Masonry in Culver City

Usually, yes. Pre-war brick is softer than modern units and the failure is almost always the mortar rather than the brick. Repointing in a properly matched soft mix restores the wall without replacing it.

We do, and a good share of our work here is commercial. Storefront masonry, courtyard hardscape, planters, enclosures, and ADA stairs and ramps, generally phased so a tenant never has to close.

Pricing on the Westside is per square foot rather than per day. Brick and stone run about $10 to $45 a square foot installed, concrete flatwork about $6 to $15, and most residential jobs we quote land between $1,500 and $10,000. What moves a Santa Monica estimate most is access: a back garden reached through a side gate takes hours of barrowing that a driveway pour does not. Estimates are free and done on site.

A general contractor runs the whole project and buys in the trades. A mason is one of those trades, the one that handles brick, stone, block, concrete and stucco. If your project is a wall, a patio, a driveway or a chimney, coming to us directly skips the management markup. On a remodel with framing, plumbing and electrical in it you want a general contractor, and we are happy to work under one.

Most of our Santa Monica work is one to two weeks on site. A paver patio is two to five days, a garden wall three to seven, a driveway replacement about a week once you count the cure. Outdoor kitchens run two to four weeks because the gas and electrical have to be sequenced. The part that varies is the front end: anything that goes to plan check adds weeks before we break ground.

Often, yes. Retaining walls taller than four feet from the bottom of the footing need one, as does any wall holding up a driveway or a structure. Outdoor kitchens with a gas line or a circuit need one. Work in the public right of way, which includes your sidewalk and driveway apron, is permitted separately. Low garden walls, patios and like-for-like repairs generally are not. We pull whatever the job needs.