- Home
- Masonry Services
Masonry Read at the Wall, Not From the Sidewalk
Repointing, brick and block, chimneys, steps and hardscape on houses, apartment blocks and commercial buildings across New England. Mortar matched to the wall in front of us.
Masonry in New England is a water story. Every joint, cap, crown and step in this valley spends the winter taking on water and then holding it while the temperature crosses freezing and back, some years more than fifty times. Water expands when it turns to ice, and the joint is the softest thing in the wall, so that is where it works. First the mortar face powders out. Then the joint rakes back on its own and the wall starts drinking. Then the brick faces above the failed line begin to pop off in thin sheets, and what was a pointing job becomes a pointing job plus cutting and replacing brick that has not been manufactured in eighty years.
The mistake that costs the most is not waiting too long. It is a repair done with the wrong mortar. Modern portland mixes are harder than most of the older brick around here, so when the wall moves, the brick loses instead of the joint. Facades get repointed and then start shedding faces around perfectly sound new joints. Most of the skill is in the reading that happens before anybody quotes: which brick you have, which mortar somebody used last time, how far down the failure really goes, and whether a downspout has been emptying against the base of that wall for years. You get that read, then a number, then a written scope.
What sits inside this program
- Repointing & Tuckpointing, repointing
- Brick & Block Work, brick and block work
- Chimney Repair & Rebuilds, chimney repair
- Steps, Stoops & Walkways, steps and walkways
- Patios & Retaining Walls, patios and retaining walls
Pick the job you actually have
Each one is scoped and priced on its own, and more than one can run on the same visit when the property needs it.
Repointing & Tuckpointing
Old joints cut to depth and repacked with a mix matched to your brick, in conditions built for the mortar to cure.
DetailsBrick & Block Work
Foundations, veneer, lintels and bowed walls, with replacement brick toothed in so the patch disappears into the field.
DetailsChimney Repair & Rebuilds
Crown, cap, flashing and the top courses, fixed in the order water actually travels into a chimney.
DetailsSteps, Stoops & Walkways
Settled granite, failed stoop caps and heaved walks, reset or rebuilt so treads drain instead of holding a sheet of ice.
DetailsPatios & Retaining Walls
Excavation, compacted base, bedding and edge restraint under the pavers, and walls drained so water never loads the back.
DetailsWhy this runs the way it does
Most properties around here need several contractors and end up with several schedules and several excuses. We clean, we lay floors, we paint, we set brick and we pressure wash with our own crews, we walk the property before we put a number on it, and the scope goes in writing before anyone starts.
The wall gets read before a number is given
Somebody puts a tool in the joint and finds out how far the failure actually runs, then looks up at the gutter line to see what has been soaking that wall for four winters. Quoting from a photo is how a small job turns into a bill nobody expected halfway through.
Mortar matched to the brick you already have
A mix chosen to sit quietly next to what is already there, and soft enough that the wall keeps giving in the joint instead of taking it out on the brick face.
Booked in any month, built for the one you pick
Year round. Mortar that freezes before it has hydrated never gets its strength back, so winter work gets heated enclosures, warmed materials and a low temperature mix, quoted as part of the job. You see the winter number and the warm weather number and you pick.
What we find gets priced before we keep going
Open a wall and it sometimes has more wrong with it than the face admitted. You get a call and a number the same day, and the job waits for your answer. Nothing shows up as a surprise at the end.
Houses and buildings, in every sector
This trade runs on both sides of the business. The building decides the method, the access and the hours. It never decides whether we take the job.
Residential
Single family houses, condos and townhouses, two and three family buildings, apartment blocks and the units inside them, rentals between tenants, new construction at handover, and second homes.
Commercial, industrial and institutional
Offices and medical suites, retail stores and restaurants, schools, daycares and places of worship, gyms, salons and clinics, warehouses, plants and light industrial space, banks and professional offices, municipal and community buildings, plus the property managers and general contractors who hold several of these at once.
Masonry questions
If your question is not here, call and ask. We would rather tell you a smaller job is enough than sell you a bigger one.
Can I book more than one trade at the same time?
That is most of what we do. A landlord books the turnover clean and the interior repaint together. A homeowner has the floors sanded, the trim painted and the front steps reset in the same stretch of weeks. One walkthrough covers the whole property, the work gets put in an order that stops one crew undoing another, and you get one scope and one person to call instead of four.
How do you price a job?
After the walkthrough, never before it. Cleaning is priced by the property and the frequency. Flooring is priced by the square footage, the subfloor underneath and how much of the old floor has to come out. Painting is priced by the surfaces, the prep the walls actually need and the number of coats. Masonry is priced by the footage of the work and what we find once the failed joints come out. Pressure washing is priced by the surfaces, their size and how much growth and staining is on them. All of it lands as one written figure before a start date is agreed.
Can you do masonry and exterior painting in the winter?
We take masonry and exterior painting year round. Warm months are simpler and cost less, because mortar and paint both cure on their own. In the cold the same work needs heated enclosures, warmed sand and water, insulated blankets over fresh joints, and products built for low temperature cure. That is real work with a real price, and we put it in the quote instead of pretending the weather is not there. Call in January and we will tell you exactly what winter adds to the number.
What if something gets missed?
Tell us within a day and we come back and fix it at no charge. It works because the scope was agreed in writing before anybody started, so there is nothing to argue about. On masonry and painting the warranty terms go on the scope in writing too.
Tell us about the property
The walkthrough is free and nobody is going to sell you anything at it. We look, we ask what has been going wrong, and we put the number and the area by area list in writing. You decide after that, in your own time.
- We come out at no cost and with nothing to sign
- An area by area list in writing, not a promise on the phone
- One price per visit, never a running clock
- A separate kit of cloths and mops for every area
- The same crew comes back to your address
- A few days of notice ends a home plan, no penalty
Straight answers
Commercial accounts can ask for a window outside those hours. Calls after close get returned the next business morning.
Get your free walkthrough
Tell us where the place is and what it needs. We book the walkthrough, then you get the list and one price back in writing.
Get masonry quoted in writing.
Half an hour at the property, no charge and no pitch. We look, you say what has been going wrong, and the number follows in writing.