MasonWorks LLC

After a complete remodel of the interior of our new house, we hired Mason Works to design and build a new landscaping for the entire outside area including the surrounding of new pool. At the early minutes of the designing stage, we were very impressive with Mason Works ideas and recommendations which gave us the design we want within the projected budget. The construction process was professionally accomplished as described on their proposal and there were no surprises throughout the entire project. Project was completed within the project time frame which included some changes that we made on the layout. Workers were on time every day and stayed late until their goal for that day was accomplished. The quality of the finish work was beyond our expectation and it continues today on a monthly basis to see how our new lawn is progressing. I would definitely recommend and use Mason Works on my next project because we were very satisfied with every detail accomplished on the scope of our project.

This was our second project with MasonWorks. Both were beautifully done and completed within a reasonable period of time. Clean up was excellent.

Masonworks' service was delivered as promised. Professional in every way. We look forward to working with Masonworks again for our next project.

The job went smoothly although at times seemed a little drawn out, this was mostly due to the fact the new concrete had to cure for two weeks before it could be build able and able to support the weight of the house. The on site crew was easy to talk to and always left the site clean at the end of the day. The only thing that I might have done differently would have been try to lock down an approximate start date within a few days of said date, knowing that there are jobs already on the schedule this would have been helpful .( my fault) All work was completed and passed by town inspector Mason Works returned to the job the next day to address any questions or concerns that I might have. I had no concerns and considered the job completed.

Great experience overall. We checked with several services in the Boston area and they were both the most responsive and best reviewed. Their pricing is competitive, and great value given the quality of their work. The scheduling can be a little uncertain, but they are flexible and will work around your availability once they've reached you in their queue of jobs. The team that did the work was very professional and worked through 95+ degree days and even worked on a Saturday because one of the weekdays was rained out. They also checked the work thoroughly a couple days after it was done to ensure everything was done up to their standard. Would highly recommend.

The crew were very hard working. Removing the furniture in the backyard and completing the initial instaltion, including the stump removal, in less that 4 days. Only one person did the sealing but again was able to remove the furniture and complete the work as planned. I was very pleased.

Jeff and his team were fantastic start to finish. This job had a number of challenges and they handled everything promptly and professionally. The work was done on budget and even faster than promised. We are so happy with yes result!

The concrete walkway at the side of our house was cracking, and we wanted to replace it. We chose Masonworks because of their excellent rating, and their clear explanation of their construction process. Junior Camara, the owner, met with us, and gave us a catalog of paving blocks, recommending one style as most popular. We asked if we could pay extra, and get another style. Unfortunately, we didn't note the different dimensions, which was our fault, and we didn't realize that the walk would be wider than we wanted. On the morning the work started, we discussed this with Bruno, the site supervisor, who recommended that the walk butt up against the house, which we didn't want, but he told us that it would prevent water problems in our basement. It's a damp basement, so we figured why not. At this point, we asked, more than once, if the walk would slope away from the house, toward the property line. Bruno agreed, and assured us that it would, although he knew what we didn't, which was that there is an ordinance in our city which forbids this. The evening the walk was finished, there were obvious problems. The walk was higher than the one it replaced, especially at the cellar windows, which would cause any rain or water to pour into our basement, and there were uneven spots where water pooled. We texted photos and Bruno agreed that the work had to be redone. Subsequently we were told that some machinery wasn't working properly on the first attempt, but the work was continued anyway. When the walk was redone, we were informed that the walk could not slope the way we wanted, but that it was graded so that water would now flow to the sidewalk. We explained that we have a problem with the front downspout in the winter. Snow melts during the day, and the downspout empties it onto the sidewalk, where it freezes at night, creating a sheet of ice, which is hard to keep melted. We are very concerned about this, and would not have added to this problem if we had been informed. When we spoke with Junior, he was dismissive, and told us that it wouldn't be much more water, and that we should just put more snow melt on it. When I asked if he would take responsibility if anyone is injured, he said that it was our problem, and not his. After the work was done, we were informed that the grade of the yard slopes a bit toward the front. If we had been informed of that upfront, we could have discussed it with either Junior or Bruno before we were presented with a finished project not to our liking. This morning we met with Junior, who says that he wants to make us happy. Unfortunately, every remedy we propose will void the warranty, and his proposals are to cut the front of the walk on an angle, forcing the water to drain against our foundation, rather than to the sidewalk, which will most likely cause problems in the basement over time, or that we should start over and pay for another set of paving blocks. While we had some extra money to upgrade, we do not have enough to start again from the beginning. As I said, we bear some of the responsibility for choosing different blocks, but we also feel that we were not fully informed of circumstances which led to their making decisions that we would have wanted to be part of, when it should have been apparent that work could not be completed to our expectations. We now regret ever starting this project.

