Masonry Contractor in Aptos, CA - Walls and Repairs Built for Hillside Lots
J&L Santa Cruz Concrete & Masonry builds retaining walls, repoints old brick and stone, and repairs chimneys, steps and foundations for homes across Aptos, CA. We're based in Santa Cruz, just up the coast.
Masonry repair and walls in Aptosthat don't need doing twice
Most Aptos calls are retaining walls on sloped yards and old brick or stone that's letting go. Price turns on how much comes out before anything goes back and how hard the site is to reach. Winter rain sets the schedule. Your estimate says what we'll do and why.
Aptos isn't part of any city, so permits here run through Santa Cruz County instead of a city hall. If you have a permit question, start with the county's permit center. It's the same next door in Rio del Mar and Soquel.
Call (831) 201-6259 or use the form to ask for an estimate on your Aptos job.
Our masonry work in Aptosfrom chimneys to retaining walls
Here's the masonry and concrete work we do in Aptos, with what we tend to see on the houses and yards here.
- Foundation repair Cracked or settling foundations on older Aptos houses, fixed after we find out why they moved in the first place.
- Chimney repair Loose crowns and crumbling brick at the top of old chimneys, rebuilt before the next storm drives water in.
- Tuckpointing Worn joints raked out and refilled by hand, matched in color so the wall still reads as one piece.
- Brick repair Spalled or cracked bricks swapped for close matches, so the patch doesn't stick out on an older house.
- Driveway pavers Paver driveways laid over a packed base, which matters on sloped lots where water heads downhill fast.
- Retaining wall construction One of the jobs we're known for. Walls with real drainage behind them for yards cut into a hillside.
- Masonry restoration For older brick and stone homes that need careful repair, not a fresh coat over the problem.
- Fireplace installation New brick or stone fireplaces built to suit the room, or out on the patio where you'll actually use one.
- Stone veneer installation Stone veneer on foundations, columns and front walls, set with drainage behind it so moisture doesn't get trapped.
- Concrete block walls Block walls for property lines and terraced yards, with steel and grout where the height calls for it.
- Foundation block wall installation Block foundation walls for additions and outbuildings, set on footings sized for the ground they sit on.
- Outdoor kitchen masonry Built-in grills, counters and bar walls in brick, block or stone, for patios that get used past summer.
- Walkway construction Walkways and garden steps on sloped yards, laid so they sit level and don't hold puddles.
- Brick wall installation Garden and boundary walls in brick, matched to an older house so they look like they were always there.
- Stone masonry Dry-stack and mortared stone walls, steps and planters, a good fit for the wooded lots up the hill.
- Brick pointing Small pointing repairs on steps, chimneys and garden walls, done before a few loose joints turn into a rebuild.
Why Aptos homeowners call usabout older brick and stone
I've run this business since 2013. Most people who call want their old masonry fixed once and left alone, and that's how we like to work.
I look at every job myself
The person who walks your yard and writes the estimate is the same person on site with the crew when the work gets done.
Repairs that don't start the next one
We work with what's already there, because a patch that fights the old wall usually ends up causing the next crack.
We'll say if it isn't worth doing
If a wall has years left or a repair won't fix the real problem, I'll tell you that instead of selling you the job.
Licensed, insured, tidy site
We're licensed and insured, and we keep tools, block and dirt contained so your driveway and yard stay usable while we work.
The parts nobody sees
We take our time on drainage and footings, the parts you'll never see again once a wall is backfilled. Satisfaction guaranteed.
From first call to walkthroughwith me there the whole way
You deal with me from the first look to the last walkthrough, and the written estimate tells you what we'll do and why before any work starts.
You call or send the form
Call (831) 201-6259 or send the form with a few lines about the job and where you are in Aptos.
I come out and write it up
I come out myself and write an estimate that says what we'll do and why. If the job needs a permit, we pull it from the county and line up inspections.
My crew and I do the work
We do the work with me on site, and we plan outdoor days around the weather, because wet ground and fresh mortar don't get along.
We walk it together
Before we call it finished, I walk the job with you so you can see it up close and ask about anything that doesn't look right.
What Aptos asks of masonryevery winter and on every slope
Between winter storms, sloped lots and older houses, a few things come up on almost every Aptos job.
Heavy winter storms
The county warns El Nino winters can bring heavy rain, flooding and fallen trees, so we build drainage in and plan pours around storms.
Sandy ground in the hills
State Parks calls the soil in nearby Nisene Marks sandy and slide-prone, so we check your own slope before planning a wall.
Older brick and stone
Older chimneys and walls usually need soft mortar and matched brick, because hard modern patches crack the old material around them.
Roots from big trees
Roots from big yard trees heave walkways and crack low walls, so we plan footings and paths around them.
An estimate for your Aptos jobwritten up by the person doing it
Tell us your address, what's going on with the wall, chimney or walkway, and the best way to reach you. We get back to you within one business day, and the on-site estimate is free with no obligation.
Masonry around Aptosfrom the coast to the hills
We're a masonry contractor based in Santa Cruz, CA, and Aptos is a short drive down the coast for us. Homes here run from older houses with brick chimneys to newer ones set into the hills, and we get the same calls from both, mostly walls, steps and tired mortar.
We work across the cities around Santa Cruz, from the coast over the hill into the South Bay. The retaining walls and old-brick repair we do in Aptos are the same jobs we do up in Ben Lomond and back home in Santa Cruz.
Don't see your city? Call us
If your city has its own page, you'll find it here. If it doesn't, call (831) 201-6259, since these aren't the only places we work.