Masonry and General Contractor in Blue Ash, Ohio

Masonry contractor in Blue Ash for brick homes and small commercial buildings

Most Blue Ash houses are younger than the brick houses closer to downtown, so what fails is different: veneer cracks over garage doors, chimney crowns, settled patios and worn concrete drives. Swiss Masonry is a masonry contractor in Blue Ash and the 50-mile area around Cincinnati, including Northern Kentucky and southeast Indiana. We also work as a general contractor: we run the job and bring in licensed trade partners where the work needs them.

Blue Ash farmed through the 1800s, became a village in 1955 and a city in 1961, and drew a wave of commercial and industrial development in the 1970s and 1980s. Census estimates date about two of every three Blue Ash homes to the years 1950 through 1989, with the 1980s the busiest single decade. So most masonry here is brick veneer, concrete and chimneys from those decades, not soft 19th-century brick. Swiss Masonry has done masonry in Cincinnati since 1993.

What tends to need work, by the age of the house

Brick veneer is one layer of brick tied to a wood frame wall, with an air space and flashing behind it. It does not hold the house up, but it keeps the weather out. When its flashing, weep holes or ties fail, water reaches the framing, so we treat a veneer crack as a water problem first.

Chimney repair in Blue Ash

If your chimney was topped with a mortar wash, a thin layer of mortar troweled over the top course, instead of a true crown, it cracks with freeze-thaw, lets water into the brick below and loosens the top courses. Chimney repair in Blue Ash often starts there:

• Replace the wash with a reinforced cast concrete crown that overhangs the brick, with a drip groove and a bond break at the flue liner.
• Add or replace the chimney cap.
• Repoint the top courses and replace spalled brick.
• Check the flashing where the stack meets the roof, since a new crown will not stop a flashing leak.

More on our chimney repair page.

Cracks over garage doors and windows

A common crack in a brick veneer house climbs in a stair-step pattern from the corner of a garage door or wide window. A common cause is the steel angle lintel carrying the brick over the opening. As it rusts it swells, lifts the brick and opens the joints, so repointing alone will not hold. The fix is to take out the brick over the opening, clean and paint the lintel or replace it, flash it, and relay the brick with weep holes so the wall can drain. Where veneer ties have let go, we add stainless steel helical remedial ties. See brick repair and tuckpointing.

Patios, driveways and concrete steps

Driveways, walks and patios poured in the 1970s and 1980s are at the age where they settle, crack and scale. A sound but worn slab can take a concrete overlay that bonds to the old surface. A section that has sunk or heaved gets replaced on compacted stone. Steps that pulled away from the house are overlaid or rebuilt, and stone or brick patios are relaid on a proper base. More on concrete and patios and outdoor living.

General contractor work in Blue Ash, Ohio

On houses, we take on remodels, exterior repairs and concrete as a general contractor. Electrical, plumbing and HVAC go to licensed trade partners who pull their own permits. For owners of small office and retail buildings, our work is masonry and concrete: facade repointing, brick and block repair, and concrete steps, walks and entries.

Building and zoning permits go through the City of Blue Ash Community Development Department, and we work out what your job needs before it starts. Every job is priced after the owner sees it; common masonry ranges are on our pricing page. Read about our general contracting and commercial masonry work, and nearby Mason and Loveland.