P Mulbay Masonry Inc

Phil is GREAT! He was hired to knock down the existing chimney and build another. The new chimney turned out beautiful and throughout the process Phil explained everything and provided thorough knowledge of houses and masonry. While he was there we also added on a couple of projects, front porch and bricks under a window, which also turned out very well. I would definitely recommend Phil and he will be my first phone call should I need additional masonry work!

Phil was prompt in responding, and we talked extensively about the job before he came and bid it.  Phil was great to offer advice and input on what needed done from the pictures I sent.  He came out to bid the job, and when we agreed on the estimate, he was ready to start the next day.  He spent a day on the job, and half of the next to come out and take down the plastic and heaters he brought out to properly cure the mortar.  The chimney looks great and I can't say enough good about Phil's quality work.  I was a little surprised at the cost, but I know there was some extra expense tied up in bringing heaters and other equipment out because of the frigid weather.

Phil did a fantastic job. He organized his job very well including removing a bush for us (which was in the way for the delivery of the bricks) and replacing it when he was done. He came when he said he would be there, completed the job professionally and timely. He cleaned up after he was done and was pleasant to talk with, explaining the job as he went. Overall an excellent experience.

Phil Mulbay is outstanding, one of the best contractors I have ever used.  He was prompt, did the work extremely well, and  cleaned up when he was done.  Most importantly, ever more important to me than the superior quality of his work, is the fact that he is very, very honest.  He told me exactly what he would do and why, and then he did it.  That is what I pay for.  Perhaps the true irony is that I most likely will not use him again on this chimney because of the good job he did this time. 

This was definitely money well spent for this job.

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Great job.  The new chimney made such a difference on the house.  I would definitely use again.

I found Phil in a recent monthly issue of Angie's List as a mason who would do a relatively small job.  I called him and he came to the house that afternoon.  We talked about the job and he sent me an estimate the next day.  I received one other bid from another mason which was a couple hundred dollars less, but I liked Phil and his ideas as to how to accomplish what I wanted done.  While I describe this as building a step, it was more complicated than it sounds.  I had to have part of my driveway removed (about three feet in depth and 10 feet wide) and the step, which was about 9 feet wide, built in its place out of bricks which had to match the porch .  The work took about 4 days.  Phil did a great job and kept the work area clean each day and took away all debris when the job was finished.  The finished product looks terrific.  I have even had some of the neighbors stop by and tell me what a great job it was and asking who did the work.

He is a third generation mason. He did crazy quilt stone work on my front porch. He did excellent work. He his very meticulous and the work was done beautifully. He very punctual and easy to work with. I cant say enough good things about him. I have used his multiple times over the years.

Phil started work the day after I signed the contract.  The only delay was while waiting for the supplier to deliver the limestone.  His masonry work was excellent:  very careful to make the fence straight and level. The finished fence is beautiful!
My only complaint (with masons in general) is that they are too focused on their work and have no reguard for their surroundings.  He allowed his tools to bump the house.  He used a patch of English ivy as a place to dump waste water.  Etc.

Overall he did good work. He showed up when he said he would. He worked in very hot weather. I offered to extend the time limit, but he did not needed. He did most of the work himself. He got the chimney up about a week and a half earlier then planned. There was very little damage to the grass or the trees and shrubs around the area. I would I highly recommend him.

The finished job looked really good for several months, but in late 2011 the stone and concrete began to crumble (please note: this was during the mildest winter I have experienced in Ohio- this damage wasn't due to snow/ice/salt!). I called Mr. Mulbay to explain what had happened and ask him to make a commitment to come back in the spring to repair it at no additional cost. He gave me two excuses for why the new stone work failed: poor quality stones and poor house design- after I pointed out that he was the one who had purchased the stones and that the originals had lasted 15 years despite the type of stone and  design of the house, he agreed to make the repair. He asked me to send him pictures of the crumbling masonry and a statement by email so that he could show them to the stone salesman, which I did. Mr. Mulbay then left a message on my answering machine that the crumbling stones were not the new ones he had purchased and installed, but instead the old ones that he had reused. This was news to us- our paperwork clearly states that new stones would be used; indeed we would never have agreed to reuse any of the original stones since several had begun to crumble, which is why we were replacing them in the first place. I have tried several time to reach Mr. Mulbay by phone and email to work out a resolution, but he has not responded to any subsequent messages. We feel as though we have wasted $650 and are frustrated that we will need to hire someone to remove the work Mr. Mulbay did and start anew.

