Stone Masons in the North East
There is a lot of stone in this part of the world. Sandstone terraces in Durham City, rubble field walls out in Weardale and Northumberland, dressed stone frontages all over Newcastle. It is a different discipline to bricklaying and it wants somebody who has actually done it.
We do repair and restoration as well as new work, and on anything in a conservation area or on a listed building we will tell you straight what the council is likely to want before you spend money.
What we take on
- Random rubble and coursed stone walling
- Sandstone repair, indenting and stone replacement
- Steps, cills, lintels, copings and thresholds
- Lime pointing and full repointing of stone elevations
- Feature walls, garden and boundary stonework
- Restoration work on period and conservation-area property
How we do it
Survey the stone
We identify what the stone actually is and where the failure is coming from. Half the sandstone damage we see is caused by a cement repair somebody did twenty years ago.
Source to match
Right stone, right bed, right colour. Getting the bedding plane the correct way up matters more than people realise, and laying it face bedded is why so much older repair work delaminates.
Build or repair
Lime mortar where the building calls for it. Good stone walling is about selection and fit, not about filling the gaps with mortar.
Finish and protect
Pointing struck to match the original, hessian or protection on new lime work while it cures if the weather is against us.
What it tends to cost
Stone is priced by the square metre of face for walling, and by the item for cills, steps and copings. Reclaimed and matched stone is the biggest variable. Restoration is genuinely hard to price without seeing it, because what looks like three bad stones from the pavement is often twelve once you are on the scaffold.
Questions we get asked
Why is my sandstone crumbling in patches?
Nearly always one of two things. Either it has been pointed or rendered in cement, which traps moisture in the stone and blows the face off in frost, or the stone was face bedded when it went in, meaning the natural layers run parallel to the wall face instead of into it, so it delaminates in sheets. Both are fixable, but the cement has to come off first.
Do I need permission to work on stonework in a conservation area?
Like for like repair usually does not need consent, but changing the material or the mortar can. If the property is actually listed then almost everything needs listed building consent, including repointing. Worth a call to the conservation officer at your council before starting. We can tell you what they are likely to ask for.
Can you build a new stone wall to match an old one?
Yes. The trick is matching the coursing and the joint width as much as the stone itself. A new wall built with modern uniform coursing next to an old random rubble wall looks wrong even when the stone is identical.
Where we cover for stone masonry
Other trades we cover
Want a price on stone masonry?
Send a few details or give us a ring. We will come and look at it, and you get a written price with no obligation attached.