Halfar Masonry Co

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A different company was trying to convince me that my basement needed about $27,000 worth of basement repairs done; Mr. Halfar looked at the same issue and said "put some caulk on it and wait a few months to see whether it's an active problem or a seasonal shifting." His estimates on how to repair things if it did need repairs were around $3,000. I was really impressed by his honesty, his knowledge, and his willingness to take an approach that involved assessing the issue rather than jumping immediately to extremely expensive repairs. Right now I'm in the "wait and see" phase of the assessment, but if it turns out it does need repairing I'm definitely calling Mr. Halfar back.

When we asked around for a mason with a good reputation, Halfar came up in all of our conversations. They lived up to their reputation with us:
Upon our request for a quote, the owner of the company came to our house within a week to assess the situation. We had recently purchased a new home, and the inspection had revealed that some of the external bricks on our chimney were spalling and the concrete crown had exhibited some minor cracking. 
Steve inspected the chimney very closely and told us that the damage was not to a point where he believed the bricks needed to be fully tuck-pointed. Rather, he suggested that his company could save us some money by patching and sealing the damaged areas of the chimney. He was open that this would be a temporary fix (5-6 years), but that it would ensure that no further damage would occur in that time (by preventing water from entering the brick and expanding during the freeze/thaw cycles we have around here). We appreciated the honest assessment, as other masons we spoke with told us they would only be willing completely replace the chimney (to the tune of $4-5k).
If you read the other reviews for Halfar, you'll notice that they are so busy that they tend to be booked several months out. This was the case when we hired them, but Steve was up front about the situation. He also assured us that our damage was not a time sensitive situation and that as long as we addressed it before winter we would be fine.
Halfar's masons showed up at our house sometime about 2 months later and completed the work in less than 2 days. The workmen were very professional and did a great job of cleaning up after they finished. Our chimney looks great and we're very happy with the quality of the work and the price. We definitely recommend Halfar to those of you looking for a quality mason.

nothing to say, he was innovative and did a good job for a good price.

Steve Halfar does EXCELLENT masonry work.
That said, he is very busy and it was a challenge to get our project scheduled and completed. In the end, we had to contact him multiple times to get the work scheduled.
Also, there was an issue with the final cost of the service and his quote. The final cost came in considerably higher than the quote, which was not due to some unforeseen problem with the job. He just underestimated how much time it would take.
Finally, his crew could have done a better job cleaning up. There were lots of pieces of brick and debris left in the yard and around the house.
Although our chimney looks great, I'm not sure I would hire Halfar Masonry again, in part due to the long delay in getting the work done and in part due to the extra charges.

Halfar is very busy so it took about 9-10 months since our initial contact before they could come out to do the work. However, the owner is very responsive to phone calls and messages. They aren't the fastest crew, but they were there everyday including the owner. Work was done with care and attention to detail. Overall very pleased.

He showed up and I explained what I needed done. Then he said that because a completely unrelated area looked like it might have lead paint on he would not do any work on our house and then left right away. Obviously there is probably some lead paint somewhere on a house in a neighborhood with 100 year old homes. If that bothers him he shouldn't even come to a house in the area. It was a waste of my time.

They started in August and finished in early September.  It was a complex job.  He certainly did a good job. I liked that he didn't stick with what my general contractor told him to do, which was wrong.

They were good for the project. I had used them for building concrete staircases earlier and I had some problems with them regarding the same. They had not done the kind of job that I had wanted them to do. They had charged me more than I thought was fair. However, with the driveway, I thought they were fair and prompt. I would definitely suggest that you get another bid before using them. I would use them again but I will definitely get another bid.