Bergen County Mason Contractors

This review is for two jobs Jimmy and his crew did for me - a repair on our front steps / stoop, and an installation of Cambridge pavers on our 500 sf yard out back. If you want the short version: yes, hire him. The first job was tearing out a crumbling stucco'd / step at the base of our stairs and stoop into our house. Within 48 hours of calling Jimmy, he had come by and taken a look and given me a rough verbal estimate. Within 24 hours of that, I had an e-mailed quote that broke down the scope of work. Aside from the professionalism and timeliness of the visit and quote, let me also point out that Jimmy also talked me down from a potentially much larger job (and larger payday for himself). I had been thinking that we'd have to tear out the entire set of five steps as well as our stoop and rebuild / repour the entire thing. Jimmy poked around, asked some questions, and explained to me what he thought the main problems that needed fixing were. In his professional opinion, we could probably salvage most of the existing steps, as well as addressing the key problems, by doing a very thorough repair job. I ended up agreeing with this and that's the route we took. It is a rare professional who will tell you that you don't need his services as much as you thought, but Jimmy did that for me on his first meeting. Huge plus mark in his favor. The job ended up going smoothly, and he and his crew finished it in a day. I've attached some photos at the end of the review. This was $2,100 and took one full day. It went so well that when it was over I asked Jimmy to take a look at the backyard area and give me a rough quote for doing the patio (for what it's worth, I think his rough quote ended up within 5-10% of his final, formal quote). The second job was rip out a previously terribly installed set of bricks, level and prep the area, and install an approximately 500 square foot paver patio. The work was complicated by the fact that I live in Hudson county, where houses butt right up against each other (no side yard or alley to get to my backyard), making getting access to the jobsite a real headache. We ended up temporarily taking down a fence / getting permission to use a neighboring yard for getting materials in and out. Jimmy was patient and flexible while we coordinated a time to do the work that worked for them, too. This job ended up costing $7,400 and took a few days. Everything was done on time and the schedule that Jimmy had laid out, and everything looked great when all was said and done. With both these jobs, Jimmy and his crew were organized, efficient, and on-time. Jimmy's communication was excellent when I asked for quotes or got in touch about scheduling. He was also proactive in reaching out to me whenever there was some kind of unique wrinkle that came up with the jobs. Every job has one or two of these, and it's nice when a contractor will take a moment to bring you up to speed on what they've found, how they're proceeding, and getting your OK if it's any kind of decision you might care about. Overall, highly recommend Jimmy and the rest of his team.

Great job done quickly.

Jim responded to my call for an estimate promptly and gave me the best price of several other contractors. Although it took a while to schedule the job, several weeks (which is understandable considering this was a relatively small job), he arrived promptly on the scheduled date and, as promised, completed the job the same day. When I returned home that evening I was pleasantly surprised to see the work which exceeded my expectations. The concrete retaining wall was installed cleanly and neatly and looks great. The two small footing had to be installed underneath the bottom of the stairs without removing or damaging the stairs which was also done well and looks great. Jim came over that evening for payment. He was courteous and professional and I am very happy with his work. I would use him again and would recommend him to others.

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They arrived on time to do the work and the finished job looked good..........until the first time it rained. A worker came back promptly after I called to let them know that rocks were laying in my driveway after the rain. He re-stacked the rocks and left. Today (12/9/14) it rained again, and, again, the rocks came tumbling down onto my driveway. But this time it was even worse. More rocks came down. I picked them all up so I could use my driveway, and I called Jim Leone and left a message. I was told (via a message left on my answering machine) that it was "not his fault". And that it was because the base stones were disturbed when the driveway was removed. That's all well and good.........but as a retaining wall "expert", he should have known to properly reinforce the area where there could have been a potential problem after the driveway was removed. Again, he left a message on my answering machine (filled with profanity) to tell me, yet again, that it was "not his fault" and that I should call the driveway contractor to have him re-set the stones. I called and left a message on his voice mail to tell him that I didn't appreciate the foul language, and that I would fix the wall myself and that he should not return to my property. In his defense, he called back to apologize for the foul language and reiterated that it was "not his fault", but that after the driveway was paved, that he would come back to re-set the stones for the third time. I left it at that, and I didn't say yes or no to his offer to try again. At this point, I think I could do a better job myself, especially since I built the original wall myself almost 20 years ago and the rocks never moved.

