Artistic Masonry Co

It took more than we expected due to unforeseen problem but they completed without any price increase.

Carl and Artistic Masonry did a great job repointing a number of areas around the exterior of our home and caulking some stone columns inside our enclosed porch seal persistent air exchange. He and his crew were friendly and hardworking. His price was absolutely fair and he was great to work with. I'd absolutely use them again.

My home is a large Queen Anne-style Victorian, and the chimney is one of its major architectural statements. Since being built in 1885, it probably never received adequate attention. About 10 years ago someone did a hack job, repointing with hard mortar that made the damage worse. Carl proposed a detail approach to repairing and restoring the chimney, and he and his crew worked meticulously -- minimizing the damage to the surrounding house and terrain, and doing a fantastic job on rebuilding about one-third of the chimney.

Artistic Masonry did a great job. They showed up on time and were very professional. They ended up having to remove and replace over twice the amount of bricks inside than originally planned, but didn't charge me any extra. Also did a great job matching the color of the new bricks and mortar to the existing bricks and mortar. They said it would take about two weeks for the mortar to completely dry and then, once that was dry, would come back and waterproof the outside wall. They came back a few weeks later like they said they would and waterproofed the newly pointed wall. Overall I was very impressed with Artistic Masonry and would definitely recommend them.

Owner called me back quickly to report that he was booked solid and had a personal matter to attend to next month and was not able to take on any additional work until Oct. I truly appreciated the professionalism of calling me back to explain this. Because I can not wait that long to do the work, I called elsewhere

I was very happy. One of his men accidentally broke a window and he let me know right away even though I wasn't home. They came back and fixed it the very next day.

Apparently a fairly small company. After leaving a message, I got a call back within 48 hours. Basically, the owner said that he only has a few people working for him and they were going to be busy all the way through the end of the year. If they are booked up that far in advance, I'm guessing that they do good work. But if they aren't available, I'm not sure how useful their skill really is.

Carl informed me that the cracks in my house were standard wear and tear. I felt relieved that the cracks in my walls are not a threat to the struture of the house. I would definately hire Carl in the future.

If you need stucco and brick work done, Artistic Masonry Co is the one and only place to go. Carl is a true professional in his business, he will do everything to make sure you are completely, 100% satisfied with the work done. Bob is a true perfectionist with brick, and an artist with stucco. Everything from the start to finish was outstanding.I can not say enough good things about Carl, Bob and Artistic Masonry Co.

Work was completed sooner then exspected.

