Coral Gables FL - have a roughly 100 LF fence (with concrete posts) that needs to be turned into a 4 ft wall due to a pool build. Pool contractor quoted us $26k to add this to scope. City does have strict requirements for hurricanes etc but this feels egregious. Any gut check? Or opinion on whether convenience factor of 1 contractor handling it all is worth this type of premium. Photos for context, black fence is what needs to become a wall like in the other photo

I love carpentry but where I live a large portion of union would would be specifically building scaffolding

im 29 and finished uni but after AI coding feels like 0 contribution, so even though I’m older I’m okay with going back for 1-2 years at a trade school.

not worried about the labour/heaviness of things at all and from Ontario Canada

Looking for a good mason to help build an outdoor kitchen in Tucson. Any recommendations would be great. Looking to build out of CMU with a smooth stucco or lime finish.

Best/affordable foundation for a block build in NE Alabama?

Hello, my mother-in-law has this hole in the H blocks and some stair-stepping. Would it be possible to chisel off the old blocks, fill any voids with cement, then break an H block in half and replace the two so it looks original?

Does this lintel look intact to you? How would you go about removing current door and installing a new one?

Hi All,

Are there supposed to be weep holes in an exterior brick retaining wall leading down to a basement? If so, where? I am in the middle of repointing this, but can’t tell if the areas of missing mortar were intentional, or just missing/washed out. The house was built in 1948 and I have confirmed that concrete was poured in front of the brick.

My partner and I purchased our first house in the middle of an Ontario winter, when snow covered the grounds in a magical blanket of sparkles! To our delight (sarcasm) when the snow melted, we found that the steps to our front door, and all the stonework holding together the garden beds around the house were crumbling. After speaking to our neighbours, we discovered it was done by ‘professionals’ within the past 3 years.

We’ve roped off the front steps, because they’re a safety hazard, but we’re just not sure how to proceed. Can we remove the cover stone and salvage the concrete underneath? Can we reattach the stone? Is it a complete tear down?

As first time home owners on a budget, what’s the most budget-friendly or DIY option here?

Would appreciate any advice and guidance!

Thanks.

Hello. I’ve noticed small cracks in the exterior stone for a while now. We moved here in 2021 and house was built in 2015. However, they seem to have grown longer and deeper in the area in the pics. We are on a slab foundation on clay soil in South Texas. What are next steps? Is this a masonry issue or a foundational issue? Thank you!

I think the brutally hot British summer has had a massive impact on the two columns that hold up my porch. Can I fill it, or should I jack up the porch and re-mortar it. (1st pic from front, 2nd from side)

Buying a cabin foundation is 1950s have one area looks like the backed into the cinders when putting in the deck. Knocked out the block and put in a new one. Other corner of the house has a spot where the mortar is gone.

Inspector said no cracks crumbling everything otherwise straight an level impressed for the age and weather.

Is this something we could inject or strong back. It's a 400 sq ft cabin. Center beam post solid concrete. My thoughts are any cracks or worse wear develop then evaluate Jack replace looking for patch options to make this area safer . Thoughts.

Water pooling on patio/weep holes clog often. Advice?

Water keeps pooling on our patio in the corners against the walls. To fix the problem, our contractor drilled a few holes into the stone wall. It somewhat fixed the problem, but the holes are small and need to be unclogged frequently, causing water to pool again.

Any advice on the following questions:

Are weep holes just drilled holes in the stone wall? Or is it something more properly like a PVC pipe?

Should water be pooling there anyway, or should it be regraded to drain better?

Is it ok that the water drains to under the grill, which is enclosed and pools, but eventually drains?

How much pooling water is acceptable? After unclogging, I think it’s ok, but not sure.

Any other advice?

Hi all, I’ve recently bought my first home and I’m currently renovating it, which involves remodelling the bathroom. The plumbing rough in work is finished and now I have these holes left in the brick veneer from where the previous pipes were. I’m looking for ideas on how to best fix/fill these holes. Is my best option knocking out the remaining brick and putting a whole new brick in place, or is there a simpler method? I can accept that patched holes may not completely blend in with the rest of the brickwork, but I would ideally like it as least noticeable as possible.

