Masonry services and brick repairin Woburn, MA
Brick repair, stone wall repair, brick and stone steps, veneer and repointing for homes and businesses around Woburn. Family-owned for over 30 years, fully insured, and every job starts with a free on-site look.
Repairs that match what's already there.
Gerrior Masonry & Landscape Construction is a family-owned masonry company in Woburn, MA, doing masonry services and brick repair around greater Boston for over 30 years. Most masonry calls are repairs: a brick wall with open joints, front steps that have heaved, a stone wall that has dropped a few stones. The hard part is making new work disappear into old, so we match brick size, color and texture, joint width and finish, and source stone that looks like it was always there.
Owner Joseph Gerrior oversees the work. The company is fully insured, the work is guaranteed, and we handle both residential and commercial masonry, from simple repairs to complete rebuilds.
Chimney leaking or shedding brick? That has its own page: chimney repair and rebuilds. Wondering if your mortar joints just need repointing? Start with our brick repointing guide.
Masonry services we provide
Cracked and spalled bricks replaced, failed mortar raked out and repointed to match the wall.
How repointing worksFailed joints, loose brick at the top, cracked crowns and rebuilds above the roofline.
Chimney repairFront steps and stoops in brick and stone with granite, bluestone or flagstone treads, repaired or rebuilt.
See steps projectsGarden walls, pillars and fieldstone walls repaired or rebuilt. Walls that hold back soil are retaining walls.
Retaining wallsFieldstone and stone veneer over block, concrete or framed walls, set to read as solid stone.
Stone, brick and block foundations repointed and cracks repaired to keep water out.
Foundation repairFieldstone walls and granite steps in North Reading
This photo is from one of our jobs: a 2017 pool area in North Reading, where round fieldstone walls wrap the deck and granite steps run up through the wall. It shows what good masonry comes down to. Steps need a solid, compacted base so they don't heave, each granite tread has to sit level at a comfortable rise, and the stone around them has to be laid so the joints shed water.
See the North Reading project, or browse more of our stone wall projects and walkway projects.
What we look at before we quote a masonry repair
Most masonry problems start with water. It gets into a joint or a crack, freezes, expands and pushes things apart, and a Massachusetts winter does that over and over. A good repair finds where the water gets in and fixes that, not just the piece that fell off.
Brick repair: the brick or the mortar?
Brick and mortar fail in different ways. When only the joints are cracked, sandy or recessed, the bricks are fine and the job is repointing: rake out the old mortar and pack in new. When the face of a brick has flaked or popped off (masons call this spalling), the brick itself is finished. It gets cut out and replaced with one that matches in size, color and texture, and the joints around it are pointed.
The trap is hard mortar. In a brick wall the mortar is supposed to be the weaker part. If a repair uses mortar harder than the brick, the next winter's movement cracks the brick instead of the joint. That's why we match the mortar to the wall, and why patch compound from a tube rarely holds. The repointing guide goes deeper if you want the details.
Stone wall repair
Stone walls around here come in two kinds. Dry-laid fieldstone walls have no mortar at all. They stay up on weight and careful fitting, and they shift a little every winter. Mortared stone walls are rigid, so when they move, they crack. Repairing a dry wall means taking down the loose section and relaying it with the stones fitted tight and the faces leaning slightly back. Repairing a mortared wall means cutting out loose stone and failed mortar and resetting it with mortar that suits the stone.
Either way, look at the cap and the base. A loose or missing cap lets water into the core of the wall. A wall with no real footing, or with water pooling against it, will keep failing however well the face is fixed. If the wall holds back soil and is leaning, that's a retaining wall problem, covered on our retaining walls page.
Brick and stone steps
Front steps take more abuse than any other masonry on a house: foot traffic, shovels, ice melt and frost. Brick or stone steps with granite or flagstone treads are about the most durable steps you can build. When steps start to tip, separate from the house or crack straight through, the cause is almost always underneath, so a lasting repair often means taking them down to a proper base. Steps also have to meet the building code for rise, run and, depending on height, railings, so the layout is measured out before anything is set.
Dan in Arlington had us rebuild his brick and bluestone front stairs, which turn a corner. His review below explains how the width on the turn was worked out with him. See more steps projects.
