Loose stones, crumbling joints or a wall you've been wanting? We repair and build stone walls that sit right in your yard and last.
Stone masonry is building and repairing walls from natural or manufactured stone, stacked dry or set in mortar, and at Craftsman Escondido Concrete and Masonry we do it for Escondido homes, from garden walls and stone fences to walls that hold back a slope.
Most calls I get start with something you can see, like a stone wall with a bulge or a few stones working loose, mortar that's turned to sand in the joints, or a slope you've wanted to hold back for years. The price moves with how long and tall the wall is, whether it's dry stacked or mortared on a foundation, the stone you pick and how easy it is to get material into your yard. The schedule mostly turns on whether the wall needs a permit and inspections, and on the stone arriving. I walk the job with you and put the estimate in writing, so you see your own number before anything starts.
I come out to look at every job myself, so the person sizing up your wall is the same one on site running our crew while it gets built. Nothing gets lost between the estimate and the work, and you've got one person to ask when questions come up.
I spent years as another mason's right hand, learning to read an old wall and match its mortar, before starting out on my own in Escondido in 2020. That's why I'll give you a straight answer when a stone wall isn't worth fixing, even if it means a smaller job.
We're licensed and insured, so you aren't the one carrying the risk while our crew is digging and setting stone in your yard. When you're ready to talk about your wall, call (760) 546-4075 or send the form, and I'll come take a look.
Send us the wall's height, any slope you plan to change and a few photos, and we'll get back to you within one business day to set up a free on-site estimate. I'll walk the job with you and put the estimate in writing, with no pressure to book.
The city decides whether your stone wall needs a permit, and the answer turns on its height and what it's holding back. The City of Escondido requires a permit for retaining walls unless they're under four feet tall counting the footing and aren't supporting a surcharge, which is the city's word for extra weight pushing down behind the wall, like a slope, a driveway or a building. Change the slope of your yard and you'll need a grading permit too, and ground steeper than the city's set maximum also calls for an engineer's soils report. A freestanding stone fence follows a different rule, since the city doesn't require a building permit for masonry fences up to 6 feet and does above that, though zoning still limits how tall it can be and how far back it has to sit. When a permit is needed, we handle the application with the city or county, keep the permit and plans on site for the inspections the city does at several stages, and meet the inspector each time. If your home might be historic, we'll ask you to check with the city before we schedule anything.
A lot of the stone work we do around here is on sloped yards, where a wall holds back a hillside or terraces a garden, and that's right where those height and slope rules come into play. The city's own planning study puts the San Jacinto fault zone about 40 miles northeast and calls it the most active fault zone in the southern California plate area, which is part of why I don't cut corners on a mortared wall's foundation. We're based in Escondido and work in the cities around it, from Temecula and Murrieta down to Chula Vista, including San Marcos and Valley Center, plus plenty of places beyond the ones on our city pages.
Brick and masonry work in San Diego usually costs about $11 to $33 per square foot, and that's the area's going rate, not our price. Where your wall lands in that range comes down to the stone, the wall type and how easy your yard is to work in, the same things I covered up top. I'll give you your own number in writing after I walk the job.
A contractor with the state licensing board's masonry classification is licensed to install natural and manufactured stone, including walls for structures and fences, so that's the license to ask a stone mason for. A general building contractor with a "B" license can also take the job if it holds that masonry classification or subcontracts the stone to a properly licensed specialty contractor. If you're hiring a general builder, ask which of those applies to your wall.
Use natural stone for a wall that stands on its own or holds back ground, and manufactured stone when you only want a stone face on a surface. Manufactured stone veneer is a lightweight product cast from cement and aggregate to look like natural stone, and it carries no structural load. If it's the look you're after, see our stone veneer installation page.
You fix it by repointing, which means raking the worn-out mortar from the joints and packing in new mortar. If the stones themselves are loose or the wall is leaning, new joints alone won't hold it, and I'll tell you that on the walk-through instead of selling you a patch.
A dry stacked wall usually goes up faster than a mortared one, because there's no foundation to dig and pour first. If the wall needs a permit, the wait for approval and the city's inspections set much of the pace, and the stone has to arrive before we start. I'll talk you through the schedule for your wall when I come out.
