Kings Masonry & Construction

Kings Masonry & Construction, run by John out of Hingham, is the call homeowners make for foundation trouble — a leaking basement, a cracking chimney, a fieldstone foundation nobody else wants to touch. Across 49 reviews going back to 2021, the same shape keeps repeating: someone describes a problem other contractors either couldn't handle or quoted sky-high, John comes out, diagnoses it, and gets it done in a day or two, often under budget. In a 2024 Angi review, a homeowner on Cape Cod said local vendors called their chimney too large for their capabilities before Kings drove out and fixed it over a cold weekend with a 20-year guarantee; another 2024 review described a basement water-intrusion problem dug down to the foundation and diagnosed for $950, on budget, with the site left cleaner than they found it. The work spans well past waterproofing into general masonry — chimney rebuilds and repointing, stone walls, brick and stucco repair, driveway crack repair, and structural foundation fixes like bulkhead replacement and support-beam swaps. In a 2025 review, one customer mentioned hiring John across three separate properties. Its Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration is active, and it holds a 4.8★ average on Google from 46 ratings alongside a perfect 5.0★ on Angi. It isn't spotless. A late-2025 review is sharply negative: the customer describes a $32,000 chimney liner and roof job, says the roof had to be redone three years later over alleged bad workmanship — illegally layering new shingles on top of old rather than replacing them — and reported a worker caught urinating on the property. It's the one seriously negative account on file, out of step with everything else here, and worth asking about directly if a roofing job of that scale is on the table. A 2023 review describes an $800 charge just to send a crew out and quote a waterproofing job, which led that caller to pass; and a separate 2023 four-star review flagged that cleanup after a multi-job visit could have been better. For chimney, foundation, and masonry work — especially the kind other contractors turn away — Kings has a long, mostly consistent track record and a hands-on owner customers keep naming by name. For anything roofing-adjacent or a big-ticket job, get the scope and materials spelled out in writing given the one large complaint, and ask upfront whether a site visit and quote carries a fee.