Stone masonry in Richmond CA - stone walls that stay put and joints that let them dry
Loose stones, crumbling joints or a bare slope you want walled? We fit the stone and fix only what's failed, so the wall stands.
- Fully licensed and insured.
- Free quotes on site.
- We reply within 1 business day.
Should I rebuild my stone wall or just fix the joints?
Stone masonry in Richmond, CA means building walls from stacked rock, putting stone veneer on an existing wall and repointing the worn mortar joints in old stone. Done right, it leaves you with a wall that stays stable and stone that isn't being damaged by trapped moisture.
Most stone calls I get are one of three things: an old wall with gaps opening between the stones, a slope or garden bed someone wants walled in rock, or a plain wall they'd like faced in veneer. The price moves with the height and length of the wall, the stone you pick, how many joints have actually failed and how easy it is to get heavy stone into your yard. The schedule turns on stone delivery and the weather, and when a wall needs a permit, on the city's review before we can start. Your written estimate spells out the scope and the price for your wall, so you're not guessing.
How can you tell your stone wall needs work?
Mortar washing out of joints
You'll find sand at the foot of the wall or joints you can push a finger into. That usually means water is getting behind the face, and the longer it goes, the more joints open up and the more stones work loose.
Stones that move when pushed
A stone that shifts when you lean on it has lost its bed, or the stones around it have moved. Caught early, we reset a few pieces, but left alone, the ones above it start to follow.
A wall leaning or bulging
When the face bows out or the top tips forward, the wall is being pushed harder than its stones can hold. A bulge only grows, and rebuilding a slumped section costs a lot more than resetting a few stones now.
How we do stone masonry, from the first stone to the last joint
On a new wall, the stone comes first. We sort the load by size and shape and lay the biggest, flattest pieces at the base, and I set the key stones myself, because picking and fitting them is the real skill in this trade. A dry-stacked wall has no mortar, concrete or steel holding it, so the weight, size, shape and friction of the rocks are what keep it standing, and a badly chosen stone turns into a loose spot later. On an old stone wall, I go joint by joint, and we leave the sound ones alone and only open up the ones that have failed. The mortar we pack back in has to let moisture and vapor move out of the wall and dry off, because mortar that traps water ends up damaging the stone around it.
Plenty of older houses here mix stone with brick, so when the brick joints are going too, we take care of them as brick pointing while we're set up. Stone under the house is a different matter. National earthquake safety guidance for homeowners says unreinforced stone foundations often can't resist shaking, may break apart and may be too weak to hold anchor bolts, so if that's what your house sits on, the work becomes foundation repair, planned around that weakness.
Dry-stacked rock wall
This suits a garden bed or a slope where you want a natural, rough face and no mortar to maintain. It stands on how well the rocks fit, so it's only as good as the stone and the hands that place it.
Repointing an old stone wall
This suits a wall whose stones are still sound but whose joints have opened up. You keep the original wall and pay to fix the failed joints, not to rebuild what's still holding.
Stone veneer over an existing wall
This suits a house wall, chimney base or planter where you want the look of stone without building a full stone wall. Estimating guides note that natural stone veneer needs more structural support and a skilled installer, so we check that your wall can carry it before you pick a stone.
Get a written estimate for your stone wall or veneer
Send it over and we'll reply within one business day to set up a visit. I'll walk the job with you and send a free written estimate, with no pressure and no obligation.
(510) 369-4799- Based in
- Richmond, CA 94804
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 8 AM–10 PM, Sat–Sun: 7 AM–9 PM
What happens after you call about stone work in Richmond?
From your first call to the last swept stone, here's how a stone job runs with us and who you'll be dealing with at each step.
Call or send the form
Tell us what's going on with your wall, or what you'd like built. We get back to you to set up a visit at a time that suits you.
I walk the wall with you
I look over the stone, the joints and the ground around the wall with you, and if it doesn't need work, I'll say so. Then you get a written estimate with the scope and price laid out, so you know the cost before you decide anything.
We build it and clean up
If you go ahead, we take care of any permit the job needs before work starts. I'm on site with our crew until the stone is set and the yard is cleaned up.