We were extremely pleased with the work. Jeff, who did the original estimate, gave us a lot of suggestions of different ways we could go about the work, and costed out several different options. The four guys that did the work were incredible; very hard working, they obviously had a great pride in their work and were very innovative in dealing with a very complicated patio shape, removal of the concrete steps was a much bigger proposition than originally expected--they were resting on three feet of reinforced concrete which took two days to jack hammer out. The work was completed in about six working days. The crew worked incredible hours under mostly very hot conditions and were absolutely relentless. Cleaned up every day and the final site clean up was excellent and completed all of the work with absolutely minimal damage to the flowerbeds the surrounded the patio on all sides.

Summary: The work was fine, but the communication was extremely poor, and I don't like being threatened with a lawsuit for posting a negative review. I went with MasonWorks because they were reasonably priced (they were the median of the estimates I got for both the concrete and asphalt jobs) and were able to perform both the concrete and asphalt work. I thought working with 1 contractor rather than 2 would be simpler. I am rating MasonWorks so poorly due to their very poor communication regarding the job. 1. After emailing a contract to them in mid-May, I didn't hear from them for 3 weeks. I had to reach out to them in early June to verify that they did receive the signed contract and that I was on the schedule. 2. I received only a day's notice to let me know that they would be starting the work. This wasn't a huge deal (I was happy they were starting the job) but it did require me to leave work early that day to clear out the garage since they'd be coming first thing the next morning. 3. When cleaning the night before I re-discovered a section of a wood 4x4 that supported the garage that had been eaten away by carpenter ants (the ants had been dealt with but the wood was never replaced and I had forgotten about it). When the workers arrived on site the next day, I showed them the rotted wood, and asked if it was going to be at all an issue when replacing the concrete. There was clearly a miscommunication here, but I had thought they indicated that yes, it needed to be replaced *prior* to replacing the concrete. I asked if they could do that work, and they said they could but it would be at additional cost. I told them no problem, and to just let me know what it would cost. The MasonWorks supervisor reached out to me to let me know it would cost $320 to replace that 2 foot piece of 4x4, which while I thought was expensive for the job (it should have taken no more than an hour to remove and replace it). However, two days later when I went in the garage to inspect the recently poured concrete, I noticed that the 4x4 hadn't been touched. I called the supervisor at MasonWorks to let him know that if it wasn't necessary to replace the 4x4 to replace the concrete that I no longer needed him to do it (no harm, no foul). Despite this, even though the work hadn't even been started yet, he did not let me out of the change order saying that I he had already purchased the materials (a 10-ft 4x4 and some hardware). I even offered to reimburse him for the cost of the materials but he refused. I was annoyed because now I felt I was being nickel-and-dimed on a $13,000 project, in order to keep the project moving I relented, but it certainly doesn't feel like a contractor has your best interests in mind when they're arguing over a few hundred bucks for work not even done yet on such a large project. 4. The work itself was okay, although I was disappointed with the quality of the asphalt job: the edges of the asphalt were a bit crooked and not straight, and more importantly, when I sprayed down the driveway with the hose a significant number of puddles were left all across the driveway (see a video of the largest puddle here: [web link removed]) (this was especially annoying since the biggest reason I wanted a new driveway was so I didn't have to step in and out of my car into a large puddle). The supervisor at MasonWorks defended the work, basically saying that there are always imperfections in the driveway. I was disappointed, but paid the remaining amount of the contract, as the work was complete, and I figured I was probably being a bit picky anyways. 5. Here is where things became more contentious: after the job was done, we had a bit of a heat wave. The driveway itself was blocked off for a good week before anyone could drive on it, but after that I was assured it would be fine to drive on. Unfortunately, almost immediately I began to notice (at first 2, then 4, then 5, 6, 7) circular patches of the asphalt that were crumbling away. I immediately called MasonWorks to ask what was happening and if they could come out and repair it. Rather than taking care of it and standing behind his work, the supervisor at MasonWorks argued with me that this was "normal", that I shouldn't have people taking u-turns in my driveway (he never once mentioned that this was a problem prior to the work being complete) and that I should just live with it. I had to insist that he come out to at least take a look at the driveway. He did come out after a week or so and took care of the issue, but more patches almost appeared again (let me also insist that I wasn't making any u-turns in my own driveway, and was being extremely careful not to turn the wheel of the car when the car was not moving; I also don't think it's normal to expect asphalt to crumble when a car tire turns on it). I sent another thanking him for coming out to fix the issue, but also mentioning that a few more patches already showed up. Rather than having him come constantly to fix these issues, I asked if it would be okay for him just to come in the fall once to fix any of the remaining patches. The supervisor simply told me to not have people make u-turns in my driveway. I emailed him once again to simply confirm he'd be willing to come out in the fall and take care of these patches, but I received no response. Then today, almost two weeks later, I once again emailed to confirm he'd be willing to come out once again when the fall arrives; I was getting annoyed at the constant dismissal of my concerns and mentioned that I didn't want to have to give him a negative review on this site. That was when things went off the rails. Rather than describe everything, I'll just post the entire exchange. Me, July 25th: "Hi Junior, I understand that you've told me this is "normal" for new asphalt in the heat. As long as it will stop happening once the asphalt cures, I won't have an issue. Until then, while I still get these pits in the asphalt I would like them to be fixed. All I'm suggesting, to make it easier on both of us, is that we wait until the summer is over before fixing the pits again so you only have to come out once. I hope this is a reasonable solution. I would not have scheduled the work to be done in the summer had I known this would have been such an issue, and I'm sure you would agree. The asphalt is soft enough that scraping my sneakers along the asphalt can dig into it and release some crumbles (especially where there the asphalt isn't as "filled" and primarily has larger stones as opposed to a smoother surface). I just want to make sure that once the summer is over we'll be able to resolve any issues that occurred while the weather was hot. Thanks, [Member name removed]" Me, August 7th: "Junior, I have not heard back from you. I would like to avoid having to write a negative review on Angie's list. All I ask is that you are willing to come in the fall to repair any other issues that might arise for the rest of the summer. Please confirm you are willing to do this. Thanks, [Member name removed]" Jeff Souza, August 7th: "[Member name removed] What's the rush. Do not threat us. I'm saving this email. Junior already went there and he told you that we will take care of it. Now put a sign on your driveway telling people that they can't turn on YOUR driveway. We have done nothing wrong in your house. Our job was par excellence and we can prove it. The issue you have is with cars turning in your driveway and leaving marks there. Not our fault. Nothing we can do to prevent. Do not threat us. We have been nice to you and did return all your calls and have been following through, even though it is not anything we did wrong. You have to make sure YOUR property isn't trespassed on. Our job is not to be your security guard. If you write a bad review without any proof of Masonworks wrongdoing you'll have to respond to it legally . I'll not take defamation or slander lightly. Jeff Souza Masonworks LLC 617-828-2733" Me, August 7th: "Are you kidding me? You're threatening to sue over a deserved negative review? I'll be posting it tonight. It will be honest and accurate and I guess I'll be looking forward to your lawsuit. Regards, [Member name removed]" Jeff Souza, August 7th: "Ok then. Go ahead. You'll have to deal with in two fronts then. We have been responsive and forthcoming with you. You'll respond to what you do and we will not come back to your house. We did nothing wrong and honestly tried to help you with an issue that isn't ours. You are the one who threatened us. I'll follow through if you stain my reputation. Slender is a crime in Massachusetts. Go on and we will respond to you. Both on Angie's List and in court. WE HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG. Threatening like you did will not get you anywhere. Say the truth on a report and we will be fine. I can respond to it. Lie and you'll pay. We have plenty emails responding to you on a timely manner. We have never told you we wouldn't go back. Read your last email and tell me who threatened who? Who do you think you are to threaten us? We have been polite and nice to you. We fulfilled our agreement to the core. Don't come aggressively like you did. We have not been aggressive to you and treated you with respect. We deserve the same. Your last email was disrespectful to the core." That's where we are today. I have a supposed 2 year warranty from MasonWorks, but I'm guessing I'm going to have a hard time getting them to come and resolve any issues with the driveway that may arise. Still, I couldn't let this go. I don't think we would have had a problem had I not constantly had to follow-up with them, but I think they showed that they aren't exactly willing to stand behind their work and deal with customers in a professional manner.

