Loganstone Masonry

Masonry & Bricklaying
Toronto ON M4L 3M8
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Reviews for Loganstone Masonry

Average customer rating:
0 10 (4 reviews)

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Private User
Private User
Private User reviews Toronto, ON
0/10

Work not completed

I signed a contract for work to be done and paid down payment. Work never completed after 10 weeks, tried to get commitment to finish job and was verbally abused and contractor walked off the job.

Approximate cost of services:
$5,000.00
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Company Response

Do you think people just walk away from Jobs Paul? there is always 2 sides to the story, Share the whole story, please..:) We are working in the beaches right now, and doing a beautiful job, people are over the moon happy and we are doing more work in the beaches from people walking by this job site. It clearly states on that contract that no employee or owner will be abused in any way shape or form, end of story. And the down payment was only 20 % and went towards labor already, we did not walk away and benefit with any money whatsoever . Hope you found a new contractor. Not to mention, you were GIVEN AMPLE FLEXIBILITY WHEN YOU DECIDED TO EXPLORE OPTIONS AFTER we'd signed a contract, AND WE gave you PLENTY of FLEXIBILITY. SEVEN WEEKS, we were DELAYED BY YOU, and you then expected us to jump when you wanted, all the while, we put up with your indecision and constant harassment. As usual, there is always one every year, that thinks they should just get their way, regardless of the facts...

Mike in Toronto
Mike in Toronto
1 review Toronto, ON
0/10

One excuse after another and ran with my deposit

I invited Loganstone Masonry to quote me on three separate jobs. Steps leading the my basement apartment. A mutual walkway and last a 14x14 foot parking pad. This was all concrete work.

He seemed like a nice guy when I first met him and hours later the quote was acceptable. The first job was the steps leading to the basement. They needed to be replaced.

Chris P. Chapman is the owner. Right after sending him the first installment to pay for materials and signing the contract he sends me a rather lengthy text via Facebook (his favorite way to communicate by the way). In this message he indicates (warns me) that he doesn't work standard hours and that I should not be alarmed by not seeing him on site. That's red flag #1.

When he finally appears hours later than what he promised he would be he starts the demo job on the steps and three days later he finally shows to create the forms for the steps. At this point we have only two more days before my father comes home to his brand new steps. Two days goes by and it's arrival time for my father with no concrete poured. I'm legitimately worried so I continue asking when the pour will take place. Wednesday late afternoon and the owner finally arrives and the pour starts. With a few hiccups - broken form and mending it the pour is complete and curing starts.

A few days later he removes the wood forms to reveal an okay job except for the necessary grinding to remove imperfections and water pooling. No big deal. He then texts me to say that he will parge the retaining walls and build end caps to finish the job.

Next up is the parking pad in the back of the garage. Without finishing the stair job he requests that I pay for that job in full and provide a $1000 deposit for materials for the parking pad (which he later indicates was strictly a booking fee or a retainer two weeks after the e-transfer). He agreed to the start date of Saturday (August long weekend 2016) and will commence as soon as we leave for the week and that by the following Friday he will have completed the job. I later learned that he had also posted on his Facebook page that he was indeed working the long weekend BUT at another client's site and not mine as agreed. Red flag #2.

Three days pass and he doesn't show up. My father let's me know that he doesn't show since he lives with us. His texts continue to let me know to "chill and breath" and that the job will get done. The Tuesday text comes in and with "bad news" he has pneumonia but promises me that he only needs a couple of days to complete and once he gets on meds he will get the job done. Red flag #3. More excuses.

The week passes and job not started. Money already transferred into his account for materials a week prior.

The weekend we get back he promises Monday that he will start the job only for me to receive yet another bad news text that his is downtown for another doctors appointment but will show up Monday after work around 5. Five o'clock passes by and so does another text promising the next morning at exactly 7. And with a message that he has banking issues and money problems and is dealing with a separation with his Wife. He asked me to pay for the cement truck when the concrete pours on Thursday August 11th, 2016. Red flag #4.

He doesn't show at 7 saying that he's just getting coffee and will be a few minutes. We've yet to get the contract he promised to procur for me and shows up later in the morning knowing full well that I had to leave for work.

Two o'clock on the same day and I get back home to see how the dig is going in my pad. He barely scratched the surface. He brought only a spade, wheel-barrow and a sledgehammer to do a big dig. No bin in sight to put the dirt either. I ended up helping him as the ground was very compacted. Making no ground I end up going to Home Depot to rent a power tool to break up the ground to make the dig much more easier. It was much easier. I provided beer, water and even dinner at the end of that day. I worked over 5 hours. Had I not the time frame of Friday would have gone well past.