I can?t say enough good things about this company. From day 1 of getting someone to come out and give us an estimate, thru the end of the project, Artistic Masonry was a great company to deal with. We called Carl in January and asked for a quote on repointing the brick facade of our row home. This included rebuilding a row/section of brick that was jutting out, which most likely would have fallen out with time. Other jobs included replacing the angle irons above the windows and the door, and rebuilding/replacing our cement, side facing stoop with a front facing brick stoop with limestone caps placed in. We also had our basement looked at, as there was an interest in having the old rock foundation walls parged, and an exposed brick wall built between the crawlspace and the basement to protect against ground water seeping in (there is only drywall separating the basement and the crawlspace). We received the quote via email, not long after the home visit (I don?t remember how long it took to get the quote, but it was provided within the time-frame specified by Carl during the home visit). After receiving the quote for the above mentioned jobs, my wife and I realized we should have shown Carl the patio as well, since the cement patio was jagged and torn up (though not cracked). Carl came back out to look at the patio (maybe about two weeks later based on the email dates I am looking at), and then emailed us a quote for resurfacing the patio not long after the second home visit. We decided to not to get the basement work as we wanted to make sure we had money saved for a potential extras that may show up during the repointing and replacing of the brick facade and stoop. A week after receiving the last quote, I received the written contract with all the requested work. We asked for the contract to specify a timeframe as well as a guarantee for the work, and Carl was very agreeable to add them. This was our first time hiring a contractor, so we really wanted to feel "safe" or "protected" as consumers and Carl seemed to understand that. I should note that my wife and I later realized that we should have asked Carl for a quote on a stoop divider that our neighbors and I share (it was cracked marble covered in layers of old paint- very unsightly). Once again, Carl was more than helpful and mentioned they will look at it and see what they could do. Shortly after signing the contract, Carl let us know we were probably going to be scheduled in the summer and he would let us know the actual time frame as current work completes, and as he starts scheduling new work. Around April, Carl let us know he was scheduling us for Mid to late May. There was a ton of rain in April and going into May, so I figured it would be delayed and emailed Carl to be sure. He said that was correct and was hoping to get us around June. Work began July 5th and took only 11 days, which was only one day longer than total time Carl told us he would take. The first two days, he had two men on vacation so it may have possibly taken less than 10 if they would have been available. Carl and his men showed up when he said they would and it was pretty quick to get everything going. He reviewed the work that would be completed so that we were all on the same page. I wish I remembered the names of the several individuals that worked on the house because specific "pros" listed below are about them. The individuals whose names I remember are: Carl, Bob, Dennis, Brian (I think his name was Brian), and we even met Carl?s son on the last two days. Each and every person mentioned here and the others we met were beyond the most professional group of contractors I could have ever met. They were polite, respectful, and if I asked a question, they never were condescending or patronizing. They understood that I do not know much (meaning anything) about masonry and there was an extreme amount of patience they showed in answering any question I had (and there were many). So here is a list of Pros and Cons: Pros: 1. Staff is very professional: Polite and respectful, and courteous.They do excellent work. See pics provided below (if they attach right). 2. They provide ACCURATE updates, daily: Everyday I was given a status update of what was accomplished and what work was to follow. I knew the exact schedule at all times. And when Neighbors asked, I could let them know exactly what they should expect (we live in a row home so, this was important). 3. The divider between the stoops was fixed, and even though we were told we would discuss what would be done to fix it and provided a price after all the other agreed upon work was completed, Carl ended up completing the work (smoothed out the cracked marble with some cement compound and painted it) at NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE. 4. We reviewed all completed work and discussed any future problems or issues that may arise from natural wear and tear. 5. Lastly, Artistic Masonry was very generous and unnecessarily kind to some of our more "opportunistic" neighbors, who claimed that the dust from repointing had "scratched" their cars, and so on. While Carl had offered to wash down any neighbor's car that was covered in dust prior to beginning work, some neighbors demanded a professional car wash, which Carl agreed to, and paid for! (Carl, we apologize for the behavior of some of our neighbors) Cons: 1. The work was originally set to start the end of May, and because of the rain, it was pushed back to June (understandably); however, when June came around Carl stated that another customer complained that they needed the work done right away (for whatever reason, this customer could not wait for the start date they were provided) and so Carl pushed us back 2 more weeks. The main theme in most of the reviews for this company is that it takes a long time for work to get started; but I will add that it was definitely WORTH THE WAIT! All this said, we have some projects we are thinking about getting in the future (i.e., the basement foundation as above mentioned, and some other stuff). I can guarantee that we will be contacting Carl for the job. We strongly recommend him to anyone who wants good quality work, completed by a friendly, informative, and thorough staff. Thank you, Artistic Masonry, for the quality work.

Artistic Masonry gets an A+. They went above and beyond all reasonable expectations, both in the results and in their manner. The end result was much better than I thought possible?they are genuine professionals, and courteous, cheerful, and thoughtful with their suggestions as well. An absolute pleasure to work with. I recommend Carl Yockey and his men without any reservation whatsoever and would definitely use them again. As they were booked solid, I had to wait a bit, but it was well worth it. I?m one happy customer.

