Masonry & Stone — Veneer, Fireplaces, Chimneys and Pavers Coordinated Under One Lead

What this work involves

Masonry on a house in this territory is mostly veneer: stone or brick applied to a framed wall for its look, carrying nothing but itself. It shows up as the stone on a fireplace wall in a great room, the wainscot of stone across a front elevation, the brick accent on a new build, the columns at a covered entry. Behind every one of those is a wall that has to shed water on its own, because stone and brick do not.

Then there is the masonry that already exists and has to be kept: a chimney with mortar joints washed out by freeze-thaw, a crown cracked and letting water in, a cap missing, flashing that the last roofer sealed with tar. And there is the outdoor side — paver patios and walks, natural stone steps, a block or boulder retaining wall holding a grade change — which is masonry laid on the ground instead of on a wall, with drainage and frost as the governing facts.

Each of those sits inside other work. Veneer waits for the weather barrier, the flashing and the windows; the fireplace surround waits for the unit and its framing; chimney work is done with the roofer on the roof; the patio waits for the door and the grading. The mason Riley uses does the masonry, and Riley holds the order in which it happens.

Riley's approach

Riley performs the carpentry trades himself. Masonry is not one of them: the stone and brick work is performed by the mason he uses, brought in at the best possible price, under the project's permit and on his schedule. You hold one contract for the fireplace wall or the front elevation, not one for the stone and another for the framing, the flashing and the roof it meets. Hire him and relax — he'll take care of the rest.

The lead's part is the wall behind the stone. Two layers of water-resistive barrier, the flashing at every window head and sill, the kick-out where a roof edge meets the wall, the weep screed at the bottom with its clearance above grade, the framing and blocking that carry a mantel or a hearth: all of that is carpentry and is ready before the mason arrives. He built his own home from the ground up, and the practical education in that is knowing what has to be behind a stone wall before the stone hides it.

Some masonry is a specialty of its own — historic brick restoration, a structural masonry wall, a full chimney rebuild from the roofline, a masonry heater — and it is named as one, with a pointer to the people who do it every day. Riley tells you plainly when a job is not a fit for him.

Technique and craft

Adhered stone veneer, the thin manufactured or natural stone most fireplaces and elevations use, goes on in layers. Over sheathing outdoors: two layers of water-resistive barrier, a drainage layer where the assembly wants one, galvanized lath fastened into the framing, a scratch coat, then the stone set in mortar with full coverage on the back of each piece so there are no voids for water to sit in. At the bottom, a weep screed lets what gets in get out, held clear of grade and of paving. At the top and at every opening, flashing carries water out over the face.

Full-bed brick or stone is a different assembly: a wythe of masonry standing on its own ledge or angle, tied back to the framing with wall ties on the spacing the code sets, with an air space behind it, flashing at the base and at every lintel, and weep holes through the bottom course so the cavity drains. Mortar is chosen for the unit: a softer mix for veneer and old brick so the mortar, not the brick, takes the wear; a stronger one below grade. Joints are tooled to shed water, and the work is laid out in courses that land at window heads and sills rather than cut around them.

Outdoor masonry lives or dies by its base. A paver patio sits on a compacted granular base deep enough for the soil and the frost, a thin sand setting bed, and an edge restraint that keeps the field from spreading; polymeric sand locks the joints. A segmental retaining wall sits on a leveling pad with clean drainage rock and a perforated drain behind it, geogrid where the height calls for it, and a batter that leans it into the hill. Chimney repair means grinding failed joints out to depth before tuckpointing, casting a crown with an overhang and a drip, fitting a cap, and flashing the base with step and counterflashing let into the joints, done with the roofer so the two trades meet on the roof rather than blame each other from the ground.

Special considerations in Minnesota

Freeze-thaw is what breaks masonry here. Water gets into a joint, a crack in a crown, the face of a soft brick, or the cavity behind a veneer; it freezes, expands and spalls the face or pushes the joint out, and every winter does it again. Brick for an exterior wall in Minnesota is ordered in the severe-weathering grade, mortar joints are tooled to shed water, crowns get a drip edge, and every assembly is built so that water that gets in can get out through weeps rather than sit and freeze.

Cold shortens the season. Mortar that freezes before it cures does not bond, so masonry stops or goes under heat and enclosure when the temperature drops toward freezing, and the schedule is set with that in mind rather than fought. On the ground, frost lifts anything on a shallow base: a paver patio on a thin base heaves and undulates, a retaining wall without drainage behind it tips as the saturated soil freezes, and a stone step set on grade rises away from the door. Base depth and drainage are the defenses, and they are in the scope.

Flashing is the other Minnesota problem, because ice dams and wind-driven snow find every gap. Stone veneer that was run down into the soil, or behind a deck ledger, or against a roof with no kick-out, is a wet wall with a pretty face, and the rot shows up in the sheathing behind it. Minnesota's residential contractor licensing treats masonry and concrete as one of the special skills it covers, and the veneer, the fireplace and the chimney work are inspected under the project's building permit where the city requires it. The weather barrier and flashing behind a veneer are checked before the lath goes up, because nothing can be fixed after the stone is on.

Complete transparency, and a plan that bends to you

Masonry appears in your written scope as its own lines: the stone or brick by type, the substrate and barrier layers, flashing and weeps, mortar, the base under a patio or a wall, chimney items one by one, and what is excluded, with the permits named. A free estimate first; if interests align, a free final estimate and contract are sent. Transparent pricing. No surprise bills.

Masonry has its surprises: a chimney whose flue liner is cracked once the crown comes off, sheathing behind an old veneer that is soft, a hearth with no support under it, a retaining wall that turns out to need engineering once its height is measured. Any change gets priced in writing, with the schedule effect, the day it comes up. Scope is modifiable on the fly with no hassle, and nothing proceeds without your say-so.

And the seam between trades stays one person's problem. The mason, the roofer, the carpenter setting the mantel and the tile setter finishing the hearth are on one schedule, and you make one call.

Where Frasch Construction does this work

Frasch Construction is based in Rockford, Minnesota, and coordinates masonry and stone across its 82-town territory: from Rockford and the Wright County ring, including Montrose, Delano, Hanover and Annandale, through the Lake Minnetonka belt, including Long Lake, Orono, Minnetonka Beach, Greenwood and St. Bonifacius, and the west metro, including Edina, Hopkins, Eden Prairie and Robbinsdale, to Minneapolis and St. Paul, and out to the farther suburbs such as Sunfish Lake, North Oaks, Shoreview and Arden Hills.

The full roster of towns, each with its own page, follows this article.