JC Masonry

Jim was the consummate professional. He told me would show up on a Thursday in the afternoon. He was there at 8am! That has never happened to me before. Contractors tell you in the afternoon, you are lucky if they even show up. Jim was there to start the day. He began the day taking out the bricks that were remaining on my front steps. It is an entry way that completely fell apart. I think the original mason had built it in the winter because the concrete literally turned to sand. Every single one of my bricks fell out. It was a huge safety issue. By end of day Friday it was all bare and ready for bricks. Jim had repurposed my bricks. They were in good shape and many didn't barely have any cement so Jim got the bricks back into shape so they could be reused. That saved me some money. The next 3 days were when Jim installed the bricks and slabs. He communicated with me and we exchanged ideas. He didn't make me feel rushed and was always checking with me before he did anything he couldn't go back from. Jim was a upfront guy that gave a real estimate. It wasn't based on the size of my house or how bad I needed the job done. I wish there were more contractors like Jim.

Unfortunately JC Masonry did not do the type of service I needed.

James worked efficiently, stayed on the job until completed. We are very pleased!

the two man crew showed up about 7:30am on the day they said they would and each day after that. they told me each morning what they would be doing that day. Because they used a grinder to remove the old mortar they took care to cover my windows and to put up a barrier to keep the dust away from my neighbors house. They cleaned up the dirt each day before left and let me know that they were leaving. We only had one slight problem one day when my neighbor felt they had not cleaned her property well enough. The boss spoke to the women the next morning and took care of the problem. The boss invited me inspect the job before asking for the final payment. I am very pleased with job.

James was helpful in suggesting a solution to our problem, was prompt in doing the work, and finished when he said he would.

Went great! I could not get others to either do the job (too small) or find the time to do it, or do it for an affordable price. I don't remember his name but this guy was called in the summer and yes he also had a hard time finding the time but he did! I could have had some real damage if this hadn't been fixed and yet others did not care, this guy did! He found a way at an affordable price. I absolutely would use him again, and highly recommend JC Masonry.

JC Masonery came around 9: am and started on the fixing my chimney . about 2 1/2 hours later it was done. He cleaned up everything . He fixed the top half of the chimney and put a new top on. I called every chimney service in my phone book. I either had no call back or they do not do this area . some came and look at it and said they could not do it. This went on for 3 months and I was in tears. It really is a crime that these chimney guys do this to people. I went on Angie list saw this add and give him a called .He came the next day said he could do it gave me a quote. I said you have the job and he was he the next week. I would say he was excellent. If you need chimney work done he is the man for the job.

James responded to my initial inquiry in a timely manner. He provided a fair estimate of the work to be performed. He completed the job earlier than what our expectations were which was a bonus. He arrived when he indicated he would be at the job. We were extremely pleased with his service and quality of work and are considering him for another project that is on our list of things to get done. Would recommend his services to others.

James was excellent. He is very detailed oriented and tried hard to match my bricks. He explained all the steps that he would do. Mine had lots of cracks and brick deterioration over the years from the previous owner. He did quality work and did not rush even though he is backed up. You can tell he takes pride in his work and it shows. He is very neat doing the job and cleans up afterwards.He wants to make sure his customer is happy and satisfied. His price also was very reasonable. We will have more work done later on the other chimney. My neighbor already had him look at his chimney as well. James is the type of contractor you can have confidence in and reliability. I rate 5 stars.

He will be doing the work but, has not started. After talking to him, everything is fine. He was professional and quick to respond. He answered my questions thoroughly and I could tell that he knew his business well. He seemed like a good guy. I will use them.

Responded quickly to determine the nature of the problem and provided me with a proposal after explaining what had to be done and told me about all the options and the best way to do the job. A date was agreed on and due to bad weather had to be canceled. He called at the first opportunity to reschedule and showed up on the date and time promised. The work was done professionally as described in the proposal. He cleaned up after doing the job and I was very pleased with the entire experience. I would definitely recommend him.

James is very professional and patient he explains everything you need to know and how he is going to do the work. James returns calls in a timely manner. He arrives on time. I would use him again.

weather cooperating...very well. James did a very thorough job...clean, neat. I was impressed with his honesty and pointing out future possible problems. James will continue to be the mason I use in the very near future. He is worth waiting for.

