North Shore Masonry Restoration

North Shore Masonry Restoration is essentially one man and a trowel. Jon Benson says he left a ten-year law enforcement career in 2021 to go back to the masonry trade, and he still runs the Groveland shop as owner and primary operator. The work is deliberately narrow: brick repointing first, plus chimneys, stairs, walls and veneers, residential and commercial. Thirteen ratings since 2022, all five stars, and the same beats keep recurring — he shows up, holds his estimate, and cleans up after himself. In June a homeowner had a chimney repointed and said it looked new. In March another had him repoint an interior brick wall more than eighty years old, and credited him with keeping the character of the original brick at a price they thought fair for the craftsmanship. Thirteen reviews is a small base to judge from, but it runs four years without a complaint. One thing to settle before signing: his Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration, number 203647, is expired. The state registry confirms it, and BuildZoom lists the expiration as May 30, 2026 and scores the profile zero for exactly that reason. That says nothing about the quality of the brickwork, but HIC registration is what puts a homeowner within reach of the state's Guaranty Fund, so ask whether he has renewed before work begins. He is also listed as a member of the Groveland Chamber of Commerce. For a failing chimney or brick that needs repointing rather than tearing out, this is the kind of specialist worth calling — a single operator doing the work himself, with a short but unbroken record behind him. Confirm the registration is current, get the scope in writing, and go from there.