Ellis Masonry

unknown

Jeff was very professional and did an outstanding job. He did all of the work while I was out of town, because of this he had to wait a few days for payment. He knew this upfront and had no issues. Upon return from my business trip, I promptly paid him and was so pleased to see what fabulous work he did

Overall pretty good. Very fair price and the project looks good. Don't have a lot of experience to compare it to. Jeff was pleasant to work with and delivered what I wanted without me giving him too much direction regarding what I wanted.

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The project was challenging from a communications and a service standpoint. Due to not understanding what was needed and when, the mantel was not ready. I requested 7-1/2and quot; area for the mantel unfortunately the area Jeff left was 7-1/2and quot; on one side and 8and quot; on the other, leaving a big gap and a sight line that made the stone look unleveled. It took two months for Jeff to return to fix the gap. He response was and quot;What do you want me to do?and quot;
While the project occurred in May - June timeframe, the fireplace was not needed to be used until the fall / winter. The first time it worked, the second time the flames come on and within 30 seconds it went out. It didn't work again. I called Jeff and he came out within the week to check it out, but charged me a service fee of $80. I thought this was wrong since the fireplace was new and only was used once. The next time I tried to use the fireplace it again did not work. I called Jeff again at which time he told me that I should call the manufacturer because he wasn't responsible for it.
I did call the manufacturer and a representative came out and the only problem was the installer. It took them some time to rewire the unit to get it to work. It is working fine, now. I would not recommend using Ellis Masonry.

The results were excellent. he did a nice, clean job. Scaffolding used. Looks great!

Jeff was great. I called at about 7:00 in the evening and he picked up the phone right away (I was pretty shocked as most contractors never answer the phone after hours). He was very friendly and agreed to come out to the house within the next few days. I quickly had a very reasonable estimate and Jeff and his son came out to the house 2 days later to start the job. They began work promptly at 8:30 AM and the job was just about finished in 3 hours. I was pretty amazed that they were able to move that much concrete and stone that quickly (many of the rocks were at least 100 lbs.). Great care was taken not to damage any of the walls and floors as the demolished rock had to be moved though the family room, the garage and into the driveway.
The entire area was swept and and vacuumed and the room left very neat and clean. Jeff and his son did an excellent job from start to finish. He is a true professional, and I would certainly use him for future repairs and recommend him to anyone looking for a contractor in this line of work.

His work was rough and sloppy, 3 big unacceptable surprises:(1) His did not lay the coursework vertically plumb! When I showed him it was not plumb, he said it was good enough! It is not, I now have to pay someone else to thin-set over his block to vertically plumb his work so the granite pieces will fit correctly. (2) He put one course of firebrick to extend the firebox and laid one of the face firebricks in backwards, so the oblong indent in the back face of the brick is showing to the front. (3) He was supposed to prepare the chipped out concrete base to be ready to accept a thick granite slab hearth - he never leveled the area for the granite fabricators to lay the slab - he stated it wasn't necessary that several strips of thick mortar would be placed and the granite tapped into it - NOT acceptable at all for the granite installation. I now have to pay someone else to level the area to the right height to accept the granite slab for installation to prevent gaps under the slab which could lead to breakage. He did not listen to my instructions, he did it the way he wanted to do it. Day one he built the course above the opening 2 short and Day 2 to correct it he built it too high and not plumb. I am sorry I paid him at all, and found out just how much he was overpaid when I had to get another mason to correct his poor work. If you expect attention to detail and good finishing he is not your man. I would never hire him again and would not recommend his work to anyone.

Jeff removed wooden steps and landing and replaced with brick and blue stone masonry. Jeff was timely with his quote. Once permits were obtained, he started work the next day. He was very thorough and did quality work. He is a craftsman. I was traveling during the work and he sent pictures and texts as the worked progressed.

We were very pleased with his work and prices.

This is the second time I have had Jeff complete a job for me. Both times he quoted me a good price and the work was done satisfactorily. I will use him again if I have any additional work that I need done in the future. He communicates via email and text message, which makes life easier because I don't need to be answer the phone or leaving messages. Although I am sure that if I needed to speak with him directly, he would make himself available. I highly recommend.

Mr. Ellis responded quickly to my initial phone call, and came the same day to quote the job. After we agreed on what I considered to be a reasonable price, he started work immediately, and resecured several bricks that were in the beginning stages of coming loose.
Because the second part of the repair was weather dependent, it took several weeks before Jeff and I could find a mutually agreeable date for him to finish the work. Once the weather warmed up, he came out and did the work at my convenience. He completed the job quickly and cleaned up after himself. His workmanship was meticulous. To explain the pride he takes in keeping his customers happy, Jeff made a third trip to my house when I decided (as an after-thought) that a small portion of foundation should also be stuccoed to match the steps. He refused compensation for the additional work and his travel time. It was clear he just wanted me to be satisfied.
Mr. Ellis obviously takes great pride in a job well done, and it shows! He was easy to schedule with and worked around my availability, which I truly appreciated. We would definitely use Jeff again for a future repair because he's so accomodating and absolutely professional. (We've actually asked him to quote another job!)
I especially liked that he explained everything he saw wrong with our brick steps and recommended some additional work that I believed saved us money in the long run. I have no doubt that Mr. Ellis' suggestions will keep our steps safe and functional for years to come. I should note that there was no pressure for me to do the additional work, but Jeff's recommendations made good, practical sense. The new stucco looks beautiful and I'm really, really pleased!

He responded to my request for a quote quickly. He arrived on time to see the property and gave me the quote within a couple hours. The price he quoted me was half the price I had been quoted by another company. He was extremely easy going and I felt comfortable having him work on my house while I was not even home. I returned home to find the work completed and everything cleaned up. I would definitely recommend him and will be bringing him back to do more of my basement. One comment: Most of our communication was via text and email, which is fine for me but is worth noting as an FYI.

Mr. Ellis is a superb mason and craftsman. He is efficient and very professional.
I am hiring him for additional work in my home.

Easy to get in contact with them, prompt and quick service. Highly recommend, would use again if the need arose.

We found Jeff Ellis (mason) on Craigslist in Philadelphia. He was easy to communicate with and came to our home to assess the quality of our chimney and the viablity of installing a fireplace insert. Once he determined what would be involved in installing a fireplace insert, he gave us time to think about it. When we decided to do it, he guided us through the selection process and helped us to find that particular model (as well as the requisite parts) at a reasonable price. We purchased the insert and parts on-line. He and his son/assistant installed the chimney liner after it arrived. This was a very complicated and physically demanding process, because our chimney has several bends in it. In order to do so, he had to break into the chimney stack. After the installation, he repaired the opening in the chimney and cleaned up to our satisfaction. A week or so later, the fireplace insert was scheduled to arrive. Jeff and his son arrived at our home before it was scheduled to be dropped off, in order that it not be left outside (it's so heavy we would not have been able to move it). When the delivery was delayed by several hours, Jeff and his son waited patiently and did not complain or charge us extra. The installation of the fireplace insert was seamless, and he made sure to build a fire in it before leaving. We are thrilled with the insert and with the professional way that Jeff Ellis handled the job. Ellis Masonry is new to Angie's List, because Jeff is new to the area but clearly has a lot of experience. We would highly recommed Ellis Masonry.