General Contractor and Masonry Contractor in Florence, KY

A general contractor in Florence, KY with masonry at the core

Looking for a general contractor in Florence, KY who can also fix the brick? Swiss Masonry is a masonry contractor and general contractor for Cincinnati and the 50-mile area around it, and Boone County is a big part of that circle: Florence, Union, Burlington and Hebron. Our masons handle brick, block, stone and concrete. For the rest of a project, we run the job and coordinate licensed trade partners.

The owner, Adriel Moore, comes out to every job and prices it himself, and estimates are free. Swiss Masonry has done masonry in Cincinnati since 1993. We are insured, with a certificate of insurance on request, and we stand behind the work with a one-year workmanship warranty.

What Florence houses tend to need

Florence is younger than the river towns. Census estimates put the median Florence home at about 1985. Roughly one in five homes went up in the 1970s and another one in five in the 2000s, while fewer than one in twenty are older than 1950. That housing stock shapes the work:

Brick veneer is a rain screen, not a solid wall

On a house built since the 1970s, the brick is usually veneer: a single layer tied to a framed wall, with an air space behind it. Rain soaks into brick, runs down the back of it, and is meant to leave through flashing and weep holes at the base of the wall and over windows and doors. When mulch buries the weeps or someone caulks them shut, that water stays in the wall.

Another common failure on suburban brick is the steel angle over a garage door or a wide window. As the steel rusts it swells, lifts the brick above it, and a crack climbs from the corner of the opening. The fix is to take down the brick over the opening, clean and prime the steel or replace it, flash it, and relay the brick in matched mortar. More on our brick repair page.

Concrete, retaining walls and basement walls

A driveway that has dropped at the garage, or a patio pitched back toward the house, usually means the base under it washed out or was never compacted. We find out why before anything gets poured. Our concrete work page covers replacement, overlays and steps.

Block retaining walls lean when water builds up behind them. A lasting rebuild needs drainage stone, a drain at the base and the right setback, and a tall wall needs a structural engineer’s design before it is built. See retaining walls.

For basement walls, we repair cracked block, repoint, parge, and correct the grading or downspouts that feed the water. More on our foundation repair page.

Kitchens, baths and the rest of the house

Homes built from the 1970s through the 2000s often come due for new kitchens and bathrooms. As the general contractor, we plan the work, schedule each trade and stay your one point of contact. Electrical, plumbing and HVAC always go to licensed trade partners who pull their own permits. Start with home remodeling or bathroom remodels.

Every job is priced after the owner sees it. Common masonry ranges are on our pricing page.

Permits for a Florence project

The City of Florence says the Boone County Planning Commission handles planning and zoning for all of Boone County, Florence included, and its permit guidance points to the Boone County Building Department. The city lists a permit as required when a structure is enlarged or remodeled. We confirm what your project needs before work starts and pull the permits our part of the work requires. For Covington, Newport and the rest of the region, see our Northern Kentucky page.