Masonry Contractor in Madison, AL - Brick and Mortar Work That Holds Up

Some masonry jobs in Madison need a permit, and the city's Permitting Division is the office to ask about yours. It issues permits for additions and most alterations, so a block foundation for an addition needs one, but its published list doesn't name repointing, brick repair or a garden wall. Any project that disturbs 10,000 square feet of ground or more also needs a land disturbance permit and an erosion and sediment control plan.

Anyone doing construction for profit in Madison needs a city business license before starting work, plus a permit when the job calls for one. Contractors and subcontractors also give the city a current general liability insurance certificate listing the City of Madison as holder, and statewide, the Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board licenses and regulates residential construction and remodeling. We're licensed and fully insured, and the city's Revenue Department answers licensing questions at 256-772-5654.

Work in the district can call for a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Madison Station Historic Preservation Commission, and you apply through the city's Planning Department by the last Wednesday of the month before the commission's meeting. If your house is in the district and the commission needs to see the work, that meeting date sets how soon we can start, so it's worth checking before we order brick.

There's no honest number until I've seen it, because masonry repair in Madison runs from a few loose bricks on a step to a chimney rebuilt above the roof. Height and scaffolding, the size of the job and how hard the brick is to match move the price most, and matching old brick on a downtown house can mean hunting down salvaged brick. After I look, you get the price in writing, and if a smaller fix will do, I'll tell you.

Mortar on older Madison houses usually crumbles from age and water, and often from an earlier patch done in mortar harder than the brick. Old soft mortar is meant to give way before the brick does, so a hard patch sends the stress into the brick faces and they start to flake. We grind out the failing joints and refill them with mortar suited to the brick, which is what brick pointing on an older house comes down to.

You apply to the city, and registered users can apply for permits and request inspections online at any hour of any day. Every building or trade permit application needs a signed application and an invoice or contract the customer signed, stating the scope of work and the price. On our jobs, you sign our written contract with the scope and price first, and we take care of the permit paperwork when one's needed.