Building brand-new steps as part of a new walkway or entry? That work is on our walkways and stairs page.
Stone veneer and brick restoration
Stone veneer is a thin layer of natural or manufactured stone set over block, concrete or a framed wall, so a foundation, a set of steps or a wall can look like solid fieldstone without the weight. It only lasts if the surface behind it is sound and water has a way out, so that gets checked first.
Brick restoration on an older house is usually a mix of the jobs above: replacing spalled bricks, repointing, rebuilding a loose top course or a crumbling sill, and cleaning old mortar smears off the face. Cleaning should use the gentlest method that works. High-pressure washing and strong acids can strip the hard outer skin of old brick and leave it soaking up water.
Before anyone digs
Rebuilding steps, a wall footing or a foundation corner means digging, so it starts with a notice to Dig Safe to get buried utilities marked, and structural rebuilds can also need a building permit from your town.
How a masonry repair is priced
We don't publish prices, because two jobs that sound the same rarely are. What drives the number: how much brick or stone is actually failing; the material and how hard it is to match; access, since a wall by the driveway is a different job from brick three stories up; whether a base or footing has to be rebuilt; and how much has to be taken apart and hauled away. The on-site look and the estimate are free, and you have the number before any work starts.
From first call to finished repair
Tell us what you're seeing: the wall, the steps or the chimney, and the town. Call (781) 933-4157 or use the estimate form.
We look at the masonry in person, find where the water or movement is coming from, and talk through repair versus rebuild and your material options.
You get an estimate for the work we agreed on before anything starts. No sight-unseen quotes.
The repair is matched to the existing brick or stone, the site is cleaned up, and the work is guaranteed.
I highly recommend Gerrior Masonry. They rebuilt my brick and blue stone front stairs last fall; the work is beautiful, the price was exactly as quoted, started and ended on time, and the masons were a pleasure to have around. What I appreciated most, though, was that the owner took time to walk me through several options including materials and design, and clearly considered the usage of the stairs in his recommendation (eg, my stairs make a turn, and we measured out different widths of stairway to find a balance between cost and accessibility on the turn)…Dan, Arlington, MARead more reviews
Masonry, answered
01Can you match my existing brick or stone?
Usually, yes, and matching is most of the work in a repair. We match brick size, color and texture, the width and finish of the joints, and the mortar color. Very old or discontinued brick can take some searching, and salvaged brick is sometimes the closest match. We'll tell you honestly how close we can get before you commit.
02What mortar should be used to repair a stone wall?
A masonry mortar, usually Type N or Type S, picked to suit the stone and how exposed the wall is, rather than straight portland cement. It should be a little softer than the stone so movement cracks the joint, not the stone. Dry-laid walls shouldn't get mortar at all: pointing a dry wall traps water and stiffens a wall that was built to move.
03Should I repair my brick steps or replace them?
If the bricks and treads are sound and the steps haven't moved, repointing and replacing a few bricks is usually enough. If the steps are tipping, pulling away from the house or cracked through, the base has failed and a rebuild is the fix that lasts. We'll show you which it is during the visit.
04How is the cost of masonry repair decided?
By how much material is failing, the material itself, access, whether a base or footing has to be rebuilt, and how much demolition and disposal is involved. We price it after seeing it, and the visit and estimate are free.
05Do you work on older and historic homes?
Yes. Older brick and stone was usually laid in soft lime mortar, and repairing it with modern hard mortar damages it over time. We match new mortar to the original, the same principle the National Park Service sets out for repointing historic masonry.
06Do you do commercial masonry?
Yes. We do masonry for both residential and commercial customers. One example close to home: we built the masonry wall around the sign at the entrance to Stoneham High School and donated it to the school.
07Is Gerrior insured?
Yes. Gerrior Masonry & Landscape Construction is fully insured and our work is guaranteed. We're family-owned, based in Woburn, and members of the Woburn Chamber of Commerce.
Woburn and the towns around it.
Our office is at 245 Salem Street in Woburn, and we work across the towns north and west of Boston, from Acton to Lynnfield.
Have masonry that needs attention? Start with a free estimate.
- Office
- 245 Salem St, Woburn, MA
- Hours
- Mon–Fri 7am–5pm
- Family-owned
- Over 30 years
- Coverage
- Fully insured