A little perspective here. I was going on a fishing trip the end of the week and needed the parking pad finished so I could bring my 18 foot boat back in the garage. It's impossible to back a boat in an 8 inch deep hole into the garage. Anticipating further delays I took it upon myself to remove the boat on Tuesday so we could dig the pad out.

Wednesday morning comes and goes and no sign of Chris Chapman. I'm getting frustrated and text him to ask when he's coming in to start the dig. The power tool I rented is not being used and daylight is burning. At 1:30 in the afternoon he texts me saying that my last text was the "last straw" and that he won't take my abuse and saying that he's not telling me the truth. So he takes off and runs away with my $1000 deposit that was agreed in writing for the materials. Mr. Chapman then feels that the $1000 materials deposit was a retainer for the hours spent working on my pad that he literally achieved nothing on.

Chris P. Chapman is not a trustworthy tradesman. He took my deposit and called it a retainer to pay for his time onsite and a booking fee. Clearly not the truth since I would never agree to such terms and NOT what we agreed in email.

Warning signs should have been seen much earlier. His very lengthy response to another reviewer and client should speak volumes of not to work and trust this owner.

Red flags were everywhere. The fact that he doesn't have a pick up truck and relies on his wife to drive him in their family mini van was a sign I noticed but didn't think things through. The fact that he doesn't have a credit card to pay for the cement truck that he asked me to pay because of "money and bank problems" was another bad sign.

Too many excuses and concerning behaviour to deal with. Him calling me an abusive client was his excuse to walk away from a job he simply couldn't do. He obviously under quoted the job as he told me later that it should have been twice the price he originally quoted but when you're working on your own on a job that requires more than one individual you're not going to get the job done.

I was left having to shovel for the dirt back into the pad for over 4 hours so we can have some normalcy.

The owner's future response to this review will only explain his unprofessional behaviour.

Approximate cost of services:
$2,700.00
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Company Response

Firstly,

WE NEVER SHARED PERSONAL INFORMATION DIRECTLY WITH THIS CLIENT REGARDING A SEPARATION. He discovered it inadvertently, while browsing on a community page, and was never told about it, or had this information used as a 'tool' to garner 'sympathy'
This client was WARNED not to abuse us with namecalling and a combative attitude, and continued to engage in that behaviour.

This client INSISTED on a certain timeline, and as such, was require to pay our retaining fee if he in fact wanted us to temporarily move from finishing his stairs to building his parking pad.

O

This customer has lied over and over again. We walked away from this customer after we'd warned them once to treat us with respect, courtesy, and dignity.

Several times they insisted we work when the owner was battling pneumonia, called the owner a liar, when informed of various circumstances that prevented us from being onsite, such as illness, extreme heat alerts, (which he repeatedly ignored and are Ministry sanctioned as safety concerns for workers, etc...

A) They paid a retainer, and admin fee.
B) We have MULTIPLE references regarding our work, with over 200 clients successfully serviced.
C) We stand by our decision to remove ourselves from this persons property, as we could tell, after numerous times, that he would continue being abusive, and that he little to no concern for realities that dictate some, but not all of the circumstances he alludes to above. Some assertions are just complete fabrications, and have been addressed.

We have encouraged this customer to seek legal advice and to proceed accordingly.

Our company policy is that we will only work in an environment that is respectful, and that we do not tolerate abuse, of any kind for any reason.

Any potential client who would like a full review of the facts as WE have them, in black and white should feel free to contact us at any time...

Moreover, we CLEARLY stated that we were addressing TWO clients at the same time, and his response was "no worries, I won't ride you".... His stairs were poured and reday before his father, blind in one eye, returned... The parging, which he neglected to tell, was a FREE add on, as we felt it would enhance the overall finish. Again, on several occasions, he accused us of lying, and making excueses.... Who wants to work for someone like that.... Lastly, we didn't underbid the job, we merely stated that had he wanted it done in his time, and not the projected time, we could have hired more staff and had it done quicker, but at a higher cost. This customer clearly, had issues, as his neighbor complained to us that he tore up their property without permission and built as they wanted on it.... She was still upset, a signifigent time later and spoke to us about it.... When this customer was informed of the converstation, his response was "shes a bitch".... That is all we should have known to walk away, but we stayed, hoping, that we'd be teated differnetly.... Not the case...

Loganstone Masonry

Mary 1 in the Beaches
Mary 1 in the Beaches
3 reviews Toronto, ON
0/10

Don't walk but run away from this Comany

Partial pymt was made. There is one other review & it matches our's to a tee. Wouldn't show up for work/if did would show up at 2pm. Never a crew. A one man show except when pouring cement a women showed up in flip/flops to help. Was very abusive language, threatening physically and very racist. He did steps in the front of the house, not up to code just a shoddy job. Had to cease the work as we could see the job, not up to code, kept demanding more money. Left us with a total nightmare & mess.

