Gary Clark Masonry & Restoration LLC

When a Salem homeowner asked r/SalemMA in July 2024 who could fix the brick steps at their house, they already had the name — Gary Clark Masonry — and only needed a phone number. Neighbors supplied it quickly. "Gary's the absolute man," one wrote; another passed along his contact details with a caveat: he stays busy, so expect to book out a while. The business is a Salem LLC whose owner BuildZoom names as Gary P Clark, and its Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration, #190212, is active — confirmed against the state registry rather than taken from a directory listing. The permit trail describes a restoration mason, not a general remodeler. Eight permitted jobs between 2017 and 2024 run through Salem, Boston, South Boston, Somerville, Marblehead and Beverly: chimneys rebuilt and repointed, a front set of steps rebuilt, retaining-wall masonry, and two roofing jobs. That is a narrow, repeatable body of work — the sort you hire for a crumbling chimney or mortar joints washing out of an old North Shore facade. Written customer reviews are a different story. BuildZoom's profile carries none, so the praise that exists is neighborly rather than itemized — warm and unanimous, but short on detail about how a particular job went. Scheduling is the thing to plan around: the advice in that 2024 thread was to reach out early and expect a wait. A sensible call for chimney, step and repointing work on the North Shore. Ask to see addresses of recent chimney or repointing jobs you can drive past, get the scope and mortar spec in writing, and confirm the registration number yourself before any money changes hands.