Masonry Contractor in Watsonville, CA - Walls and Brick That Stay Put
J&L Santa Cruz Concrete & Masonry is a masonry contractor in Santa Cruz, CA, and we work in Watsonville too, repointing older brick, fixing foundations and building retaining walls and walkways that hold up on moving ground.
Masonry work in Watsonvillefor homes that want it done once
A lot of our Watsonville work is on older homes: brick steps that have settled, a chimney with tired mortar, a garden wall leaning toward the sidewalk. We drive down from Santa Cruz past Aptos for it, and the same week we might be over the hill in Cupertino.
Price turns on how much has to come out, how deep the footing goes and how hard the spot is to reach. The schedule turns on permits and weather. Your written estimate lays out what we'll do and why.
Call (831) 201-6259 or send the form, and I'll come out and look at your Watsonville job for an estimate.
What we do in Watsonvillebrick, block, stone and pavers
Everything we do in Santa Cruz, we do in Watsonville, from a few loose bricks to a new foundation wall.
- Foundation repair Cracks and settling show up where older foundations sit on ground that swells in wet winters and shrinks in summer.
- Chimney repair Older brick chimneys lose mortar near the top first. We rebuild what's loose and leave sound brick alone.
- Tuckpointing Clean, narrow new joints on older brick fronts, with mortar soft enough to let the old brick breathe.
- Brick repair For flaking faces and cracked front steps, we match the brick as close as we can find it.
- Driveway pavers Pavers flex with moving ground better than a slab, and one sunken spot can come up and go back.
- Retaining wall construction Block and stone walls with real footings and drainage behind them, for yards that slope toward the house.
- Masonry restoration Bringing back the brick and stone on older homes without stripping out what's still doing its job.
- Fireplace installation New masonry fireplaces set on a proper footing, so the hearth doesn't follow the floor when it moves.
- Stone veneer installation Thin stone over block or framed walls, with flashing and a gap so water has somewhere to go.
- Concrete block walls Reinforced block for property lines and garden walls, grouted solid wherever the wall has weight to carry.
- Foundation block wall installation Block stem walls under additions and older houses, built to the engineer's plans when the ground calls for one.
- Outdoor kitchen masonry Block-framed counters and grill surrounds faced in brick or stone, for cooking outside most of the year.
- Walkway construction Brick, stone or concrete paths from the sidewalk to the door, on a packed base so they stay level longer.
- Brick wall installation Brick garden and front walls laid in a pattern that suits the house instead of fighting it.
- Stone masonry Fieldstone and cut stone for walls, steps and planters, set dry or in mortar depending on the job.
- Brick pointing When only a few joints are open, we point those and save you a full repoint.
Why Watsonville calls usfor older brick and new walls
I came to masonry later than most and learned it carrying block for an old mason. What stuck was simple. Old masonry lasts if you don't fight it.
The one who quotes it builds it
My crew does the work with me on site, so the person who looked at your wall is standing there when it goes back up.
We work with what's there
We keep sound brick and stone in place and fix around it, because tearing out good old work usually starts the next repair.
Told straight when it's not worth it
If a hairline crack is just a hairline crack, I'll say so and leave it. I'd rather lose the job than sell you one you don't need.
Licensed in California, permits on us
A Watsonville building permit takes a current state contractor's license, and we're licensed and insured. Work started without a required permit gets a Stop Work order, so we sort permits first.
At it since 2013
We've been repointing, repairing and building walls since 2013. Satisfaction guaranteed. Call (831) 201-6259 when you want someone to look at yours.
From call to walkthroughwith me on the job
You deal with me from the first look to the last walk around the job, and the estimate is written down, so nobody has to remember what was said in the driveway.
You call or write
Call (831) 201-6259 or send the form with what you're seeing and where. I come out and look at the job myself.
A written estimate
You get a written estimate of what we'll do and why, and if it needs a permit, we pull it. The city's Building Division checks most home plans over the counter Wednesday mornings, and bigger plans take longer.
We do the work
My crew and I do the job with me on site, digging, setting and pointing until it matches what the estimate said.
We walk it together
Before we call it finished, I walk the job with you and show you what we did and anything worth keeping an eye on.
What Watsonville houses deal withfrom the footing to the joints
Most masonry trouble here starts in the ground or in old mortar, and a few local conditions explain why.
Soil that swells
Watsonville's expansive soil is why the city wants a soils report for all new construction, and why we plan footings and drainage around it.
Soft brick, hard mortar
Older brick is often softer than modern mortar, so we mix ours to match and let the joint, not the brick, take the wear.
The 4-foot wall line
The city needs no building permit for a retaining wall up to 4 feet, measured from the footing's bottom, if it carries nothing else.
A free estimate in Watsonvillefrom the one who'll build it
Tell us your address and what you're seeing, and we'll get back to you within one business day. The estimate is free, done at your property, and there's no obligation to book.
Our work around Watsonvillefrom downtown to the trail neighborhoods
Downtown's Victorian streets around the Plaza hold the kind of older brick and stone we like working on, and the neighborhoods where the city trails start have plenty of garden walls and front steps that have done their time. We treat them the same, fixing what's failing and leaving the rest.
Working elsewhere? Give us a call
Pick your city below for its own page, or call (831) 201-6259 if yours isn't listed, since these aren't the only places we work.