Hearthstone Chimney and Masonry

An all around great experience. Responsive to my relatively limited availability, Matt worked with me to quickly quote and plan repairs to a badly broken exterior chimney vent. The work required some minor masonry work - it turned out great! He also installed a spring loaded chimney cap to seal the chimney when not in use, and swept the chimney. He found a large deposit of ash, creosote and other debris on the smoke shelf - missed by previous sweepers. He was generous with his time and patient answering my questions about the design and construction on our chimney. He also pointed out minor work I could easily do myself to replace missing and damaged insulation around the doors on the hearth. His price for all work performed was very reasonable, and Matt was a pleasure to work with. I will recommend him to neighbors, and look forward to working with him in the future.

Excellent! Matt was a pleasure to work with. I am very satisfied with the work and the price was far better than three other quotes. Highly recommend.

No issues at all. Very satisfied. Matt is a pleasure to work with.

Matt came and said it was an easy repair with hardly any cost. While he was here he swept the chimney, inspected it and put sealant on the crown to prevent future problems there. Grand total for nearly 90 mins here doing all that was only $400. In addition he answered the myriad of questions I had about new fireplace doors and installation. Matt is a stand up, honest broker and takes great pride in his work. He's one of the rare contractors I've met for those reasons. I HIGHLY recommend Hearthstone Chimney for any chimney or masonry work.

Matt did an good job matching the color of the mortar, which was quite old and discolored with age. More importantly, the repair was done well. The work was fantastic.

Matt was amazing. He was a bit slow to respond but I suspect it was due to the fact that he is so popular. Matt provided an estimate and a pleasant surprise was that the actual work came in a bit less than he estimated. He could have charged me the full price we agreed upon, however he is very honest and told me the job was less complex than he expected so he reduced the bill. Matt also came out the following day after the repairs were made and added an extra coat of sealant to the full chimney to ensure that there was total coverage because the day he applied the sealant to the masonry, it was very hot and he was worried that there may have been some evaporation during the application of the product. I never asked Matt for this but it just shows that he has pride in his work. I would absolutely refer Matt for anyone seeking repair work on a chimney because of his honesty and pride in his work. Nothing short of exceptional.

Matt is exceptional - truly a rare breed of contractor.  He is incredibly talented, patient, wonderful communicator, honest all around good guy.  It was a pleasure doing business with him. 
We had quite a few masons come through our house and can say without a doubt that Matt was the best that we met.  His prices were more than the others, but when I actually saw what he did - and how it differed from what we were going to get from the others - I could see that his prices were more than fair. 
Here are a few things that Matt did differently:
***He chisels the mortar out from between the bricks by hand, so as not to disturb the existing brick.  Many masons will do this with a machine and shave off the bottom layers of the brick.
***He uses a thicker mortar and doesn't use a bag.  The end result is that the mortar isn't a mess on the brick, which means he doesn't have to use acid on the brick at the end to clean it up. Many masons use acid to clean off the face of the brick at the end and we've read this can damage the brick.   His finished product looked clean and professional with out the use of acid as a finisher. 
****He cuts a deep cut into the mortar - at least an inch and packs the mortar in hard.  Many masons take out just a little bit of mortar and then fill it in.  Matt cut deep.  Our contact at the brick association let us know that this ensures that the mortar is strong and bonds well with the existing mortar. 
On top of that, once he started the repointing, our historic board representative stopped by and told him that the color and style was a bit off, and he would have to redo it.  He immediately started taking out the work he had just done, and replacing it according to the historic board specifications without any complaint. (We did offer to pay him extra for this)
Matt keeps to a schedule, and did not overbook.  He said we would start around April 6th and I believe he started the project on April 8th. He stayed in close communication with us, letting us know how the project before us was progressing, so there were no surprises with respect to scheduling. 
All in all this was an amazing experience, and we have a beautiful looking chimney to show for it.

Matt was friendly and responsive from the start. He helped me think through what I wanted to have done, ensured everything about my design was up to code and gave me a good source on where I could directly purchase the exact mantle I wanted.

After that and the tile had been ordered, he removed the wood burning stove insert (a big job that involved building a stand for it while the base was tiled). He cut and installed the tile base and surround, checking to make sure every detail was perfect (it looks gorgeous). After assuming I was happy with the tile, the stove was reinstalled. Next he assembled and installed the large wood mantle. Total job took about 2.5 days. Absolutely stunning and better than I expected!

What I liked best about Matt was how easy he was to talk to and work with - I was comfortable with him from the start. He made sure I understood every aspect of the job prior to starting work.