MasonWorks was by far the most responsive company we dealt with in the process of getting estimates for installing a new patio and replacing our disintegrating back steps. They stopped by to see our property and got an estimate back to us quickly, giving us individual quotes for different options. Once we settled on what we wanted, there was a bit of a hiccup about a discrepancy in their measurements vs. our measurements, but they dealt with it and agreed that we were correct. They provided a detailed work order for us to sign, and clearly broke down all costs. They let us know it would be 3-4 weeks before construction started. After 4 weeks, we started checking in with them on the phone, and it was a bit tough to get them to call us back. The timeline ended up being more like 6 weeks. But, I know that summer is their busiest season for them, so I understand why it took longer, and why it was challenging to get them on the phone. They did a BEAUTIFUL job, and amazingly to me (though I am, admittedly, not knowledgeable about masonry), they did all the work in four days, even though it rained one of the mornings. It was an amazing transformation of our dusty backyard. They'd had to remove a fence-post to get their machinery in, and they put it back perfectly. Areas of the lawn that had been affected by the machinery were dressed with fresh topsoil and seeded with grass. Overall, we are extremely happy with the work. Visitors to the house, and even neighbors walking by, are very complimentary. It's just the right size for us, and it's been wonderful having proper outdoor space for grilling and eating! We would absolutely use them again for future projects.

