PEACE OF MIND AT EVERY STAGE
Awarded since 2010
Kensington, MD
Mason and his crews completely finished my basement - TV/rec room, laundry room, half bathroom, and completely rebuilt the staircase. There was a lot of plumbing and duct work to move everything into the ceiling floor joists to increase the ceiling height as much as possible completely redid the electrical in the basement, fixed some structural issues. The scope of work included: framing, plumbing, HVAC, electrical, drywall, insulation, tile (bathroom and laundry room), creating new closets, built in book cases/shelves, carpentry, carpet installation, woodwork/staining for the new stairs. Mason and his crews were fantastic. From the very beginning when I was getting quotes from several contractors, Mason stood out by being very patient and extremely thorough in his analysis of what work needed to be done and very confident in his ability to do it. He always took the time to explain all of the details of the project with me throughout the entire project - which lasted about 8 weeks. As a first time homeowner, this was the first major renovation we have done on our house which required hiring a contractor and I could not have asked for a better experience. Not only is the quality of work superb, but Mason and his crews were extremely respectful of our home. They were very flexible with our schedule and always cleaned up after every day's work.
Mason was very patient with my wife and I as we debated back and forth about the details of what we wanted to have completed and also when we changed our minds or added work throughout the project. Any additional work we requested that would have an additional cost was always very clearly detailed for us prior to the work being done so there was no surprises about the expense. Other than the additions we asked for mid way through and a few items that were required by the county inspector the estimate was right on and did not have any surprises. In addition, Mason was very responsive throughout the project whenever I had questions and had many great ideas and suggestions when we just couldn't make up our minds.
I would highly recommend Mason and Sino-American General Contracting for any contracting work needed as I am fully confident in the quality of his work and appreciate how easy it was to work with him. I certainly plan to hire Mason again when we have our next project to do. Thank you Mason and crews for your great work.
We worked with Mason to finish our unfinished basement, including adding a bathroom, running Ethernet cable and speaker wire and doing other assorted work around the house. Overall we are thrilled with the job that Mason did. It's beautiful and I'm one of those super-picky customers who analyzed every detail. We interviewed four contractors and immediately felt comfortable with Mason. Courteous, professional, patient, has good ideas and seems to care about his guys. I've heard horror stories about other contractors disappearing. Not Mason. He was at our job every day, if not twice a day. If we were particular concerned about something, he made time to meet with us personally. He is also tech savvy allowing us to communicate via text and email. He did his best to accommodate our pickiness, down to relaying tile because I didn't like how some pieces looked next to each other. He tried to draw things out for us to give us visuals, etc. When we experienced mission creep he was always very accommodating. We were able to make creative solutions to design challenges and he made suggestions for things we hadn't considered (light placement, door swing, etc). My guess is that this isn't unusual with big jobs like this. There were some stressful moments right at the start when initial framing went up, requiring us to make fixture decisions and purchases that day or by the next day because he had his crews ready to go. Perhaps we should have expected that, but not in our nature given how we normally research decisions pretty thoroughly. Once we got past the initial stages things went pretty smoothly. There were a few times when his crew wanted us to make decisions without Mason around, but we learned to put them off until we could talk to Mason. On the flip side, when we really pushed back on something, or had issues with a special order being late or not being happy with paint color Mason did accommodate us. Perhaps this should have all been expected, but this was our first job of this size (and I am an A-type personality). So I don't write this to be negative, but to make sure everyone walks into this with their eyes open, asks lots of questions and be sure you are clear about decisions being made. At the end of the day, we've recommended Mason to two friends. We would use him again without hesitation. I can quibble about some of the details and moments, but big picture our basement is amazing! I have no doubt he can do the same for others!
North Bethesda, MD
Complete gut renovation of one floor unit. We interviewed several contractors for this job and Mason stood out because he was organized and extremely detail-oriented. Furthermore, he didn't just have a cookie-cutter set of options for us to choose from. Mason really let us get creative with what we wanted, and helped us determine feasibility and cost.
In our opinion, Mason’s greatest asset is his ability and willingness to work with the customer. Some contractors or vendors are rigid in their thinking or habits, and their default answer always seems to be: it can’t be done! Mason is the opposite! He always tries to help you realize your vision and he always is willing to go the extra mile. When we could not figure out what to do about a venting issue, Mason helped us generate ideas, one of which we ultimately ended up using. This is a rare quality in people (not just contractors), which is why we are happy to call him our friend, and continue working with him in the rest of our townhouse. Mason clearly has the customer’s best interests at heart.
Mason is unfailingly polite and generally flexible with his scheduling, making him extremely easy to work with. In addition, it is never difficult to get a hold of him, as he is very responsive via email, text and phone. Lastly, as one can see from all the other reviews, the quality of Mason’s work is superb. We highly recommend Mason as a general contractor.
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Dupont Circle, DC
The basement, unfinished as it was, was fully completed including an egress window built by Mason and his crews and a shower made by Mason and his crews (no plastic shower for us). Laundry room, extra bedroom, living space, bathroom, even a cat door attached! I actually got an Angie's list account just to write this review. The first time we met Mason, he was prompt, came with a few of his crew, came with technology at his hands and we spoke about our unfinished basement. Our basement was a total mess period. It was dirty, unfinished, had sprickets running around it... suffice it to say he helped us make decisions, he listened to my wife and I's thoughts on what we wanted it to be like and in 15-20 minutes flat drew up a diagram of what it would look like on his trusty tablet. We were impressed, but we did continue to look around to make sure we have a fair comparison. We got two other estimates, one much more expensive and another that was cheaper but did not inspire as much confidence.
He and his crew were as unobtrusive as can be. Mason asked our opinions about many of the placements and things to be done, at the end of the day I felt like we were the ones that made all the decisions and that it is our basement fully. Even when disagreements occurred, Mason strived hard to resolve them as fast as possible. Even when I fell down the stairs due to my own misstep, and ended up punching a hole in the wall, I told Mason and his crew came and fixed the hole for a very low cost in the next two days.
I would recommend him and his crews to anyone needing a professional job!
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Silver Spring, MD
Sino-American General Contracting initially came to repair ceiling and wall damage related to a small fire. They worked quickly and efficiently...so the projects we asked them to complete began to steamroll: first-floor interior painting; extensive exterior stucco work; front facade (exterior) painting...which included lots of wrought iron protective fencing; ceiling fan installation; carpeting of stairs; chandelier installation. From our initial interaction with Mason we knew we could trust this company. They had already received numerous "A ratings" posted on Angie's List.....and we were not disappointed. The first project included repair of ceiling and wall damage from a small fire...then expanded to repair of longstanding water-damaged drywall. The professionals EACH took time to make certain we understood the changes/improvements they were proposing. If we were not at home during the work...we received texted before/after photos.
The extensive exterior stucco work took the longest...but we knew we were being served by artisans. The painting crew was SUPERB and very patient with us (we made several changes). It was obvious the crews took pride in the quality of their work.
Finally, the owner (Mason) was a master of communication. He aligned his schedule so that we could meet and discuss any unforeseen problems. He even comforted us when, while on vacation, he spotted MAJOR roof leaks...and indicated "don't shorten your vacation....we will handle this for you...." …Bravo!!
Dupont Circle, DC
