It was late summer and we were with our builder at the job site. Groundbreaking for the construction of our new home was about to begin and we were interviewing subcontractors such as plumbers, heating specialists etc. Suddenly, all conversations stopped as everyone watched this big pickup hauling a stone wall ramble down the driveway. It was Buddy Barnes.

Although this meeting was a simple meet and greet with the subs, Buddy made it a memorable event. He didn’t have a contract nor was he assured that he would get one. Yet he took the initiative and spent considerable effort to construct a sample stone wall that showcased his talent and understanding of the look that the architect and we were attempting to achieve. We were sold.

Now, compared to stone, building a wall of brick or concrete block is relatively simple since all the materials are of uniform dimension. Stone, however, comes in various sizes, colors and textures – even within the same batch. Thus a good stonemason must have superior technical skills matched equally by an aesthetic sense. Buddy Barnes is blessed with both.

Our house was not composed of your standard rubble wall. Aesthetics required large quoins at the corners with walls of a mix of thin and wide rocks. The walls would then need to be blended into more uniform pieces near windows and doors in order to build an attractive side and header for these components. Buddy simply did a spectacular job to achieve this effect. He used these same skills to also build four stone fireplaces and two multi-flue brick chimneys that twisted upwards from a stone base.

What made working with Buddy so pleasurable was his attitude, integrity and proactivism. Problems always occur during construction and Buddy was there with a solution and not just a complaint that somebody else messed-up. When things do go wrong, he fixes the mistake without complaint. And when the architectural plans are unconstructable, Buddy came up with an alternative. If the plans are complex, as in the building of the chimneys, he takes it on as a challenge to figure out the puzzle. Other contractors would have given up. Finally, where we had to constantly browbeat other subs to show up, Buddy was always on-site and sticking to the schedule.

To sum it up, we highly recommend Buddy Barnes and would be delighted to discuss his work and our project.

Yours truly,
John J. Dziedzina