B & K Masonry LLC

The original workers missed some spots. We called to inform that spots had been missed. A second crew came and fixed the missed spots and sealed the entire chimney. Had to use our sprayer because his was defective.

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Ben showed up promptly to examine the proposed project and give an estimate, and answered all of my questions (including the correct type of weather protectant to apply). He filled out a detailed, professional written estimate, which was slightly under the estimate I had received from another contractor. Because of Ben's professionalism--including the detail of his estimate--and his proposed use of the weather protectant that was indicated by my own research, I chose to have Ben do the job. On the early August morning the job was scheduled, Ben showed up on time with his son, a very nice and hard-working young man. They promptly started work, and finished much more quickly than Ben had anticipated. The new chimney looks perfect, and they left the site very clean. Ben asked me to hold back $50 to help him remember to return in a month to apply the weather protectant. In early September, without requiring a reminder call, Ben returned to spray on the weather protectant, a job that was done in a few minutes. I then wrote him a check for the remaining balance. Ben is a very personable individual who also is a consummate professional who does excellent work. I would not hesitate for a moment to have him do another project for us.

Ben was awesome, he was extremely professional and very helpful. I had a problem with my current chimney contractor. He said that he was going to have to tear off a portion of my new roof to replace some bricks. I called Piefer roofing (my roofing contractor) about this and he asked Ben from Band K to come out to take a look. Ben showed up and found a alternative method of repair without tearing off my new roof! Ben explained the method to me to pass on to my contractor and told me if he had any questions to give him a call. When I called him later he offered to come out and teach my contractor the method!!! Ben came out on his Saturday and taught my contractor the method. And he didn’t ask for much payment. I have never heard of a contractor being welling to teach his competitor anything - but this is what kind of guy Ben is. I will hire him in a heart beat in the future and will recommend him to anyone I can. I just wish I would have hired him for my entire job!

He made appointment and came and looked and gave me an estimate...came back and did the work and i paid him.

I got two bids, and B and K's was fairly similar to the other bid I got. I chose to go with B and K because Ben, the owner, seemed like a professional guy that did good work and knew what he was doing. He said he liked working on older homes, and that he would build in a corbel/cornice on the chimney cap and make it look good. It wasn't specified in the contract, but he said he would do it. When he was done I went up to inspect and although the work was well done, there was no corbel, the chimney was just straight. The fabricated chimney cover is a bright shiny galvanized metal cap, which I hope will weather over time to blend in better with the age of the house. He wanted to be paid right away, and I mentioned the lack of corbel, and he said something like he forgot about that and just rebuilt it the way it was. No offer to go back and do what he said he would do. He just wanted his money and to be on his way. I paid him the full amount on the spot. The contract did specify that the chimney would be sealed. Since the concrete needed at least 30 days to cure, he said he'd come back and do it. I got the impression that would happen in about a month or so. I didn't hear anything for 5 months so I called yesterday and asked if the sealing had been done. He called the next day and said he needed a couple of days of dry weather before it could be sealed. I then asked him what product he would use. I had done some reading on the subject that indicated chimney's should be waterproofed with a vapor-permeable product that allows moisture out but doesn't allow it in, that conventional sealers can trap moisture in the chimney and cause increased degradation over time. He seemed a bit irritated by the question and named a product, which I looked up on the manufacturers website and found it to be a masonry cleaner used for removing metalic stains. I sent an email with a link to the product description, stating my concerns and pointed to a website that sold a chimney waterproofing product. He called back and left a voicemail and said he misspoke about the exact product name, but that he uses a sealer for brickwork but couldn't remember the exact product, and that maybe I am making too big a deal out of this. The implication being that he knows what he's doing and I should just shut up about it. I then sent another email in response again stating my concerns, and adding that I'm sorry he's bothered by my questions, but that I've had enough experience with contractors to do my own research on projects and ask questions and keep asking questions until I'm satisfied with the answers, and that his performance and responses so far have not exactly earned my trust and confidence. I also said that he could drop off a chimney waterproofing product and I would apply it myself. I could tell that he was getting pretty sore about this and I didn't want him up on my roof again. Well, now he's really mad because he hasn't actually read the emails I've sent, but heard about them second-hand from his office person and so he calls back and reads me the riot act about me sending him emails, saying he thinks that's a "chicken-s***" way of communicating, a way of avoiding talking to someone. And if I've got a problem with anything I should just call him and we'll talk about it. I said that's one way of looking at it, but the way I see it email is a way of documenting our conversation - documenting my concerns and about what I would like done. But no, this guy likes to b******* his way through things, make promises about what he will do, give vague answers to questions and not have anything written down. That way, he's not accountable. His aggressive and irritated response to reasonable questions demonstrates a serious lack of professionalism. So no, I would definitely not hire this person again.