Great experience. We are very happy we chose MasonWorks to have our work done. Jeff was very easy to communicate with and followed through on everything he said would be done on schedule. His team was extremely hard working, even working all day the Saturday of July 4 weekend. They were also respectful of our property, cleaning up at the end of each day.

It went really well, Jeff gave some suggestions about the location of the patio and the reasoning. It was very helpful as I had not thought about location as much and he has a lot of experience on this. I received a proposal with a design and step by step process on how it would be built (they were the only contractors to do such meticulous work from all the quotes I had). The work was completed in one day in the same manner as it was described in the proposal for the project and everything was cleaned up after the project without any issues. His crew did a great job!

MasonWorks overall did a very good job. Jeff came out promptly and gave a very professional presentation and estimate. The contract they issued was also very professionally done and everything was laid out clearly. There was a 6-8 week lead time which I thought was a bit much, but it was a relatively small project. The only glitch was on the day of installation when the wrong materials were sent by their supplier and we had to wait an extra two days for the project to be completed. The actual installation of the stone was extremely well done with great care and attention and we are very pleased with the results. I would definitely use this company again.

Masonworks was very professional in their work. I had old brick that were falling apart on the front steps. I would recommend them and I'd hire them again. The railing was done by another company that they recommended to me. Overall, very happy with the work!

MasonWorks did a very good job. They completed the job on schedule and the quality of the work was excellent.

Jeff, one of the owners contacted us quickly to set up a time to meet, and was quick to give an estimate. Jeff designed a combination of pavers and edging stones so we would only need to order 1 pallet of pavers, saving us money. Their prices were very reasonable for the quality of the work done. Once they started they finished our 18x10 ft patio in 2 days. The workers were friendly and cleaned up all debris when they left. We couldn't be happier with it!

Excellent. It looks great, went well without a hitch, reasonably priced, considerate workers, and the company was always immediately responsive.

Jeff and his team were phenomenal. Were very quick to provide an estimate and then follow through on the project. While not the cheapest, looking back in hindsight, definitely the best value. The entire process was excellent. The estimate was detailed and broke down all the costs for the project so I was able to understand the job breakdown. I was most impressed by Jeff's team, they were the hardest working contractors I have ever encountered, the job moved so significantly faster than anticipated and as a result made the process as painless as possible. We could not be happier, they delivered above and beyond what we were expecting in a fraction of the time. Would recommend Masonworks in an absolute flash and should we ever need them again will not bother with other quotes.

Masonworks is by far the very best company that I have ever hired for a project. We had a few contractors that came out to meet with us about this project, but Masonworks offered us the most competitive price. They were also so easy to communicate with- they returned every call or email promptly. The staff was very pleasant and worked hard to finish this project. The end result is perfect! I will reach out to them for all future projects.

Very pleased with MasonWorks. They were very professional in all aspects of the project. They made suggestions to improve the job that I did not think about before I hired them. Excellent Work at a Good Price !

Jeff was extremely responsive when we first reached out to him for a quote. He was prompt when he arrived, spent a good amount time surveying our land/house, and provided a quote, including a picture diagram, within one week. We had asked other contractors to do the same, and found that no one else really fully understood what we were seeking. As noted above, Jeff and his team had a huge undertaking for the projects, especially because we wanted everything done within one week's time frame (in time for July 4th weekend so that we could spend the remainder of the summer enjoying our new deck, patio and driveway). Jeff's team is very professional, prompt, detailed-oriented and responsive. The only downside was that when the driveway/patio came in to excavate the land, they also plowed down a perfectly good tree and flowers that we now have to replant. Otherwise, we were amazed by how quickly they built everything, and everything turned out great. We have received many compliments already on how Jeff's team transformed our front and back yards. We highly recommend Jeff and his team!

Very responsive from start to finish. Moved up the start date to accommodate my needs. Very happy with the final work, and appreciated that the cleanup was impeccable.

Bruno and Junior were very courteous and professional. They did a great job at a great price. I would highly recommend them.

What can I say. It all went according to plan. What is most important to us? Quality was spot on. Contractors and teams were always on time and courteous and worked through really crappy weather conditions to finish this project. Project was finished on the time line promised. Everything was done exactly as detailed above. Our back garden went from looking like an abandoned lot to a place we actually want to spend time in! Also: The team actually washed down the road and the sidewalk every day to ensure non of the rocks/dirt debris was left. I thought that was pretty special.