I was extremely disappointed with the whole experience. The walkway was not what I had imagined. The quality of work was very poor as I had other masons in after and they commented about the job being done poor. The new step he put in was sloping in one direction. The walkway as it curved should have been much wider. At the end of the walkway, where it stopped it was crooked. He however did fix that by putting pavers as a border at the end. The side of the walkway had little paver pieces in that should not be there. When I asked if he could fix something he would curse and walk away. He smoked and left his butts in the street. In the future, any estimate I have will be very detailed so I know exactly what I am getting!

Jim showed up on the agreed upon time and date with his workers and started the removal work. By the end of the day, the railings were gone and the limestone steps were gone and the 3 concrete slabs. The next day he was back and bricks were replaced and repointed. The old cement work was evened off and cleaned. The foundation for the extended side step area was poured. The new front limestone steps were put in place. On the third day the brick work fro the side step area was in place, the forms for the concrete slabs were constructed. On the fourth day the concrete for the slabs and the top of stairs front and rear was poured. All debris was removed, swept and hosed the area. I am entirely pleased with the work Jim and his workers performed; I would hire him to do any other masonry that was needed.

There were 4 limestone treads that needed to be replaced. The work was professionally done and we are happy with the results.

We called Jim and he arrived the same day to give us an estimate. We called the next day to tell Jim we wanted him to do the work, and he was able to start work the following day. Three days later we had a beautiful new paver walkway and patio! Jim's estimate was fair and accurate. Jim and his team of workers really knew what they were doing and put us at ease. They worked very hard to remove the old concrete and prepare the surface, and the installation went very smoothly. We would recommend Bergen County Mason Contractors to anyone looking for excellent work at a fair price!

Jimmy is a very stand up guy. He was very responsive whenever I called. Showed up on time. He and his team worked hard and quickly to get much done around the home. He listened well to what we wanted, offered good advice during the planning stages, and, most importantly, cared about the quality and it shows. I highly recommend him to others and would call his company again in the event I need help with another masonry project.

Punctual, professional, and efficient. We are happy with the results and would use him again and recommend him to others.

We set up an appointment for him to give an estimate to do masonry work for our townhouse complex. About an hour before we were to meet, he called to let me know he needed to reschedule and would call me as soon as he could. After I left 2 messages a few days apart, he returned my call but got nasty with me when I explained the process that my HOA has requiring us to see previous jobs. He said he doesn't give references, isn't going to waste his time and hung up on me.

Prompt and professional. Did a very good repair job. Worked with me to make sure all work done was to my satisfaction.

My retaining wall was badly damaged by Super Storm Sandy. The City said I needed to involve an architect or engineer for the design to rebuilt the wall. The engineer suggested a contractor who was a real 'flop'. He would not answer my questions or return my many phone calls. I then used Angie's list to find a mason. Bergen County Mason Contractors was the second company I contacted. The owner, Jim Leone, went over to see the job within an hour and called me back right away. His was the best proposal and price quote. He assured me he'd make my job a priority and so he did. I live in Florida so all of our dealings were by phone. Upon my acceptance of his proposal, he immediately obtained the permit and spoke to the neighbors to gain access to the wall as needed from their side. He also attempted to made adjustments to reduce the overall job cost. As soon as the permit was issued, he began the work. Each night, he made sure everything was left in good order and neat. He kept me informed each day throughout the work and finished in a little over a week (it was a big job) in spite of bad weather (rain) and restored the yard to its original state. The workers were polite and respectful as well. We are not bi-lingual so it was important to us that we could communicate in English. I cannot say enough good things about BCMC. Even my engineer said that it was a pleasure working with them and his opinion counts.

Everything went well. They were very prompt, and they worked long and hard.

I called up Bergen County Mason Contractors on Friday afternoon. The owner called my back within a few hours. The other contractors I called didn't call me back until 3 days later. I needed to get this job done immediately. Jim came over gave me an estimate for my porch foundation, and also for the foundation for the rest of my house. He followed up with a phone call to me which I thought was extremely professional. Sunday I spoke to Jim and he was able to start on Monday the 9th. He said he would be there at 7:30 am and he was a man of his word. He and his staff were very professional. They never left a mess. He was done ahead of schedule. The foundation on the porch and around my house looks beautiful. I'm very pleased with the job. I would call him again, he stands by his work. Thank you Bergen County Mason Contractors you're the best!!! MaryannWood-RIdge NJ