Mottern Masonry Design

I have used Angie's List very successfully during the past two months to have major renovations made to our townhouse. Mottern Masonry is the latest terrific company I found here. The owner, Jeff, provided a creative plan for redoing an ugly townhouse concrete stoop and replacing the sidewalks leading to the community sidewalks. Our house has a kind of sandy colored brick on part of the facade. Jeff advised using a brick with a similar color/hue. He also advised tearing out the old sidewalk, replacing it with a foundation of concrete with rebar and then placing brick over the concrete foundation at a small angle running from the stoop to the community sidewalk -- as a result, there would be no steep pitch leading to the community walk. Jeff's crew of two spent two full days on the job; two workers came back a third day to trim the mortar and clean off the brick. The result has transformed the front of our house. Jeff's crew tore out the threshold and the old sidewalks, used the sandy-toned brick to create a new threshold, cover the stoop, and create a bricked over walkway leading to the community sidewalk. The threshold is easier to step down from than the old threshold, the risers are at a better height, and the beautiful walkway meets the community walk perfectly. I cannot quantify the improvement in curb appeal that has been added to our home because of Jeff's work, but it has undoubtedly added significantly to the value and beauty of our home and, given the manner in which the work was performed, these improvements will last for years. Thank you, Jeff!!

First... Jeff contacted me back about my project the day I call and came out to give an estimate I believe within 2 days. He explained the work to be done, and the type of brick that would work best. He answered all my questions, and droped off a sample of the brick to be use the following morning. We communicated a few times via text message, also, and I felt that he was easily available to all my questions and concerns. He admitted that his price may not be the cheapest quote I would receive, but he could do good work in a timely manner. My thought process was that anyone that responsive and on the ball, would have those skills translated to their work ethic also. And I was correct. Though I was nervous about leaving on vacation for them to do the work while I was gone... I came back to a beautiful new front porch. They did a great, clean job, and completed it was promised. Jeff called me when i got home and explained about what he had to add to my crumbling foundation to do his work, and did not charge me any extra for that addtional labor/ material. I would definitely hire Mottern Masonary again and would recommend them heartily.

These guys were fantastic. Did a free estimate in a very timely manner, explained everything thoroughly and made sure I knew my options. Always responded to my emails promptly and with good information. Once the job started, I got updates about timing and progress (a really bad band of thunderstorms stopped work for a day but they were open about that from the beginning, apologized for having to leave, and came back as soon as weather allowed). The crew who did the work came into and out of my backyard quietly (hard to do since I have 3 dogs) and I never would have known they were there. On top of all of this, the patio looks absolutely fantastic. I would absolutely use these guys again, they were great!!!

Jeff was helpful in advising us as to sizing the patio and color selection. He always replies promptly and answers all my questions. Jeff and his team were professional throughout the process and the final product is great. While it took about a month to get on the schedule, the team arrived when expected, worked efficiently, and cleaned up after themselves. It took one day to prepare the yard; they were back the next day to pour the concrete; and then returned early one morning a few days later to seal the patio. The pad looks beautiful - it is a medium gray color with darker accents. While you can tell when standing on it that it is not actual flagstone, it looks really, really good!

Throughout the process Jeff was very responsive and helpful in easing our concerns and questions. His crew did a phenomenal job.The Foreman, Marlin, was very helpful with adjustments and suggested shorting the landing allowing for more space. Mottern Masonry's customer service, professionalism, and the quality of the finished product were remarkable. I enthusiastically recommend them if you are looking to put in a patio.

The work was accomplished in basically four days. A crew of two did all of the work. They were thorough and worked through some of the warmest days we have had. I would not hesitate to engage them for other projects.

Great experience from the first call to the finished product. Jeff was prompt , experienced and candid in all aspects of the project. His two man team was on time and clearly had loads of experience . If they were the B team due to the small scale of this job, I can only imagine what you get when the A team shows up! My comfort level was very high with this company and won't hesitate to use them again.

They were very responsive and they knew what they were doing. We had no problems dealing with them and they gave us a discount for booking us as a fill-in job and getting to us between larger jobs.

