Jeremiah built a brick wood stove hearth in our kitchen. Overall, he did an incredible job, and we…read morecould not be happier with the result. On several instances, he went above and beyond what the contract called for, to make sure the wood stove and hearth were beautiful, matched the rest of our home, and were safe and effective. I know we will be reaching out to him for all future masonry work. For additional details/impressions, see below.
Workmanship/Quality
In this category, Jeremiah really shines. They built the hearth paying attention to the smallest details. Everything fits precisely together, and blends seamlessly with the rest of the kitchen woodwork etc. When we signed the contract, we supposed a regular brick hearth pad. But Jeremiah has the eye of an artist, and offered to build a unique mosaic pattern out of brick, which he hand cut and fit piece by piece. He spent a couple of days experimenting with and perfecting the pattern, dry laying it several times to gauge appearance, before he was pleased with the final design. He did not charge us anything extra for all of that. He just wanted our kitchen to look nicer than with a standard laid brick pad.
Unless you are an artist, we suggest letting him guide you in your project. Jeremiah definitely has an artist's eye and hand, and he will not disappoint.
We had a fixed price contract, meaning it is to his advantage to utilize lower cost brick. However, when we were selecting bricks (and he took the time to send us pictures of several samples, and to discuss the appearance properties of different bricks), Jeremiah suggested we use the most costly one, because he thought the color and texture would work best for our home. He was 100% right.
I note this project was done not at a construction site, but inside an existing home, with a lot of custom woodwork. Jeremiah and his assistant Brent worked with extreme care to protect all the woodwork that was in direct proximity to their work. They did not leave so much as a scratch on any of the wood around the hearth pad. They also did an outstanding job protecting our floors, and cleaning up after they were done.
Finally, when Jeremiah re-installed the wood stove, he let us know that it was installed incorrectly by one of the local stove shops, and wasn't safe to operate. Most people would have advised us of the problem, and left it at that. The contract did not require him to fix stove installation problems. But that is not Jeremiah's way. He ended up calling the stove manufacturer several times to discuss the proper parts, ordered the correct vent pipe, returned and fabricated a properly sealing damper, and then installed the stove. Again, he did not ask for any additional payment for all that time and effort.
Pricing
I would say his prices are competitive. Was it the lowest bid? No. But with the lowest bid you will never get the quality of work that he did.
Professionalism/Demeanor
Again, nothing but the highest praise here. From start to finish he has been exceedingly polite, pleasant to interact with, very respectful, and quite funny if you take the time to talk to him. Very different demeanor from a lot of the construction folks we have worked with in the past.
Communication
This is the only area where we experienced just slight difficulty. I wrote this not to criticize, but to let folks know to just be a bit patient, and a bit proactive. Jeremiah doesn't always initiate communication when there is going to be a delay, or about when he is planning to come. I don't think that is carelessness, but rather because he is so swamped, and doesn't have any admin support. However, he will NEVER ignore you. If you reach out to him, he will always respond same day, be it call, text, or email. And not just during business hours either. He answered our emails and calls on nights and weekends as well. So do not let that discourage you at all. Just shoot him a call/text/email, and exercise just slightly more patience than a toddler, and your project will come together as planned. Remember, there is no perfect person out there. For all the positive aspects of working with him, this is a very minor flaw. And we all are flawed beings.
