Dunbar Masonry & Construction Ltd

I spent good money for a chimney that still leaks. Requested a call back I didn’t receive. Now I’ve hired another mason. And no it isn’t the roof that’s leaking.

We utilized Dunbar Masonry to repair two 45 year old chimneys. They showed up on time in a company truck, the workers were knowledgeable, the quality of their work was very good, and they cleaned up the job site. I was able to speak directly with the owner to clarify the scope of the work being quoted. But best of all, the price was reasonable and it equalled the initial estimates. It is refreshing to have old fashioned service these days.

Dunbar was amazing and did a fabulous job rebuilding our chimney from the roof up. The crew were great ' a family affair' Dad and two sons ...Andy, Paul and James, and they were friendly, professional and quick. The job site was left clean and They coordinated with our roofing company to mitigate any overlap and came back when the roof was finished to deal with the flashing. The communication with the office was excellent and we felt that they were on top of things the whole time.
I would highly recommend Dunbar Masonry.

Dunbar Masonry came to my home twice to fix the leaky chimney. the first time to install new cement collars. Cost $1000. Did not fix problem. Second visit to install new counter flashing cost $1500. did not fix problem. After both visits the workers left all their left over cement product in the gutter causing the gutters to plug, back up, and overflow. Now I had an additional problem, luckly one I was able to fix without much difficultly. When I told them about this issue, the response was, "maybe it was a cold day".
Not sure how that is relevant, when you are charging $1000. and $1500. for 5 hours of work.
The cement collars started to wash away after a few heavy rainfalls,
and the flashing job needed to be redone as the first job was so poorly done. The redo of the flashings was done at no extra charge.
There is no guarantee on the work done.
Dunbar Masonry, really didn't seem to know what the problem was so I never had them back, as after paying $2500. I was no further ahead.
I had two other companies come out to give me estimates on the chimney repair. Both companies said it would not have been the flashing because of where the leak was occurring.
Both companies where confident with their solution and were happy to guarantee their work.
I had the problem fixed and a fraction of the price I paid to Dunbar.
I would recommend to anyone needing to fix a problem, get more than one estimate, and use a company who is confident enough in their work that they will guarantee it.
C.Morris

They installed a new chimney. Always leaks during heavy rain. They won't step up to the plate and fix the problem. They blamed the roofer and said the flashing was not installed correctly. I had the roofer come out. He is a friend of mine and said his flashing was installed properly , but he did reinstalled the flashing as per the Dunbar's request in front of the Dunbar employee. Chimney still leaks!! Poor service

The company has now agreed to fix the problem.

My chimney was leaking badly with all the rain we've been getting. I called several companies but most were too busy to even come out to give me quote.

Dunbar was quick in getting out to give a quote and quick to get the job started and completed. I was not too impressed when I spoke to some of the other companies who didn't seem to specialize in the type of work. Dunbar seemed to know the right way to tackle such a repair. Which involved grinding out the old mortar and drying out the brickwork before applying the new mortar.

They were a bit more expensive than some of the others but at least you'll have peace of mind that the job was done properly vs a quick fix that won't last. The job took 2 days. A lot of that involved grinding out the old mortar. I'm happy to report that there is no more leakage despite the heavy rain we've been getting the last few days. The workers were professional and knowledgeable and cleaned up everything when done.

Jessie (right name?) was right on time with his partner. Called during day to keep me informed as to when would be out. Did a fantastic job,clean and efficient. Very personable,will not hesitate to recommend and use them again,top notch!

I had a leaky chimney that needed to be torn down as well as a hole cut out for the plumbers to change the vent on my hot water tank so that this could be done. After doing a lot of research and looking at reviews I chose Dunbar Masonry for 3 reasons:

1. They had great Yelp and Homestars reviews.
2. They were very prompt with getting back at me with a quote.
3. They were able to arrange with a roofing company to have my roof patched up on the same day they took down the chimney which saves me from having to co-ordinate between 3 companies (masons, roofers and plumbers).

I needed the masons to come in, take down the chimney and the roofers to patch up the roof so it doesn't rain on me and the plumbers to come in the very next day to install the b-vent so that the fumes from my hot water tank didn't poison us. In the middle of winter every day without the hot water tank is brutal.