Amazing - the masons were prompt and efficient and extremely professional. They were precise with their cuts and measurements and were even able to use the brick from the cut out to fill in the other two windows. This showed care toward my home and project that I was greatly appreciative of. I will definitely use them for future masonry projects and given that my home was built in 1941 I have a lot of them

Jeff (the owner) and his crew did a great job pouring a beautiful stamped concrete patio for our backyard. His company was one of three that I looked at for the job based on Angie's List reviews and location. While pricing was about the same for two of the companies, the level of service varied vastly with Mottern Masonry providing the best. Jeff was willing and happy to work with me to make sure that the job was completed by mid-July in time for a planned party. (While I had contacted all of the companies in late May, one of the other companies told me that they couldn't even schedule an appointment for an estimate end of July and that they wouldn't be able to perform any work until end of August/Sept.). Jeff had a variety of design options for me to choose from and was upfront about any change of difficulty and/or pricing with selection choices. In addition, Jeff noticed that a window well cover had been incorrectly installed and offered to replace it free of charge. The work was well done, his crew left behind no mess and they checked in several times to make sure that the patio was properly colored and sealed. We couldn't be happier about the work and love our new patio. I highly recommend Jeff and Mottern Masonry and would use them again for any additional projects.

I would recommend this contractor without any reservations. The product and service was excellent!!!!

Jeff Mottern, the owner, first came out to make a bid and changed much of my thinking. I was planning to use synthetic stone, which is concrete only, and he convinced me that bricks were much more durable. His bid was approximately in the middle of four bids that I received, but his depth of knowledge and experience (and confidence) convinced me that he knew what he was doing and that I should go with his judgment. My front walk was built 25 years ago and the surface had all cracked. When the surface brick and stone were removed, the underlaying concrete appeared solid, but was not connected to the concrete underlaying the border which had sunk because the rebar had not been drilled into the center concrete. At the removal, Jeff was there to advise on whether or not to keep the center conrete, and after seeing flaking in that near the driveway, he recommended removing all the concrete and replacing it, consistent with his original bid. The amount of work in removing the old concrete and laying new concrete with rebar was enormous. The orginal concrete was 6' and so was the new concrete. His four men worked very, very hard and had it removed and replaced in two days. They then carefully removed the grass in the back of the yard, where the new walkway was to be build, and at my request, moved the grass to a spot near my back fence where the grass had died. They carefully laid in that grass, at no extra charge, and it is lively and good-looking today. Then, the craftsmanship began. They laid the brick and new flagstone in both the front and back of my house with expertise and precision. It looks absolutely beautiful now, and should last 20 years with no problem. (Jeff's guarantee runs 5 years, which is the longest that I found from any of the bidders.) I was so happy with the job that I tipped each of the workmen at the end.

The company foreman, who we found out has now left Mottern Masonry to form his own company --Talavera Masonry Design in Manassas, VA -- did an excellent job grading the area, including one area beneath deck steps that the company owner had only wanted to use river rocks. The foreman decided the area merited concrete because just using the rocks might have led to a drainage issue. Company owner said the patio would not have to be resealed for 8-10 years. Company owner never alluded to possible problems with the stamped concrete product due to weather conditions. The new patio looked beautiful when it was done. However, after only 9 months, there were many areas that looked pock-marked - the patio had a flaked, scaled look in many places and we have many photos to prove this. Company owner claimed that the appearance was solely due to the coldest winter D.C. had experienced in 20 years. He claimed that the flaked areas were only where the sealant had worn off and that this happened all the time. We were in shock that our new patio could look as bad as it did and after several e-mails and calls, wanted to meet with the company owner in person, which he refused to do, to better understand what had happened. He refused to meet with us at our home, although he had come by when we weren't there to look at the patio. In one phone call, he simply stated: "The patio will never look like it did when it was installed. It's concrete." We were astounded that he never explained possible drawbacks to the stamped concrete patio product. His impatience and flat-out rudeness made getting to a resolution of the situation very difficult, and made it impossible for us to truly trust what information he was giving us. Subsequent research with a concrete expert provided additional information, alluding to possible problems with the concrete slump. As the company owner was so difficult to work with, we could not ask questions about this issue as we feared he would refuse to do anything to correct the appearance of our "new" patio. The company owner said we did not have to be home when the repair work would be done, but we wanted to be there. We told him that my husband's new handicapped scooter had to be moved by my husband off the patio. After nearly three months of back and forth, the company pressure washed the patio and then waited three weeks to reseal the entire patio. The company owner had initially only wanted to "touch up" affected areas but we knew this wouldn't be enough to restore the patio as much as possible. Company owner had offered to "restain" the entire patio at his expense but we could never get him to truly explain what this meant/how it would look. The company owner never made us - his customers - a priority. We had to wait forever, not knowing when he would find time -- as he called it "at our leisure" -- to fix the patio. Trying to get the patio fixed was a miserable, extremely stressful experience that affected our health. The resealed patio looks pretty good, although some of the flaked appearance is still visible beneath the new sealer.