James was very patient with us as we figured out the final design concept for the hearth. To be clear, we needed James to stone the back of the hearth only. We had modified the base of the hearth years ago, ripping out the brick base of the hearth and having a decorative cement expert create the look of a Belgian stone base that was laid right up to the brick back of the hearth. After kicking around options, we agreed to simplify the project by applying the stone veneer directly over the existing brick back of the hearth. We wanted to have the option of moving our pot belly stove onto the hearth and connecting the stove into the chimney located behind the hearth, or leaving the pot belly stove in its current location and covering the chimney hole in the hearth with a framed painting as we've done for years. So, part of the design was to include hangars in the hearth which would accommodate hanging the painting or hanging fireplace tools. The final design decision was to stick with the concept of going with a stacked stone approach even though that is a far more complicated process. James took care of getting the stone and other needed materials from Rolling Rock and delivered the materials to our house in advance of starting the job. He worked with great patience and skill in choosing the stone layout so as to achieve the desired appearance of a rustic backdrop. He was totally receptive to our input as to design considerations, even accepting input as to which sized stones to put in which locations to best meet our preferences. James was great about working with us to schedule his start times. He worked throughout the day and cleaned up the work area before calling it a day over the course of the project. He kept the work area neat which was really important to us as the work was performed in our living room which is right alongside our kitchen. The finished product is gorgeous! The stacked stone achieved the look we had in mind giving the living room the feel of a hunting lodge or resort. We can't praise James highly enough for the quality of his work and his dedication to his craft. We are so pleased with this project, like the one before, that we contacted James a week later about designing an outside fireplace for us. We look forward to working with James again in the future.

The mason did the outside repair during the warm months. Then , a few months later the wet drywall on ceiling was removed and the area was left to dry out for a week or so. A mold and mildew live enzyme solution was sprayed on the area to make sure all was correct. After several more days all was dried and then New drywall was added...then the area was painted. It is now April and it has not showed any signs of leaking. Industrial grade flashing was used so all the crevices around the free formed stone would be filled. This was the solution. All the handymen who squirted silicon,etc just made a big mess and the cracks were never sealed.

James came to make sure the color of the grout will match the color on our home's chimney. He worked during the weekend so that the job will be finished when the weather was going to be cold and rainy during the week. The only thing I cannot give a rating for the price as we don't know a range for all these services.

James did an excellent job. He completed the work in a few days, right on schedule. He identified some areas that needed additional work and did these at a very reasonable cost. He was very careful to provide for the safety of his crew as well as the people using the church. He also was very diligent about cleaning during and after the work.