From the very first phone call, Carl (owner) was quick to respond, professional, and delightful to work with. He responded immediately to my request, and scheduled a meeting to discuss the job. He arrived to the meeting on time, and walked the property with us. He is extremely knowledgeable, and is happy to help with design, while staying within the confines of the consumer's vision. His price was competitive and even better that some other quotes we had received. Once we signed on, what started as a good feeling about someone progressed into a process that was as enjoyable as it was flawless. Everything in these reviews said about Carl and his crew are true. First of all, everyone on the crew does an outstanding job. The quality of the work and the excellence of the craftsmanship is second to none. Beyond that, they are all delightful, polite, respectful people who are truly a joy to have around your home. Brian, Mark, Dennis, Bob, River, and of course Carl worked tirelessly with smiles on their faces, and were genuinely excited to see the project completed. They have excellent attention to detail, and all take great pride in making sure every stone, every cut is of the highest quality. You can tell that everyone in this company is putting his name on this job. The communication was excellent. Carl checked in with me daily, in person or by phone, to update me and make sure I had no questions. He and his crew were very flexible, and seamlessly made changes we needed as the project progressed without hesitation or complaint. Carl and his crew were always upbeat, always had a smile. Also, the job site was kept very clean, with daily cleanups to insure our backyard was not a junkyard. They were all very respectful of our property. The project was completed on time, and actually a bit early, and 100% on budget. As you can see, I cannot find a single negative or even neutral thing to say about Carl and his Artistic Masonry crew. We have found a mason for life. Please look at the pictures to confirm that the work is of the amazing quality I describe!! The more red appearance is just after the rain, and how we hope it looks after sealing. Artistic Masonry is simply the best! Thanks to Carl and the crew!!

I can unequivocally recommend Carl's services, and to be honest, I don't say that often. He takes great pride in his work and his crew is conscientious and courteous. Carl is knowledgeable about his craft and does not take shortcuts. Carl is careful to make sure that the job gets done right, like making sure the patio is graded so that the water does not flow towards the house. He takes care about even the little things. Carl is also creative in his approach to solutions. I had asked him to raise the front walk to prevent water on the walk and in doing so, the bottom step to the door became very shallow. However, Carl then raised the next step so that the steps were evened out and looked better. In addition, I have two gradeschool children at home and I had no qualms about letting them play outside while the work was going on because the crew was composed of guys you could feel comfortable with around your children. One other thing is that you may have to wait to get on his schedule but it is worth the wait and once he is on your job, you have his attention 100%.

Carl originally bid the job last fall, before I had purchased my house. Once we were in contract, I contacted him to schedule a time to do the work - good thing I called well in advance, as he is very busy. He honored the quoted price, even though some months had passed. He scheduled the job for immediately after the closing. When he was delayed due to inclement weather, he called me right away and re-scheduled for the next day. Carl and his helpers, Bob and Lamont, were pleasant, professional, and most of all, they did quality work with attention to both aesthetic and structural detail. They even helped me to salvage some of the old bricks from the retaining wall for re-use. Their clean-up was thorough. After they left, my neighbor, an architect, came over and checked out their work. She confirmed that it was of high quality. I also appreciated their punctuality - of all the contractors I had working on my house that week, Artistic Masonry was the only company that was actually waiting at the house at the appointed time. I will definitely be using Articistic Masonry again, and I would recommend this company. without hesitation.

I emailed them in September of last year. Someone called back and said they were scheduling for 6 months later. I said that was fine; I wanted to do the pathway in the spring anyway. So we made an appointment. On the day, he did not show. And did not call. I called back to ask. Now I forgot what excuses he gave me, but we made another appointment. This time he did show up. We looked at the area and I explained what I wanted to have done. The person who did the estimate promised to email me the estimate within the week. I never received the estimate. Very disappointed!!! Now it's spring and I'd really like to have the project done, but I didn't even have an estimate from it. I guess I'll just have to take my business elsewhere. What a waste of time!

I have called upon many of contractors in the past 20+ years and Artistic Masonary was by far, one of the best! Professional, HONEST, timely, fair price...I could go on and on. I highly reccommend their services!

Excavated section of basement floor to in order to run new line to new sump pump and basin, which revealed a broken sewer main. Loooooong story short, Carl and his team returned to ultimately fix my wet basement problem. I now have to completely functional sump pumps dumping water out away from my property. I can't get over how dry my basement is and what a good job Carl and his team did.

No BS, provided us with lots of options for what we could do ourselves. Very honest and provided helpful tips for other projects. Would be my first choice for future work.