Job contracted to do:
- Take down the chimney below the roofline.
- Patch the hole in the roof left by the chimney.
- Cut out a hole in the furnace room so that the plumbers can install the b-vent.
- Come back and patch up the hole in the furnace room.

Day 1

They came on time on the arranged date which is fantastic and proceeded to work quickly. However they forgot to cut out the hole in the furnace room and without that hole the plumbers that I had arranged to come in the next day could not install the b-vent.

Needless to say I was in a bit of a panic as I called them up but they assured me that they could come the next morning to cut out the hole before the plumbers came. Okay, great!

Day 2

So they came and cut out the hole and left again. When I went downstairs to checkout the furnace room it was a dirty disaster with brick dust and debris all over my furnace and on the condensation pump beside it. I was pretty shocked because most contracting companies I've worked with clean up after themselves, like really clean up. They sweep the floors, wipe things down, etc.

The plumbers came and installed the b-vent and left. That night I come home and my furnace won't turn on. Now I'm not in the an expert with furnaces but I had a strong feeling that debris falling into a condensation pump's motor is not a good thing. As it was 11pm when I got home I had to wait until the following morning to call the furnace company to come have a look. Yup, no heat in the middle of winter all night and until mid-afternoon the next day.

Day 3

Dunbar Masonry came in the morning to fill in the hole and I told the guys that my furnace died the previous night and I think it was the debris from their work that caused it to over heat and shut down. They were like nahhhhhh that wouldn't do it... They proceeded fill in the hole that they had left before and as I'm watching them I note that they didn't cover up the condensation pump. Seriously? I just told you I think you broke my pump, you're going to smear in wet concrete (or what looks like it to me) over the pump that you might have just broken?

So I waited till they left and went to check the pump. Yup, there's something that looks like wet concrete on top of it (but not on the motor vent part). It was on the top right hand corner and it felt like went concrete. It was dark grey and kind of wet.

After Dunbar leaves I call the furnace guys and they come over to have a look and sure enough, they confirmed it was the debris from the chimney that clogged up the pump's motor but they were able to take it apart and clean it out. The invoice I got from the furnace guys clearly state that was the cause of the motor malfunctioning.

I took this invoice to Dunbar Masonry and they agreed to pay for the furnace service but weren't willing to do anything else for me. It didn't matter that I had to spend the night in a freezing house and that I had to take a day off work to deal with the furnace, I basically got, "These things happen." They didn't even apologize! Not once! And when I told them that I had to take the day off work I got, "Well no one pays me to fix my house." Ummmm yeah, but you're the ones who broke my "house". The least you could do was give me a small discount or heck, sound like you were sorry about the ordeal. I probably would have been happy with just some sort of apology.

Pros:
- The guys who did the work were pros, very nice job.
- The guys were SUPER nice and polite.
- They were on time which is always very much appreciated.

Cons:
- Their carelessness with my furnace room took out my furnace for a day.
- They didn't seem to care too much that I was put in a pretty bad situation for a day and half with NO HEAT in the middle of winter.
- They were still sloppy and careless in my furnace room after I'd pointed out that they got dust and debris in my condensation pump.
- They never even apologized for their mistake.
- They left the furnace room a disaster the first day and the second was still dirty but at least they made some attempt to clean up.

I had two companies come and look at my 70s chimneys: one company wanted to put vinyl siding, Bob from Dunbar wanted to grind mortar, repoint bricks and paint, telling me that the chimneys would look really nice. During the work (a team of very nice you g men headed up by Cory the Irish mason) I also asked for a new fireplace to be rebuilt (it is BEAUTIFUL). Dunbar works woth very professional contracters when neccessary (Mike's company for the excellent framing and drywalling around the new fireplace, and Adam the electrician for the tv outlet above the fireplace.)
This was a very good experience; work was done on time; Bob kept a sharp eye on everything.
Next year I am having them back for a new garden path.

Reference by a friend to get my brick building repraired a few years ago they did a wonderful job,My chimney were leaking called Bobby and he and his crew rebuilt it problem solved ,Thanks guys