Approximate cost of services:
$2,700.00
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Company Response

LOL... This customer was sent pictures that all was up to code... The minute the concrete went in, they took issue with things (while being on vacation, and not even present) One owner was happy and paid us, these didn't. Not to mention, they tried to bring on another contractor, who was unlicensed and had not paid us prior for work, which ironically they use in their photo gallery to promote their company... Strange how 'racist' is being used, considering we are of the same race... Never demanded anything outside of the contract terms where money was concerned and we have filed a claim with the courts in this matter... We have had several difficult customers in the past years, this being one... Of course, there are MANY positive references, just not on Homestars because as a general rule, people only come here to complain.... Just like another customer we recently had, who thinks, like this one, that they can abuse us and then still have us want to work for them... ;)

There was NEVER any threats of any kind, and again, this person is also being sued for slander/defamation as well as breach of contract.

The people in the 'flip flops' were my wife and mother and law, there to bring me food and water... as it was in the thirty degree range..

biggest irony, that the work they classify as shoddy garnered us two new contracts... I guess someone thought the work was pretty good...

Lastly, after this particular customer attacked our company on Facebook, we posted emails, pictures and other information that clearly put their claims to rest... They were REPEATEDLY asked for PROOF of the code violations and provided none. Another contractor, whom the clients said they'd used before (but not for this work?)also tried to back their claims, and we provided photo evidence that clearly showed our work to be in accordance with code. That contractor, Homestars Renovations, and specifically it's owner Ryan, began to send us FB messages challenging us to leave our home to fight... We declined, lol... Needless to say, this has been a very difficult situation to deal with... Lastly, we also presented an email, sent to us, where the customer stated they'd had problems with 'other contractors' in the past... A red flag in hindsight. We asked for those company names in order to gain a complete picture of the truth, and they declined to grant our request. This information was also posted as a direct rebuttal on FB as we realized that this client had a history of 'conflict' with contractors, by their own admission...

We wanted to garner the truth about Mary Studholme and her history...

If ANYONE would like visual proof of these facts, please contact us directly, at logansstone1019@gmail.com 647 656 1019 or via our Facebook page at Loganstone Masonry

*Most importantly, we have had three complaints since our inception, with over two hundred clients serviced, many being repeat customers and references.

No disrespect to HomeStars, but there is a negative bias here, and again, seemingly, only the disgruntled come to share, while the majority of satisfied customers voice their pleasure elsewhere.

Sincerely,
Chris Chapman
owner,
Loganstone Masonry

Anonymous from Toronto
Anonymous from Toronto
4 reviews Old Toronto, ON

First Review

0/10

concrete path around house and front steps

In mid-August, my partner and I decided to have the cracked walkway around two sides of our house replaced with new concrete angled away from the house so there would be no water issues in the basement. We got three estimates and regrettably went with the lowest. Loganstone said the job would take 5 to 7 days. It ended up being a grueling 3 weeks of mayhem and disappointment, not because it was a particularly difficult job, but because the inexperienced owner/manager/one-man crew was chronically late or absent. On more than one occasion we found him working in the dark with no light, trying to make up for starting so late in the day, I guess. He also had no vehicle, so he could not regularly remove the debris he was creating. At the end of the day he left his tools and cords at the front of the house in plain view. When his grinder and extension cord went missing, he seemed confused and checked to see if we had one he could borrow. After about 12 days, his wife started leaving aggressive phone messages demanding the final payment before the job was completed and giving us personal details of their finances. Here is the result of Loganstone's work: Several areas of the new walkway actually angle towards the house, so the water pools there when it rains. The front steps look like something from Fred Flintstone's house. We got him to fix as much as he could, but then just paid him to get him off our property. BTW, there's still a bag of debris I recently found in the laneway. I guess we had to learn the hard way!

Approximate cost of services:
$2,000.00
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.
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Company Response

