Why Choose Swiss Masonry
Swiss Masonry is a Cincinnati masonry contractor that also works as a general contractor, serving the 50-mile area around the city in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Why choose Swiss Masonry? You cannot judge a mason from a website, so here is what we do on every job, laid out plainly. Hold any contractor you talk to against the same list, including us.
| What to check | Swiss Masonry | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Who prices the job | The owner, Adriel Moore, after seeing it in person | The price comes from someone who has looked at the cause, not only the symptom. |
| Time in Cincinnati masonry | Since 1993 (30+ years) | Old brick, limestone and freeze-thaw damage are the everyday work here, not a side line. |
| Mortar | Type N cement-lime to ASTM C270; lime-rich Type N or O on pre-1920 brick; no masonry cement | Mortar harder than the brick sends the damage into the brick. |
| Historic mortar matching | Lab analysis of the old mortar, then a trial repair you approve | Color, sand and strength are settled before the whole wall gets new joints. |
| Written scope | Every job in a written contract, with exclusions listed | You know what is in and what is out before work starts. |
| Workmanship warranty | One year, in writing | Covered work that fails in the first year gets repaired. |
| Insurance | Insured; certificate of insurance on request | Your HOA or property manager can file it before the crew arrives. |
| Cleanup and cleaning | Cleanup written into the scope; buffered cleaners; water at 100 psi or less | Straight acid and high-pressure washing scar soft brick faces. |
| Electrical, plumbing, HVAC | Licensed trade partners, scheduled and coordinated by us | Each trade is done by people qualified for it, who pull their own permits. |
| Pricing | Priced after the owner sees the job; common ranges on our pricing page | You can check a range before anyone visits. |
Why choose Swiss Masonry: the short version
30+ Years
Masonry in Cincinnati, since 1993
1 Year
Workmanship warranty, in writing
Insured
Certificate on request
50 Miles
Around Cincinnati, in three states
What the one-year warranty covers
- One-year workmanship warranty, in writing. It covers the work described in your signed proposal. If our workmanship on that work fails within the year, we come back and repair it.
- What it leaves out. The terms exclude damage from acts of God, structural problems outside the scope we were hired for, and damage the owner causes. The one-year warranty stays with the person who signed and does not transfer to a new owner. The full wording is in our terms.
- The owner answers for it. The person who priced your job is the person you call about it, during the work and after.
- Insured. A certificate of insurance on request, ready for your HOA or property manager before work begins.
Where we work
Our home ground is Cincinnati, where Swiss Masonry has done masonry since 1993. The city’s masonry runs from the 19th-century Italianate brick of Over-the-Rhine to houses on steep hillside lots in Mount Adams and older brick homes in Hyde Park, and each calls for its own mortar, drainage and access plan. From the city we cover about 50 miles: north to Mason and West Chester, across the river into Northern Kentucky, and west into southeast Indiana around Lawrenceburg. The full list is on our service areas page.
A masonry contractor that can run the whole job
Masonry is what we do first, and it stays the specialty. We also work as a general contractor: we run the job and bring in licensed trade partners where the work needs them. That matters when a repair crosses trades.
Say a storm cracks a brick wall that carries the electric service. The service has to be disconnected and reattached by a licensed electrician while the masons rebuild, and the carrier’s adjuster needs a line-item estimate to follow. That is our storm damage repair work. Or a city code-enforcement notice lists masonry repairs on a building in a historic district. We scope and price the repairs your notice lists, and handle the permit and the historic-board approval the work needs; see code violation repairs. One contractor keeping those pieces in order saves you from managing each trade yourself. More on how that works is on our general contractor page.
What we will not do
- Put hard, portland-rich Type S mortar or bagged masonry cement on soft old brick.
- Clean soft brick with straight acid or a high-pressure washer.
- Set corrugated galvanized ties in solid masonry. Our pins, ties and stitching bars are stainless.
- Call electrical, plumbing or HVAC work our own. Licensed trade partners do it.
- Promise an outcome on an insurance claim. We write repair estimates an adjuster can follow, and the claim stays between you and your carrier.
- Hide the price in vague wording. The written scope lists what is included and what is excluded.
Planning more than masonry? As a general contractor we also take on kitchen remodels, bathroom remodels and other home remodeling. Read more about Swiss Masonry, or call 513-202-3598.