Bay State Brick and Stonework

"They're just basic cement stairs, nothing fancy" — that was an October 2017 customer's expectation before Bay State Brick & Stonework rebuilt their front steps, and they wrote that they had not been expecting the transformation that happened. Steps come up again and again in this Mansfield company's written history: a November 2020 customer said the crew started quickly, worked thoroughly and left the stairs looking great, and a September 2017 customer said much the same about theirs. Mike Hernon runs the crew, and several accounts name him directly. The work reaches well past front steps — HomeAdvisor lists masonry restoration, chimneys and chimney relining, fieldstone foundations, french drains, sump pumps, concrete flat work, excavating, patios, steps, walks and walls, and snow plowing in winter. In September 2020 a customer described extensive exterior brick work on a four-story building and being kept informed all the way through. In October 2016 another had damaged bricks replaced and old mortar ground out, and wrote that neighbours commented on how efficient the crew was. Scheduling is where the accounts split. Several describe real speed: a June 2017 customer had someone out to look right away, an estimate within a week, and the job scheduled and done within a week or two; another that month, on a tight schedule, was fitted in on a cancellation and finished over a morning; in October 2016 a one-day job went in within a week of the quote. An August 2019 customer singled out Christine for calling back immediately every time, and an estimate detailed enough, and cheap enough, that there was budget left for new glass doors on the old fireplace. The other side of that: a December 2017 customer wrote that coordinating the initial estimate was difficult and they almost gave up on the company, though once Mike arrived on site everything went smoothly and a hardcopy estimate followed shortly after. A January 2020 customer, who chose the company after seeing its work on two neighbours' houses, called their own six-week wait to pick up the phone a mistake. Two things to square. The written customer accounts run from 2016 to 2020, the most recent in November 2020, while the HomeAdvisor rating today sits at 4.9 from 89 ratings, 97% of them five stars. And the directories disagree on the company's age: BBB has it as a sole proprietorship trading since 2007, HomeAdvisor says founded in 1989. For brick and stone repair around Mansfield — repointing, chimney work, a set of steps gone soft — the older accounts are consistent and specific about the work itself. Pin down the front end: ask for a date for the site visit and a written estimate, because that is the part customers found slow.