Mottern Masonry sent an experienced career team that carefully removed several rows of bricks at the top of my chimney. They carefully cleaned each and every one of the bricks so that they could be reused in order to match, and then topped it off with the new brick that matched very closely. The mortar color was a great blend with the existing. Attention to detail was very much appreciated and the price was reasonable.

I wanted a masonry patio and walkway but was concerned about the slope of my lot. I found Mottern Masonry Design on Angie's List and was impressed with the reviews I found. When I called to request an estimate, Guy returned my call the next day. He picked up my rough drawing and plat and I had an appointment with Jeff Mottern within a week. Jeff's suggestions demonstrated to me that he knew how to solve problems and he addressed every concern that I had regarding the project. He provided a very reasonable estimate during our meeting and I decided to go forward with his proposal. Jeff scheduled the job to start within 2 weeks of my HOA approval and it was completed in 8 work days (1 day early) and I am absolutely delighted with the results. The crew was quite professional and cleaned up every night. I recommend Mottern Masonry Design to anyone who wants a quality job at a competitive price.

The whole procedure was excellent! There were two men on the project and they finished in 3-4 hours. I am just so pleased with the end results!

His team was here on time and finish the job on schedule. Definitely an A+++ effort all the way around. Would definitely use them again.

Very professional, on time. Our back brick patio looks new and the front walk steps look great- very professionally done. Would use again.

Jeff Mottern presented a refreshingly clear, well thought out proposal. He was knowledgeable and struck me as an honest, bright fellow. Having had estimates from three other firms, I was immediately impressed with Mottern's professionalism. The workers arrived as scheduled, cleaned up well after each of the three days, and they were obviously experienced and concerned with doing a good job. I could not have been more pleased.

never responded to my calls

Provider stopped by during the day to check work area and left a written estimate. Guy was easy to contact and answered my questions. However, we decided to use a different provider for the work.

We at first contacted Jeff from Mottern Masonry to do a small job of repairing some brick on the side of our house, fixing a crack in the concrete of our carport and caulking the porch which had settled a fair amount away from the house. On the first visit they noticed several warning signs that this was going to be a much larger job than I had hoped. They were concerned with the quality of the whole porch and if it would even last a few more years. We got our first quote for stamped concrete for a new porch and carport, but after viewing some images of how stamped concrete looked for walkways and porches we decided to spend a little bit extra and upgrade to flagstone, and I am very happy with that choice. We opted for their "flex schedule" as we were not in any hurry to get these external areas completed. which meant they would get to use in 1-3 weeks depending on their schedule. They were out the following week to start work. The workers were very professional and did an amazing job. I was a very interested party and asked a lot of questions along the way, and Jeff was quick to respond to my numerous emails. My daughter enjoyed watching them "fix our house" A day before the work began a land survey friend of mine came by our house and suggested we add a drain in one area to help with the water he said would build up in a problem area, I emailed Jeff right away and he was right on top of it and had it added to the work request. When the demo work began it went fast, on the day of concrete pouring the guys were there until the sun came down, waiting for the concrete to dry to do some finishing touches on the carport. The flagstone looks great the new carport is great and the walkway to the back is perfect. The brick repair looks flawless. It was a cost I was not prepared for when buying my new house but my family is very happy with the work Mottern Masonry has done.

Jeff called me back the same day and discussed the issue. I sent him photos to evaluate the possible problems. He called me back and we discussed. He agreed that the builder had done things well and it gave me piece of mind. I would use them in the future for remodeling/additions.

Jeff at Mottern was great, very professional and personable! He quickly got me on his schedule for an estimate. He called me when he was onsite and went through everything with me over the phone and left the estimate at my door since I was not able to be there at the time. I chose to work with him on his flex schedule and was able to receive a discount for being flexible about the timing of the repair. As promised Jeff called two days prior to the work to let me know when his team would be onsite. The two crew members onsite were very polite and put up with my dog barking at them all day. Also, I have a neighbor who works from home and sometimes gets involved with repairmen we have doing work at our home. He is hard to please but even commented on what a great team they were and how great of a job they did. I would not hesitate to reach out to Jeff and his team again!

The entire project went extremely well. Jeff is local to our house, really just around the corner. He and his estimator came out to look at the project and made several recommendations, including beyond the patio work. (We have a deck above the patio that we are renovating too.) Mottern's estimate was very competitive and the company kept us in the loop on schedule, etc. throughout the process. We opted for a flexible scheduling option which saved us $500 but did not compromise the quality of the finished product. The work crew was very clean, respectful and kept reasonable hours that did not wake up our neighbors too early. At the end of the job we have a very nice flagstone patio without any leftover materials from the work. We are very pleased with both the price and the quality of the masonry. I would not hesitate to recommend Mottern to anyone looking for stonework.