IN RESPONSE TO MR. MULBAY'S COMMENTS: Its too bad Mr. Mulbay didn't come look at the work before responding. There are three stones, not one,  on the front step that have crumbled; I have uploaded pictures of them. This is not minor damage from someone bumping and chipping the stones and  the three stones are not adjacent and together they comprise about 40% of the length of the step.  There are two other stones on the side  of the porch (where no one ever walks) that also are cracking- which happened on the other stones before they crumbled (I have also uploaded a picture of the cracking stone); that these stones are also falling apart suggests that the deterioration is not due to abuse of the stones, as Mr. Mulbay suggests. My frustration is that the paperwork states that new stones would be used (picture attached) , and in fact if new stones had been used ,as stated, we wouldn't have a problem with crumbling within a couple months of the job completion and we wouldn't be in the position of having to pay someone else to redo the job. We requested full reimbursement for the work on the porch  because it is more expensive to remove and replace several individual stones (comprising more than 60% of the parts of the porch that Mr. Mulbay worked on) than to remove and replace the entire job. Also, the repair would  be very obvious and would likely be of reduced integrity. We did not request that Mr. Mulbay refund the $50 he charged us to restack the stones in our wall, we only wanted our money returned for the parts of the job that we will need to pay to have redone.

Outstanding.  He responded to my call immediately, arrived the following day and gave me an estimate and came back within the week to make the repairs.  On top of that the cost was very reasonable.

Mr. Mulbay responded promptly to our call and came within a few days to give us an estimate.  When we hired him to do the work, he thanked us for giving him our business and scheduled the job within about 10 days. He showed up on time and did the work in one day.  He used an additive in the mortar to help it set up in case the overnight temperature dropped too low that night, and he returned the next day to be sure that the mortar was setting up properly.  A  few months later, we noticed some kind of drippage down the area of the wall he had repaired, and when we called him to ask about it, Mr. Mulbay came right over the next day to assess the situation.  Evidently, some of the additive had leached out of the mortar.  Mr. Mulbay researched the best way to remove it from the stone and returned within a week to take care of doing so.  He did not charge us anything extra for that and continued to thank us for trusting him with the job.

In general, the experience was good. Played a little "phone tag" when we started, but the project was estimated punctually and the overall bid was reasonable. There were some delays in completing the project, but that was due to rain. Finished repair was on high quality.

Phil was awesome. Had a great price and really explained every step of the process. Took great care to work with me to choose the mortar and explain what it would look like. The porch job was more involved than he expected but he stuck to his estimate. We then hired him again the next month for the sidewalk project. It's beautiful and people in the neighborhood ask who did it. Our old walk was crumbling and dangerous. He replaced it with a wider walk and added another step to make the tread wider and the rise lower; he gives a lot of thought to making it natural footfalls going up the steps. Sorry I'm late adding the report, but more than a year later it still looks great!

Things went well. Mr. Mulbay came when he said he would, did the work in one day, and had checked with another expert about what to add to the mortar that would help it set quickly in cold, damp conditions (the temperatures were close the the minimum for mortar to set and hold). He did his best to match the existing mortar, although what was there originally was very old and almost impossible to match exactly. When we noticed what we thought was something leaking from the mortar a couple of months later, Mr. Mulbay came promptly after our phone call and took care of the problem at no charge to us. (Some of the mortar additive had come to the surface, but this did not impact the integrity of the mortar itself and was basically a cosmetic issue.)

He did a fine, fine job with the work. Her used the remains of the pillars and some new materials. I got estimates from a couple of other companies, but I preferred Mulbay as a small business owner rather than a large company that was not as interested in craftsmanship.

He took the time to listen and talk with me when he was here for the estimate so there was no miscommunication with what we expecting from him and what he was providing to us. Phil was actually the mason working on the job each day. He wasn't just the estimator who sent someone else out to do the job. Since he is a third generation mason with over 30 years experience, it was a real bonus to have all that knowledge and hands on experience doing the rebuild. He was able to work within the confines of the existing surroundings and made the necessary adjustments to accommodate the quirks of the original construction. Phil even sent a brick man to our house to see our existing brick so he could obtain a close color/design. The salesman returned with some brick samples and even took the time to answer all my questions. It was nice not to have to run all over town to look at brick. Phil and his crew did a thorough job cleaning up the area upon completion of the job. There was no debris left on the roof or in the yard which is amazing considering they dismantled all that brick & mortar. They cleaned up and hauled all the trash and any dismantled brick from the site each day. P. Mulbay Masonry carries the Worker's Comp insurance and it is active. Be aware that not all masonry companies have that, and some that say they do are inactive or non-compliant as per the OBWC website. Some masons even claim they don't need it because they 1099 their sub-contractors. OBWC doesn't necessarily agree with that statement. For your own protection be sure to contact OBWC like I did to ask. I have recommended Phil to friends and neighbors. I will definitely call Phil again in the future if I need any masonry work done. He takes a great deal of pride in the work that he does and it shows.

Some of the original stones were broken but after he repaired them, you couldn't even tell. He was able to match the rest of the stones around my house. His pricing was fair, he was very professional and prompt.

PHIL WAS VERY RESPONSIVE AND OFFERED SEVERAL SUGGESTIONS. HE DROVE ACROSS TOWN TO PICK UP MY CUSTOM GRILL AND INSTALLED IT. VERY PROFESSIONAL BUT A BIT PRICEY.

STILL GETTING COMPLIMENTS FROM NEIGHBORS BECAUSE IT LOOKS SO NICE!