I can't praise the work and professionalism of Carl and his crew highly enough. End to end, working with Carl was a pleasure. (He's even more of a perfectionist that I am, which is saying something!) I can say without exaggeration the walkway and porch he and his crew created FAR exceeded my expectations both in design, execution and craftsmanship. The job was not easy as the walk was both curved and had to integrate a significant incline both directions. Carl was able to understand all the challenges while incorporating all of my ideas. He took the time to make sure he fully understood what I wanted---making drawings and visiting homes with similar improvements. The result---well it's a masterpiece! Neighbors, the mailman, my UPS guy, really anyone who knew what it looked like before comments on how beautiful it is and how it transforms the front of the front of the house. Thanks Carl!

Carl came back a month later (he warned me that he was busy) and rebuilt the chimney, as he agreed. A heavy rain a week or so later showed some water, however, that ran down the inside of my attic along the chimney wall. Carl came out and examined his work. The brick and mortar was intact. The flashing, however, that I had been told was new from a previous roof demo, had not been installed properly by the roofer. Although this was not Carl's responsibility, he came back, tore out the faulty flashing job, and installed the flashing properly (at no additional charge). There has been no sign of water leaking since then. A month later (again, he is a busy guy), one of his techs came and applied two coats of a heavy duty Thoroseal paint (one coat a day) on the entire lenth of the exterior chimney. It looks terrific! Carl went well beyond his responsibility in insuring that my chimney did not leak. Although he tends to be very busy during the spring to fall months, if you can wait, Artistic Masonry is THE masonry company in the Delaware/Chester County areas.

Carl was very responsive to our initial call about our basement problems. He was informative about the process and the materials he would use. First day on job, the first thing the crew did was lay down tarps through-out the house. I appreciated the way they cared about my property. They cleaned up after themselves each day and Carl's daily reports were helpful to understanding the process of the job as well as give me a since of relief. They did the complete job as scheduled. We are very satisfied with the end product and craftsmanship. Carl's professionalism, craftsmanship, communication skills and attention to detail reminded us that we made a great decision in hiring him to do a job well done.

I got what I wanted from Carl and I am certain I will use him again.

I contacted Artistic Masonry after reading so many excellent reports on their work. Carl was prompt in setting up a time for his free evaluation of the work to be done and its cost. My original reason for contacting him was a badly needed pointing on my brick home.When he came I showed him the area that needed pointing and we checked the rest of the house and chimney to make sure no more pointing needed repair. He very favorably impressed me in his thorough explanation of the necessary work to be done and its cost. For many years past I had it in my mind I would like Belgian stone around plantings in front of my house. I brought this up with him. Step by step he explained how and where it could be done.There was also a drain pipe in need of repair at the end of the front walkway which he said he could repair. As well, a flagstone in the back walkway was broken and he said it could be replaced with a fairly good match of color. After all his careful explanation of what he could do and what it cost, I knew immediately he was the right person for all these jobs. This was late June and he said he was backed up for many months.Since it appeared it would be one day of work he said if a situation came up and he could fit in that one day of work he would try to do so. I felt it was very fair and reasonable. My thinking is I would rather wait to be sure work is done well than hurry and be sorry I had not waited ..As it turned out he was certainly worth waiting for. All work was completed in one day as planned. Carl and four other men arrived at eight am and worked till five pm. The team worked with professionalism, were courteous, took great care of my property, explained what was being done , and left the place clean. Carl took a personal interest in all the work being done and accommodating our wishes. His professionalism and ethics are outstanding. I highly recommend Artistic Masonry, Carl and his team of workers.

Carl and his crew did a great job. I really appreciate the effort he made to keep me informed of his progress, and recommendations when he encountered glitches along the way. He has earned my highest level of recommendation. Example: the original object was to pour a perfectly level floor; well as it turns out I have 4 governing points of interest in my den, as Carl explained 2 doors, a sliding glass door and a fireplace none of which were level. His recommendation was to make the floor flat splitting the differences and making unnoticeable to the eye. It worked and it look s great.!