 foot section of the pipe above the roof fell off into our yard. This is a very heavy piece with an enclosed asbestos liner. The cap was very damaged. Affordable masonry came and re-attached the pipe. I was told by the worker, named Jose to call the owner, Jon Stokler, directly regarding the repair because "this should have never happened and it probably was not put in right". This was according to the worker, Jose. I called John and he told me that he would replace the cap and add brackets to the pipe to secure it. John told me he would order the parts and call me back. He never did. Three days later I called him and he told me they were still waiting on the part but it should be in the following week. The following week I received no call backs. I had to call him again. He said he was picking up the part that day and he would send a tech over on Friday between 12:30-1:30PM. No show and no call! I called John and he gave a lame excuse and apologized...he said he did not pick up the part but was picking it up that day. He said he would call me back to schedule. He never did. I once again had to call him back and he told me he would send his worker Monday between 12:30-1:30PM. Again NO Call and No show. I tried to reason with this man and work with him to get this resolved to no avail . I am extremely disappointed by his lack of communication and blatant lies that he would stand by his companies workmanship. I decided I would not pursue this anymore after repeated promises and lies from the owner. I filed a claim with the BBB of Massachusetts and I contacted his liability insurance company because this poses a health risk I the pipe falls off the house again. Now I have to pay someone else to fix his companies mistake! If you ant to work with a company the produces poor workmanship, does not call you back, sets up appointments and never shows up them this is the company for you!!

CORRECTION for Actual Cost. His hand written proposal price was $450.00 when the job was finished, I ask how much was owed, he replied $540, I'll admit I was "stupid" for not questioning, but I was so "agitated" with the appearance of the work I just wrote out the check. After reviewing all paperwork I didn't remember when I wrote this, that a $150- had been refunded and he also repaired one loose railing. I apologize, Affordable Masonry is HONEST I'm still disappointed, the stairs do not look as good as they use too. Maybe I'm to picky, but when I look at them I notice certain areas of the mortar overlapping the edges of the red brick and is a somewhat on the sloppy side. The work is unprofessional looking. If I knew how to grind the old mortar out as a 76 y.o. female, I more than likely would've been able to do a better job. I do have digital pictures if interested. There is a calcium haze on the landing and the stairs, maybe once that goes they might look them better....... John was very nice, but he really needs to improve his skills. His truck is very impressive, I just wish his work looked as nice. :-(

John offered a free estimate, but forgot our appointment. We resheduled, and he proved to be very personable and seemed knowledgeable, so we booked a date for him to come and do the work. He arrived with two assistants, and the three of them spent the day working. Later, when I inspected the work, I was quite disappointed. There were a number of problems with the walk. First, the forms were not built to the specifications that I had requested. (I had given him an exact drawing of what I wanted.) Also, the concrete was not brought up to the top of the forms. In some places it was over an inch low and very uneven. But the biggest problem was that there were large areas where the aggregate (the little rocks in the concrete) was popping through, making the finish extremely rough. I called John to let him know I was displeased, and he did apologize and offered to come back to see if he could fix it. Unfortunately, you can't fix concrete once it has set up. I built a new form and had another company come and pour a new layer of concrete over what John had done. It now looks great. I was also disappointed in the chimney work. One of the caps is even crooked..