Zemann Masonry

Well, I'm not really sure what to say here. According to Buildzoom, this is my "last chance" to review. I had hoped to review after the job was finished, but apparently I can wait no longer.

We had a difficult time finding a mason to complete work for us. We started our search in February or March and contacted probably 15 people before we hired Michael. When we met him, we liked him. We did our research and spoke with other people he had worked for who had nothing but positive things to say about him and his work. He seemed to want the job as evidenced by his follow ups every 5 days or so after our initial meeting. We liked that. He seemed eager for the work, which no other person we met or interviewed had.

We hired Michael in June or July to replace 5 lintels and the chimney crown as well as a glass block window. He was also to fix any cracks around the windows where the lintels were not replaced as to avoid the lintels needing to be replaced as well as cracks on the chimney. He started work at the end of August, after many false starts. By false starts, I mean several promised start dates that were "no call, no shows".

Michael's work has been adequate thus far. As I mentioned previously, the job is, unfortunately, not yet finished.

So far, the glass block window and lintels have been replaced but we are still waiting on Michael to return to complete the crown and several cracks around the windows and on the chimney.

My biggest complaint and the reason for only 3 stars is that I don't feel he is reliable. We had 3 or 4 days where he promised to start the job and he just didn't show up. My husband had to reach out to him to find out what was going on. The days he did show up to work he said he would be here at 10am but never showed up before noon, sometimes as late as 2pm.

He did explain to us that he works on his own schedule. As he has his own business, I do understand that. However, this felt extremely inconsiderate. When you're working with other people who have schedules as well, I find showing up 4 hours late a bit rude. I have 2 people who have inquired about his work but I could not recommend him for the simple concern about his reliability. I do think he's a generally honest person. At no point have I felt like he was trying to swindle us or "get away with" anything as I have felt with previous contractors we have hired, but reliability and punctuality is very important to me.

He was here for 3 half days working on the lintels and glass block windows. It seems to me that had he been here for longer on any of those days, the crown may have been completed already. I don't know. Either way, he completed only part of the job.

If I'm able to update my review after the job is complete, I will. So far, the bottom line is that the work is fine, he's a generally honest and sincere person but communication and punctuality have been an issue.