, We have to rent larger trucks for our debris removal. Especially in this particular case, when upon demolition of one side, we discovered that there were two pathways, one laid upon the other which doubled our debris. Small contractors have to concern themselves with removal costs. It was determined that it would be cost effective to finish the removal once we were sure no more debris would be generated. The debris, that wasn't regularly removed was purposely planned that way, was stored neatly in bags and placed on skids, to avoid dirt and damage to property, and Two fifty foot walkways were producing unpredictable amounts of removal, which changed our costs. The 'confusion' about missing tools came because it was thought that they were stored behind the house, in an area unlikely to be visited by anyone who didn't in fact reside there. The homeowner did not mention that the tools had been left in the front. When the missing tool and equip issue was raised, the homeowner seemed apathetic as to the why of how these things went missing. So, who wants to deal with someone who does not seem to care? I asked a simple question, hoping to save time and not have to leave the site to get another extension cord....He happened to be using his own tools in the backyard, so I gave it a shot.....Hmmmmm
The homeowner was asked where there property line was before the contract was signed, and indicated, several times when asked that they didn't know. A fence, on 'unknown' property, his or the city's was a barrier to getting concrete into the pour area properly. Mainly because without the proper permission we can't simply remove a fence to suit our agenda...So, with the information we had, and the cost issue of not them not wanting to apply for permits, in order to form and pour the concrete properly, they watched us proceed. Concrete had to be shoveled OVER a seven foot fence and then, within a two foot, confined space, floated and finished....Not an easy task, even for the best. Only AFTER the pour did the wife mention that a previous contractor had in fact removed the fence to perform some work....Ironically, the couple drove by the area just as the pour began, and failed to mention this as they opened their window to say "hows it going?" lol....So they knew something that would have assisted us, as we proceeded as though we couldn't alter the fenceline in order to do our jobs properly, and then complained about the finished product after the fact....Also, their true intention was to avoid below grade waterproofing issues....Instead of hiring a waterproofing company and doing it right, they were hoping that they could solve problems with a quick fix that ultimately, gave them what they hired us for, a new concrete. pathway, which replaced a pathway that was cracked, broken, unlevel, and had holes the size of baseballs in it.... The pour wasn't the best, we admitted. Extreme heat, which causes cracking and finishing issues delayed the project to a degree. Again, we talked and it seemed to be understood. ALL issues they had were resolved to their approval, so we thought and finally, payment was made. They received phone calls from a frustrated wife because when we wanted to discuss an issue and resolve problems, they would hidein their home, shuttering themselves in and didn't answer their phone or door, pretending it seemed, to not be present.
Loganstone Masonry is on Facebook, and we have solid referals. We also, have a small staff and we manage our business just fine.

As explained to this customer, we are a SMALL contracting company, and they solicited our business through a small community paper. If they, as I did mention to them, expected Elllis Don, then they should have in fact hired them. Or, they should have hired a concrete specialist, or company that specializes in that....I made it clear, that as a stonemason, I can pour and finish concrete reasonably well, but it is only one componenet of what we do, and frankly not the bulk of our work....
the front stairs were enlarged and parged,,and on our Loganstone Masonry page, there are before and after pics. I often wonder if homeowners really look at their properties prior to work being done...

Again, this is the first, and only complaint, and some of the issues were valid. Yet, after the fact, this customer contributed to overall quality of the product being less than desirable, and even after we'd made the effort to correct the problem, and agreed to return to address concerns in the future, free of charge, they seemed evasive and not straight forward about their motives for having the work done.
Pooling was corrected by cutting escape routes into the city lane, and some well placed control joints on the other side....

It is always regrettable when a customer is unhappy and we do our best to correct problems.
Though we understand that these issues happen, our overall record of satisfied customers speaks for itself...
Visit Facebook and search Loganstone Masonry

Oh and something to consider for ALL customers and clients. This type of work is done, during the most OPTIMAL weather conditions....Many times, especially during this particular contract, the heat was such that extreme heat alerts were issued during the days when we wanted to work....Imagine working, during 45 degree weather....The safety factor comes into play, and people's health comes before a customer's desire to get what they want..The Ministry of Labour expects employers and workers to heed safety policies, which are in place for valid reasons...Hence, we would often work later into the day, when the heat was bearable and workable...MANY contractors do this in order to save their employees from heat stroke etc, AND to ensure that structural integrity exists, for example, proper curing without cracking (caused by extreme heat and cold AND clearly stated in our contract)
Lastly, the author of this review was never present during the contract negotiations, discussions regarding issues such as excessive debris hich were created by two pathways on top of each other, curing processes, property line issues, or the risk of trying to solve below grade water issues with above grade work....She was only present when the finished product was being reviewed, and sadly, understood little about the attempts made to garner the necessary information in order to do our jobs effectively...or her partner's answers when we in fact tried to get information which would help us... It seemed that she had many criticisms but did not participate in any of the discussions from beginning to end...She was only there to critique the end result...

Thanks
Chris Chapman
Owner,
Loganstone Masonry

The reviews on this page are the subjective opinion of the Author and not of HomeStars Inc.

More about Loganstone Masonry

Loganstone Masonry . . . the cornerstone of quality. . . We are true stonemasons, practicing an art, a craft, not just a trade. . . We do ALL Stone, Brick, Block, Concrete, Parging, and related masonry work. . . . We CARVE CUSTOM PIECES, the old world way. . ...
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