Questions people ask about stone and masonry

Stone work first. Don Barger builds with new stone and fixes stone that has worked loose or lost its mortar, on house fronts, walls, entries, steps and old stone foundation walls. He also sets stone and thin brick on fireplace walls, pours concrete steps and walks, and builds block retaining walls.

White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Don runs the business from there.

In his words, White Bear Lake and the surrounding area, about 30 minutes around. If you are near the edge of that, call or text (612) 432-9467 and ask.

Most of the time it is frost. Rain and snowmelt soak into the joints and in behind the stone, then freeze, swell and push. After enough freeze and thaw the mortar lets go and the stone follows. A downspout or a slope sending water at the wall speeds that up.

It means the joints are wearing out. Sandy joints let water into the wall, and that leads to loose stone. Repointing, which is cutting out the worn mortar and packing in new, is the usual fix. A close photo of the joints shows Don how far along it is.

Frost. Wet ground under the steps freezes and lifts them, and they do not always settle back after the thaw. Over a few winters the steps tip and the joints crack. Resetting them on a better base is often the answer.

It does. Salty water soaks into stone and mortar and does more damage when it freezes than plain water. Steps and walks near the door take the worst of it. Shoveling early so less salt is needed, and rinsing the steps off in spring, both help.

Walk around the house. Look for bits of stone or mortar on the ground, open joints, white stains, new cracks, and steps or walls that have moved. Take photos of anything that looks different from last fall.

Two photos to start: one from far off that takes in all of it, and one up close where it is worst. Add your town and when you first saw the trouble. Text them to (612) 432-9467.

Photos help a lot. But the price turns on how much work there is, what shape it is in, how hard it is to reach and whether old stone has to be matched. Send photos and ask Don how he wants to go from there.

Ask Don. Stone is the work he names first. Whether he takes a given brick job is something to ask him directly at (612) 432-9467.

Ask Don. Plenty of houses around White Bear Lake have both, and winter is hard on each one. Call or text with a photo and ask if that is work he does.

Yes, new concrete steps and walks, like the ones in Don's job photos. For a driveway, a patio, a slab or fixing old concrete, call or text (612) 432-9467 and ask.

Then it is a bigger question than mortar. Some jobs need a structural engineer to look first, and a wall that keeps shifting or a foundation pushing inward is one of them. Big jobs can need a permit too, so ask your city.