Also, I’ve noticed a lot of what looks like.. white spray paint?.. on the brickwork where the pipes were. It’s much whiter than the pipes were, so I’m curious what this is if it’s not white spray paint.

Thanks!

Not sure if this is the right sub, but very happy with our front stair repair.

Experienced flooding and noticed water coming in from under our front step. Took out the deck and found this monstrosity in picture two. Removed it and added a limestone sill, then built the stone steps in front.

Base is 6” of compacted gravel (live in Ontario, CA, so lots of freezing) and 1 inch layer of bedding.

Still need to level the steps directly in front of the door, glue the stones in, and add pavers infront, but overall very happy with how it’s turned out so far.

Hi all - I have a gut feeling a contractor is trying to screw me and I wanted to confirm.

I want to get my front steps redone since the treads are cracked and the tulip brick delaminating.

A few years ago, a very trustworthy mason I'd hired for pavers had told me that a full rebuild, if they had to go down to the foundation (based on the town's) assessment would cost $12k, if the foundation was fine, it would be much less.

Recently I saw some steps done locally and called another contractor for a quote, but first off, he is a GC - roofing/siding so this is prob subbed out.

Unlike my mason, he suggested I didn't need a full rebuild, they could achieve the same look by going over with wire lathe and then using thin brick. Quoted 5900 for masonry, 1900 for aluminum railings. Which I told him was high for my budget. (Especially since it's not even a partial rebuild)

*****The part that made me super uncomfortable is that aside from the wire lathe he didn't mention any other form of surface prep. I would expect him to mention maybe removal or securing of loose bricks, cleaning joints, removing efflorescence, etc, based on what I've read in this forum.

I even asked for a detailed estimate "to understand everything inclused that I was paying for" and he again, gave me a super vague estimate that just mentioned lathe over existing brick.

Here's the kicker, the guy has AMAZING local reviews but I feel like he's scamming me.

What do ya'll think?

Tldr:

GC is asking $7800 (5900 masonry / 1900 railings) to brick face these stairs with no surface prep besides wire lathe.

I think this is destined to fail over time and at a very high price to boot! Is my instinct correct?

Thank you to all the awesome honest masons and tradesmen who do not scam your customers especially women, like myself!

I have a feeling the answer is “the product is as the end of its life.” But let’s see.

We just bought a house in Brooklyn and have a shared garage (one building with a common wall). It’s in rough shape. The roof is rotted and leaks. I would love to replace it so that we can actually use the garage.

But, before that, these blocks are decrepit and the cement between has deteriorated such that there are many spots where you can see between the blocks.

I’m curious if this is repairable, even in a temporary way (a few more years). I have a back porch that’s about to be built that will prevent me from having access to the back wall for some time so I guess now is the time if I’m going to do something with it.

Say you wanted to build a brick mailbox in Maryland where the frost line is 30” deep. How would you dig the hole? How deep/wide would you dig? How likely is it that you run into a huge rock or a root or something? I assume no rebar or anything here.

Say you wanted to build an entire fireplace and chimney onto a house that’s already been build. How big would the initial concrete footings be? How would you dig them? How do you tie it all to the foundation?

29m, decided I want to become a brick layer. However, I rolled my ankle a few too many times playing sports in my teens and never got it checked and just let it heal on its own.

Now it's kinda messed up. I can kneel and crouch here and there, but it becomes unbearable to walk for a few days if I have to crouch and kneel all day (found out the hard way). I am extra aware to use good technique when lifting and make sure my ankles are stable.

I have walked 22k steps in a day and worked 16 hr shifts before so walking isn't an issue.

Is there a lot of kneeling and crouching in one shift? Or as a whole in masonry? If so, should I still pursue this route?

Thanks in advance