Daniel Mason Contractors

Would leave less than one star if possible. The guy is a TOTAL hack. Unbelievable work done to our chimney. Not level or plumb. The guys he subcontracted to wasn’t even experienced. Doh t be new what a level even was. None of the mortar joints were stuck, they got mortar all over the roof. Ran out of bricks so they used fat three inch thick mortar joints to accommodate the courses. The worst of th worst. Don’t hire this guy. His guys don’t know what they’re doing or simply just don’t care. He kept saying g he’d come back to fix the egregious work and then make up some excuse. This carried in for two years and he never came through with his promise. Total hack. Stay away. You’ve been warned.

It went well! Did a descent job.

Dan was professional and always kept me posted about when he could get to the job. This was at the end of the fall and a busy time for masonry work. He tried his best to accommodate me and get the chimney rebuild done and also found someone to do the flashing for a some extra money.

In 15 years of working with contractors I have rarely met such an unbalanced, aggressive, unprofessional contractor.  I was very clear with Mr. Ramstack what we were looking for in terms of quality and scope.  The masonry building we were restoring had interesting brickwork and style that we wanted to highlight and restore.  Although things started well, they quickly began to fall apart as I had to repeatedly show Mr. Ramstack the mortar joints he had failed to tuckpoint, as well as other shortcomings in his work.  Initially he worked very hard, but within a few days began to complain about the time it was taking him to complete his work.
At one point, he became beligerent and aggressive with me as I sat in my car.  Although I am a relatively big guy, he refused to back away from my car, challenging me to get out so that he could try to "fight" with me.  He eventually backed down when I pulled out my cell phone camera and began to record his ridiculous antics.  
I was unable to get him to complete the work as agreed upon in our written contract.  He demanded payment in full, without having completed significant parts of the job including chemical wash.  I was forced to retain an attorney to settle with him.  I paid him in full, despite the incomplete project, so as to not waste anymore time with such an obviously incapable and incompetent contractor.
I have documented the shortcomings of his work extensively for the record.  I have seen his beat up truck in other neighborhoods we work in, including the Washington Heights and Bay View.  
I wouldn't recommend this guy to spackle a nail hole.

Prior to the work being started I discussed with Mr. Ramstack, doing business as DMC Contractors, the future uses of the fireplace. i asked about installing a fireplace insert, a gas fireplace insert, a gas log, or using it as a usual wood burning fireplace. I said I hadn't made up my mind which to do but I asked hime to rebuild the box.
Mr. Ramstack hired a subcontractor to rebuild the firebox, which he did not tell me he was going to do.
The fireplace rebuild was incomplete since instead of using firebrick all around the box, the subcontractor just plastered around the firebox edges. That way he didn't have to cut any brick. It looks terrible and the plaster sections will not stand up to a wood fire as firebrick would have.
When I complained to Mr. Ramstack, he said he had told the subcontractor that I was going to install an insert so the appearance of the job was not important. Well the appearance of the fireplace is important to me since we haven't decided yet on any insert and I paid for a full rebuild.  Mr. Ramstack did not remedy the mistake by replacing the plaster patches with firebrick nor did he apply the senior discount. 

They did very good work. They were professional and courteous. We would recommend them.