Why Richmond homeowners call Stonework Richmond Concrete and Masonry for stone
The owner walks it and runs it
I come out to look at the wall with you, and our own crew does the work with me on site running it. The person who priced your job is the one watching the stone go up.
Started in Richmond in 2013
I framed houses as a carpenter until a mason I worked beside got me hooked on stone, and I started this business here in 2013. Most of our calls come from owners of older homes, and I'd rather tell you a wall is fine than sell you work it doesn't need.
Licensed and insured on every wall
We're fully licensed and insured. That covers you if a heavy stone job goes wrong in your yard, and it's the first thing you should check on any mason you call.
On old stone, the right repair matters more than the biggest one. Tell us about your wall and I'll come out and have a look.
Stone masonry, garden walls and permits in Richmond
If you're planning a freestanding garden wall, the place to ask is the Planning Department, because the city requires its permit for any fence on a residential property, whatever the type or height, and a building permit too once a fence tops six feet. Whether a particular stone wall falls under that is the city's call, not mine. When we take your job, we pull any permit it needs as the licensed contractor and set up the city inspections, and if we're not sure what Richmond wants, we ask the city before we start instead of guessing. Retaining walls have their own rule, which I cover in the questions below.
A lot of the stone we work on here sits around older houses, in steps, low garden walls and stone bases under later brick, and much of it just needs its worst joints done. We see the same mix on jobs in El Cerrito and Berkeley, so the way we read an old wall carries over from one city to the next.
Questions about stone masonry in Richmond
Do I need a permit to build a stone retaining wall in Richmond, CA?
Yes, because the city handles retaining walls as fence permit applications through its Planning Division. A retaining wall 4 feet or higher also needs a building permit, and that request starts through the Building Division's online permit portal. We handle those applications when we take the job.
How much does stone veneer cost in the San Francisco area?
Stone veneer installation in the San Francisco area usually costs about $3,100 to $12,000 per job. That's the going market range, not our price, and where a job lands depends on how much wall you're covering, whether you pick natural or manufactured stone and how much prep the wall needs to carry it. Your written estimate gives you the figure for your wall.
How do I know if the joints in my old stone wall need repointing?
Joints that are firm, intact and worn back no more than one-third inch are best left alone, according to preservation guidance from another state. That guidance saves repointing for joints that are open, deeply eroded, cracked or pulling away from the stone, so the work goes where the gaps are. If most of yours pass that test, you may need a lot less work than you feared.
Does a stone mason need a license in California?
Yes for most wall jobs, since California requires a license from the Contractors State License Board for anyone building or altering a structure when the job needs a building permit, uses any other workers or costs $1,000 or more in labor and materials. Before you hire someone unlicensed for minor work, the board says to make sure they'll use no workers and the job needs no building permit.
How long does it take to install stone veneer?
Plan on two days at the very least, because the stone goes over a scratch coat, a rough base layer of mortar, that has to cure before any stone goes on. Past that, the time depends on how much wall you're covering and the weather, and I'll talk through the timing for your job when I walk it with you.
What should I have ready before asking for a stone wall estimate?
Know roughly how tall the wall is or will be and where it sits on your lot, and take a few photos of any worn joints. That lets me come out knowing what I'm looking at, and the height matters early because it can decide whether a wall needs a building permit. Call (510) 369-4799 or send the form whenever you're ready.
Related work that often comes up with stone
Brick pointing
If your house mixes brick with stone, worn brick joints let in the same water, and fixing both at once saves setting up twice in your yard.
Foundation repair
When the worn stone holds up your house instead of your garden, the job changes, and the base needs a plan built for how it'll handle shaking.
Where we do stone masonry around Richmond
Stonework Richmond Concrete and Masonry is based in Richmond, California, and we do stone work in all 12 cities listed here, from San Pablo to Oakland. Those are the cities with their own page, not the only ones we work in, so if yours isn't here, just ask.
Richmond, CA
Have the owner look at your stone wall
A wall with a few open joints is a small repair, and catching it before another wet winter usually keeps it that way.