'After enrolling on Angie's List, I made arrangements for a number of contractors to check out the job and make recommendations and bids. While we were impressed with all of the contractors, James Call of JC Masonry just clicked with us. He gave us bids to do either the stucco repair or the natural stone solution. While the stucco repair approach would have saved us money in the short run, we found James' quote for the stone solution to be very favorable. Not only would the stone solution enhance the appearance of the chimney, it would greatly reduce maintenance costs down the road. We were impressed by James agreeing to work with the stone supplier of our choosing, Rolling Rock in Boyertown, to determine quantities of stone and materials needed. We were impressed by James explaining to us exactly what the job would entail, making sure we understood how he planned to approach the job-- especially how he intended to work with the slope of the roof. He told us it was a bit of a challenge but he would persevere to get the job done. James also answered all of our concerns about licensing and liability insurance. We felt assured that James had an excellent sense of liability concerns not only for himself but for the customer. That issue alone was a major one in our choosing the contractor and James absolutely won our confidence in regards to this selection criteria. We were also pleased with the job schedule James proposed. After meeting with James, we immediately knew we wanted him to do the repair, the only question was which approach. We let James know we wanted to use his services but wanted to think about which approach to take over the weekend. We got back to him after the weekend and green-lighted the stone approach. Upon our green-lighting the work, James provided us with a contract which clearly presented his costs and the work entailed within the job, his payment terms, and his warranty. We especially valued the specificity of the contract as it clearly communicated the obligations of both parties. We gave James our deposit so that he could order the stone and schedule our installation. James began the chimney work within the timeframe promised. He began the job by delivering scaffolding and the stone and mortar. He took care to position materials so that we were not inconvenienced in accessing our driveway. He worked rigorously to install the scaffolding in a manner to handle the severe roof slope while taking care not to damage our roof. While I am sure the installation of the scaffolding took considerably more time than James had expected, he never suggested that he would have to raise his price to offset these added costs. And he never lost his cool -- he has the greatest demeanor. Once the scaffolding was up, James and his assistant began attaching steel lathe to the stucco to strengthen the chimney and prepare for the added weight of the stone work. I was impressed by how tedious this aspect of the job was, and was once again very impressed by how James approached the work in a cool and professional manner. Once the steel lathe was in place, a scratch coat of mortar was applied to the entire chimney structure. Even at this early phase in the job, the chimney already looked better than when James had begun. Next, the stone work, along with corners, was intricately applied to the chimney. Since the stone was randomly cut and sized, piecing together the stonework was like putting together a very large (and very heavy!) jigsaw puzzle. The work required individual cuts on many of the stones which was quite tedious and dirty work I am sure. Throughout the job, James took care to minimize damage to our lawn and kept the work area meticulously clean. As the job progressed, James regularly arrived before 8 a.m. and worked throughout the day till late afternoon. During the stone phase of the job, James even worked on a Saturday. James had forewarned us early on that he may need more stone and mortar than Rolling Rock had estimated. He did need to purchase additional stone and mortar from Rolling Rock; James picked up and delivered the stone and mortar himself at no extra charge to us. The additional costs were not significant and we were not at all surprised that additional costs may be necessary from the outset. As James got to the end of stoning the top of the chimney, he was then in position to measure the chimney for a cap to be installed. Because of the variable width of the stonework, James could not measure for the cap until all the stone was applied. James did the measure and provided us with a catalog from which to choose the cap we liked best. We made our selection and James placed the order for the custom-made cap. James applied the mortar to finish off the stonework, using the color of our choosing and the style of application of our choosing as well (we wanted the mortar to be somewhat recessed to accentuate the stonework). Once the mortar was applied, James cleaned up the work area leaving only the scaffolding behind for installation of the cap. James told us the custom cap would arrive the following Wednesday and that he would return to complete the job as soon as the cap arrived. True to his word, James came back the following Wednesday and did the cap install. He then took down the scaffolding, packed up all the boxes in which the stone had been delivered, and cleaned up the area. I am still amazed that you could hardly tell that James had been here...the lawn did not show any signs of wear & tear at all. At the conclusion of the clean-up, James presented us with final paperwork detailing the added costs of the materials needed. We were delighted to make final payment to James as we were absolutely thrilled with the work James had done. He transformed our stuccoed chimney to a handsome stoned chimney that enhances the appearance and value of our home. James told us that he had forgotten the warranty card for the cap but he would drop it off at the house when he was in the neighborhood. Again true to his word, James dropped the card off this past Saturday. We have another job planned out for James this winter. James will be tearing out our brick hearth and replacing the brickwork with stonework. We are also considering applying a face-lift to the front of our house adding the same stonework James used for our chimney. After our chimney job, we have total confidence in James for excellent worksmanship delivered with a friendly and professional demeanor. I am grateful to Angies List for introducing us to James and JC Masonry. I hope other Angies List members have the good fortune of working with James, a true gentleman and craftsman.

It was a very good experience. James is very professional and a very reliable worker.

I called James for an estimate to repair my brick front stoop. It had loose bricks, cracks and moss on the steps. He returned my call quickly. Looked at the project and gave me a verbal quote followed shortly with a written quote. James was friendly and professional. He worked hard and seemed to be very conscientious about the job. He could have tried to talk me into doing more with the stoop but did not and I appreciated that. He also kept me informed as to what he was doing and when he would be back (the job though small took three days). I am very pleased with the end result.

James was able to design the type of hearth we were looking for based on a magazine picture I showed him. We were able to choose the bricks and mortar. He showed up promptly each day during the project and was extremely tidy. He has a good design sense and is an expert craftsman. We love our new hearth and it is a focal point in our new finished basement.

He was very prompt and had expressed concern about whether he would be able to do it quickly or not but once we agreed on it he was able to do it within a week of our initial contact. He showed up when expected and did it quickly. It worked out extremely well.

We thought that the work was excellent. He was there when he said he would be here. He was also very clean and tidy with the materials outside and the ones he had to bring into the house. He cleaned up after himself every day.

The work turned out perfect. They were very punctual and meticulous. We are very, very pleased with the work.

Was very detail oriented and made an additional visit to evaluate the mortar color in an area for seamless repairs.