Jim Sullivan Masonry

Jim came to look at my wall. He said the front stairs and whole wall needs to come down and be replaced. He said that any patch job is not worth doing and for me to call and get a refund.

Contractor was very responsive and gave me a quote. I decided not to follow through at this time.

I was satisfied with the conversation, but the total estimate was more than I want to spend right now.

The total quote was more like $ 3,000 and that was more than we expected. I think a piece of the cost was due to the trip from New Hampshire. Jim was very professional, but a little expensive

Jim Swivan did an exceptional job of keeping us apprised of his progress schedule and the quality of his work was good too!

He shouldn't have run the promotion. All he did was whine to me in email about how busy he is and how he wont be able to do the work until Oct.

Jim was responsive and kept me informed at all steps of the job. I'm pleased with his work and recommend him for your masonry needs.

I ordered the Big Deal on 6/13/14 for Jim Sullivan Masonry for either 2-people working 4 hours or for 1-person working 8 hours for $399. I heard from JS that same day asking me to describe the project and to send pictures and saying hat he would schedule a visit for Sunday 6/22/14. I replied on 6/15 that I had a conflict in the early afternoon on 6/22, but described the project and gave him my phone number, and on 6/16/14, I sent 4 photos of the project. Jim replied on 6/16 with his analysis of what the total project entailed, and I responded the same day with a question about what he thought could be accomplished in one day (as per the Big Deal). Jim replied that I should have read the offer more carefully, because he only works with a second person and not alone. To this I replied that I was aware that that the offer was for one person for 8 hours or for two persons for 4 hours, and since he always works in a twosome, I thought the offer should have simply been stated for 2-people for 4 hours and that I would be interested in what he could accomplish in 4 hours. To this Jim replied that he is not allowed to script his own offer, but that he must select from scripts provided by Angie's List. However, to me it was inconsequential whether the offer was for 2-people for 4 hours, because I wanted to know what could be accomplished within the parameters of the offer. All of these email communications took place on 6/16. On 6/19, Jim advised me that he would arrive between 3-4pm to personally review the project. and asked for my phone number (which I had given him with my first email back on 6/15) so that he could give me a courtesy call prior to his arrival. I sent him my number again, but this time I inadvertently left out a number. When Jim advised me of this omission on 6/21, I responded with the correct number, and again advised Jim that I would appreciate it if he could arrive toward the end of the 3-4pm time slot. As it turned out, I rushed home from my previous engagement to arrive at 3pm only to be told by my wife that Jim had arrived at 1:45 and had reviewed the situation. Today I received his email to the effect that he could do the project for $2,700, with no discussion what could be done within the parameters of the Big Deal offer. I called Jim to discuss this with him, planning to suggest that I remove the brick layer from the wall's top and have him work on rebuilding the wall. However, I got his vmail, and no return call as yet. However, I am convinced that Jim does not actually want to just work for 4 hours, but only wants to make use this offer to engage larger projects.

I think Jim did not want to do it because we live on a very steep hill (his words) -we needed some patching up on a retaining wall filling in cracks with concrete. II believe Jim was nervous bringing his equipment up on the hill. And maybe he thought it was not worth it.

Very prompt and nice. However, the amount of money I had on the deal, though it seemed almost sufficient to me, was much much less than the job (for a rebuilding of our front steps).

Previous contact with other masonry providers has been unprofessional--calls that went unreturned, site visits that never took place--but Jim responded promptly and visited the site that day. Work was started and completed on time and JIm worked closely with me to advise on material decisions and make recommendations that made sense for the work that was being done. For the first time in nearly 4 years of owning the house, I feel comfortable having people use my front door to enter the house. I would definitely use his services again.

Bad experience with the purchase from Angie's list. I was overcharged and communication to get this fixed was poor. User Update - 6/14/14 - I DID NOT POST THIS REVIEW! I had a bad experience with Angie's List on the purchase, not with the vendor. Angie's list paraphrased my message to them and created a poor review for the vendor on my behalf. THIS IS NOT OK. A system based on the user reviews should only allow the user to post reviews. I have emailed Angie's list and asked them to make this right with both me and the vendor. I would never speak poorly of somebody who I did not work with. I am, however, waiting for this vendor to apologize to me for speaking so poorly of me (both on this system and via email) without bothering to get the whole story.

I think the company was slightly overwhelmed with numbers of responses (second time this has happened) and it caused a built-in tension to set estimate timing only when JS traveling from NH to Cambridge. I was in an uninterruptible meeting and yet Jim insisted on trying to talk to me through the window. The repair estimate came in for over $2000 which was just absurd. I will keep trying. Best, Joanne

It went great. Jim and his assistant made a clean demolition and removed all of the debris. Afterwards they rebuilt the steps, paying attention to the importance of the railing for my elderly mother. The steps not only look great but are solid and should last as long as we own the property.

