Patrick Moody, Masonry Contractor

We chose Patrick Moody, a mason with 30-some years of experience, to help us on the retaining walls and back patio.

Patrick and his helper Jeff dug trenches for the footings just in time for several days of rain.  Yes, there was some sloughing of dirt into the trenches, but the situation could have been worse.  After a little cleanup of the mud, rebar was put in place, the inspection was passed, and the concrete was poured:

Patrick then worked his magic laying block:

We’ve chosen a red with black brick and mortar color (standard grey)–can’t wait to see the next phase!

Rainy Update

A week ago I was agonizing over a decision:  which contractor to choose for our backyard patio project.  The project entails digging footings, pouring concrete steps, building a concrete block wall, facing the wall with brick, and putting bluestone over a bed of crushed rock and dust.  Unfortunately, our past masonry contractor, Renaissance Development, took a month to prepare a bid–then just said “30-40k.”  Basically, they didn’t want the work.

Stanley, at Precision Renovation and Construction, was great.  He was responsive, had good references, and had a reasonable bid at $15,000.

We ended up chosing a 46-year old mason we found on Craigslist named Patrick Moody.  Patrick’s bid was only $10,000, which got our attention.  His references spoke highly of him.  So this week he and his guys have been hard at work in beautiful sunny weather chopping out the footings.  He called DCRA for an inspection yesterday–but DCRA said they had no record of the call.  So no concrete was poured–just in time for 2-4″ of rain!  We’ll be able to waterski in the lakes in our backyard!