Alright, let’s talk about this Mason Martin PA thing. It’s not some fancy company or anything, at least not for me. It’s about this old fella, Martin, who does masonry work out here in Pennsylvania. My experience, right? Okay, buckle up.
So, I bought this old place a couple years back. Needs work, you know how it is. One of the big jobs was the retaining wall out back. Crumbling stone, looking real sad. I figured, gotta get a mason. Not just any guy with concrete, but someone who knows stone, the old way maybe.
Finding the Guy
Asked around. The usual drill. Some folks recommended big companies, slick websites, the whole nine yards. But my neighbor, old Pete, he leans over the fence one day and says, “You need Martin. Just Martin. He’s slow, he’s grumpy, but he knows stone.” Didn’t even have a company name, just “Martin the mason”. Took me a week just to get his phone number, guy doesn’t believe in voicemail apparently.
Finally got him on the line. Sounded like gravel rolling downhill. Agreed to come take a look. Showed up in an ancient pickup truck, looked at the wall for maybe ten minutes, poking it here and there. Didn’t say much.
The Actual Job
He scribbled a number on the back of a gas station receipt. Fair price, I thought, considering the work. Said he’d start “when the weather felt right.” Okay then. Took him another two weeks to show up with his tools. Simple stuff, chisels, hammers, a level that looked older than me.
Watching him work was something else. Slow. Like, really slow. Each stone considered, turned over, tapped, maybe put aside for later. He wasn’t chatty. Mostly grunts and the sound of his hammer. I tried helping one afternoon, picking up stones I thought he’d need. He just glared at me, pointed at a pile and said, “Those are junk. Different feel.” How he knew, I have no idea.
- Patience: Man, this guy had patience. Never rushed.
- Know-how: He just understood the stone. Weight, balance, how it’d sit.
- No frills: Didn’t use fancy mixers or anything. Just mortar, water, and his hands.
Took him the better part of a month, working a few hours here and there. Some days he wouldn’t show up at all. Said the “air wasn’t right for the mortar.” Drove me nuts sometimes, honestly. I just wanted the wall done.
End Result
But you know what? When he finished, that wall looked like it had always been there. Solid. Fit the house perfectly. Way better than some slick, modern concrete thing. He just packed his tools, nodded, took his check, and drove off. Hardly a word.
So yeah, Mason Martin PA for me wasn’t a search term, it was this actual guy, Martin, a mason in PA. Taught me a thing or two about slowing down, respecting the materials. And that sometimes, the old ways, they just work. Took forever, cost me some sanity waiting, but that wall? It’s not going anywhere.
