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Construction and Contractors: All in a Day's Work

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Construction and Contractors: All in a Day's Work

Can you imagine being a contractor? You start you morning by picking up supplies at the local building store. You drop off those supplies at one job site, and then you drive to another job site where you spend four hours mudding drywall. As that dries, you make calls to some of your suppliers, and then you meet with a client about a new job across town. As evening rolls in, you drive back to the other construction site and sand down some of that drywall. If this sound like a fun day to you, then you've stumbled on the right blog! This is a blog about construction, and you'll fit right in.

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Working With a Mason to Get Stone Work Down on Your Home

11 May 2021
 Categories: Construction & Contractors, Blog

When you are considering adding some stonework around your home, finding a masonry contractor to help you is an excellent place to start. There are many different kinds of stone, brick, and block that you may want to use, but if it is not installed right, the masonry will not stand up over time. Read on to learn how to work with masonry contractors to improve your property. 

Stone Walls

One feature common along driveways or outside the home is stone walls that are structural retaining walls to help hold back the soil. The walls need to be built correctly to not support the weight against them, so having a masonry contractor do the work is essential. 

The masonry contractor will know how to lay the stone and tie it together to be strong and not deteriorate over time. If the stones are not locked together with the right mortar and positioned correctly, the wall will begin to lean and the outcome may be a wall the collapses and soil that slides down from behind it. 

Rain running off the hill behind the wall can also cause severe erosion, so a wall of this nature must have the proper drainage to channel the water away from the wall. The masonry contractor can add the drainage required when they excavate the area for the wall before the structure is put in place.

Chimney Construction

A natural stone or brick fireplace or chimney in your home can be beautiful, but the work should be done correctly to ensure that there are no fire hazards in the house. When the masonry contractor starts your chimney, there are guidelines that they will follow to ensure the correct air gaps exist around it. For example, the chimney needs to be lined with heat tiles or a stainless steel liner to ensure the heat and embers going up the chimney can not escape. The details that go into installing the chimney are more than cosmetic, and if the job is not done right, the masonry work may not be safe to use. 

When you are looking for a masonry contractor to do any stone or brickwork around your house, it is essential to check for experience and if the contractor has had any complaints against them for previous work. Often the local code enforcement officer can tell you if the contractor is highly rated or not. Also, a quick check of the better business bureau ratings can offer insight into the type of work the masonry contractor provides, making it easier to ensure you are hiring the best contractor for your needs.