Mr. Sullivan provided a reasonable quote and was able to start the job on time. That's where the good part ends. I removed the iron railings to have them sand blasted and asked multiple times if I needed to get them modified for the new mason work. I was told it was no problem as they are. After Mr. Sullivan and his helper arrived and started work I saw they they were in the process of hacking my Azela bush because "it was in the way". Had I not stopped them I think it would have been completely destroyed. I suggested tying it back instead, which worked just fine. They had also ripped up a lot of ground cover as well. I asked them to please be careful with my property to which Mr. Sullivan replied that it was fall and it was all dying anyway. I arrived home that afternoon to find they had left tools and wheel barrows in one of my garden beds, blocked entry into my garage with their cement mixer. Again, I asked them to respect my property, to which I was mocked. After about 4 days when it was time to install the railings, Mr. Sullivan admitted that he is not very good at railings, that he did not have the correct tools, and that he had to modify the railings (so that they no longer attached to the house) I would have had them modified professionally, but Mr.Sullivan just took a hack saw to them to make them fit. Apparently Mr. Sullivan cannot do simple measurements and math. The holes where the railings mounted into the stone steps were not completely filled allowing water to pool around the posts. When I asked about a large piece gouged from the sand stone, he responded by smearing some clear caulk into the depression (yea, that's going to last!). There was cement splattered on the house which would have been easy to cleanup while still wet, but was not cleaned. When I raised my disappointment, he responded that people don't use their front doors anyway! Well if you want to hear endless stories from an Irishman with bad teeth while getting crappy masonry work done, then hire this guy, otherwise I suggest you look elsewhere.

Jim was excellent with communication from the point of initial contact to completion of final sealing. He replied to emails promptly and was clear on communicating the days and times he planned to be onsite. He was always on the job site and worked hard with his teammate. They cleaned up thoroughly upon completion of the project. The quality and care of his work is evident and I would use him again in the future.

I purchased the $399 Big Deal coupon for 8 hours of masonry work. Jim came by my house (while I was at work) and looked at the wall that I wanted repaired. He took some photos and sent me an email with his estimate for $2900. I asked if he could just work for the 8 hours and do as much as possible, but he was not able to do that. So, I asked for a refund of the $399.

They emailed me to inform me that my area is outside of their service area. Getting a full refund through Angie's list.

The quality of the work is excellent. It was done on time and on budget. The mason arrived and left at the time he stated. The mason cleaned up each day and at the end he put back in perfect order everything he had moved.

Jim was very professional. Always emailed me the night before he was coming to work to let me know when to expect him. He was always courteous and I am very happy with my new front stairs!

I had initially hired him to replace my front steps, and a 20 ft walkway. He recommend that we don't replace the entire steps and just take the bricks out that were damaged. He said they would flip the bricks over and replace the mortar. That was going to be about $2900. I agreed to that and he started out really doing a nice job. He got eh bricks flipped and everything was looking good. I went away on Easter weekend and came back and it was like a different person had been here. He damaged our 100 year old home and gouged the wood. When I pointed that out to him he laughed and said that was collateral damage. There was other things as well, the sealant he used dried a milky white in areas and I didn't want it to be white and was told it would dry clear. The few areas that the sealant did dry clear, you can see the mortar is streaked underneath on the bricks. I emailed him to let him know that I was not happy at all and I wanted it redone. He responded back with a response that was laughable and basically called it a product defect. He also didn't do a good job on the walkway. Jim didn't put down a base under the bricks, and he didn't match the pattern of the bricks at all. The herringbone pattern should be done at a 45 degree angle and it was not. The fact that he didn't put down a base below the bricks is causing the bricks to sink and become uneven in places. Instead of moving the cement up to meet the house, he left a gap and filled it in with globs of clear caulking that have subsequently pealed off. At the completion of the job, Jim gave me a review form to send to Angies List. On the section that it requests the cost of the job, he filled in "Private", as if it was his choice not mine, to leave out.

Not well read above. Obviously we will get several more estimates before we spend just under 3000.00 on contractor that did not even go to house but just used pictures, even though he said it was slow season?

Jim was a pleasure to work with. He responded via email immediately, gave me what i think was an excellent price for the job. He did exactly what he had promised, was punctual, and followed up with several phone calls. The job he did was excellent, he was courteous and personable, and he and his assistant cleaned up nicely when the job was done. As far as i could tell, he's an excellent mason and I wouldn't hesitate to call him again.

Professional. Prompt. Knowledgeable.

I called and purchased my Big Deal coupon and was excited to find a local vender because the guy who built my Fireplace is long retired. The next day, I received an email from Jim Sullivan asking for information concerning my project. I informed him that this was not a rush or emergency job and would schedule the work after the winter wood burning season was over. I indicated that my work initially would consist of repair/restoration of the firebox back wall as well as the whole damper control system. I would also need an inspection and recommendation for any additional future work. Much to my surprise, I received an email response stating that the vender viewed this as a simple service call and the purpose of the his promotion was to generate work in the minimum $1500 to $2000 range. THEN THE REAL SURPRISE CAME WHEN HE TOLD ME THAT THE PROBLEM WAS THAT ANGIE'S LIST TOOK A THIRD OF THE PROMOTION FUNDS. This is my biggest disappointment with the process. I joined Angie's list in order to avoid unethical contractors who would engage in bait and switch tactics, or not live up to their commitments. NOW I FIND OUT ANGIE'S LIST IS A COCONSPIRITOR IN THIS SCAM!! NOT GOOD!! Regards, J.K.