Celtic Masonry

In a December 2025 review, one homeowner described Jim Bresnahan rebuilding a 130-year-old front porch wall from the ground up, adding a bluestone surface, granite curbing, and stone paths — the kind of old-house restoration work that runs through Celtic Masonry's history going back to 2018. Celtic Masonry is a Lawrence, Massachusetts masonry contractor doing brick, block, and stone work for restorations and new builds; Jim, who says he began his mason's apprenticeship in 1987, still runs the crew and does much of the work himself. The written history runs deep and mostly toward historic and specialty work: in 2018, Jim rebuilt the top of a chimney on the Historic Francis Wyman House using the original brick after nor'easter damage; that same year, he replaced steps and a landing on a 150-year-old house with granite treads. Chimney rebuilds, front-step and walkway replacement, and retaining-wall removal come up again and again, and in a December 2025 review a church, Holy Rosary Shrine, called the work quality at a fair price. Angi shows 4.8★ from 91 ratings and HomeAdvisor shows 4.7★ from 34. One account is a clear outlier and worth taking seriously. In a March 2025 review, a customer described stones lifting off, large walkway slabs shifting from ice buildup underneath, and grout joints developing deep holes and losing cement — a durability complaint that speaks directly to the quality of finished masonry, not just how the job went. It's the kind of issue worth asking Jim about directly, including how any settling or joint failure is handled after the work is done. Separately, in a 2019 review, Jim broke two roof slates while removing scaffolding, told the homeowner right away, and paid for the repair himself — the kind of honesty about a mistake that's the flip side of the concern above. For a chimney rebuild, historic stonework, or a full walkway and steps replacement, Jim's decades of reviews point to careful, well-communicated restoration work; given the one serious durability complaint, ask specifically what's under warranty against settling, cracking, or grout failure before the crew starts.