On chimney crowns
A pre-cast crown with a 2" overhang and a drip kerf will outlive a flat mortar wash by twenty years. The wash cracks the first winter; the kerf keeps water off the brick below it forever.
A short list, intentionally. We don't chase work outside the trade. Every job starts with a site visit and a written estimate — no high-pressure phone quotes, no “today only” pricing.
Rebuilds, relining, crown replacement, cap and flashing, level-2 inspections.
New masonry fireboxes, hearth reworks, surrounds in brick, stone, or stacked ledger.
Anchored veneer on new and existing wall assemblies. We detail the whole envelope.
Frost-rated footings, weep outlets, geotextile, drainage gravel — built to outlast the cycle.
Failing joints raked out and re-struck, color and aggregate matched to the existing wall.
CMU foundation walls, frost-footed and waterproofed, parging and crack repair on existing work.
Photographic plates documenting masonry techniques we use across Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley.
Honed granite hearth on poured slab, fieldstone surround laid in Type N mortar, mantel reset to original line.
Failing joints raked to 5/8". Type S mortar with matched sand, struck concave to the original profile.
Quarried Alaska basalt, frost-rated footing, geotextile and gravel drainage behind, 1:12 batter.
Adhered veneer over rated sheathing, through-wall flashing at base, weeps at 33" on center.
Top eight courses removed, salvageable brick stockpiled and re-laid, new pre-cast crown poured in place.
English bond laid out before the wall goes up. Header and stretcher courses planned around openings.
Four short observations from a working masonry shop in Anchorage. The kind of detail we wish more contractors put in their estimates.
A pre-cast crown with a 2" overhang and a drip kerf will outlive a flat mortar wash by twenty years. The wash cracks the first winter; the kerf keeps water off the brick below it forever.
Most retaining-wall failures aren't the wall. They're the drainage behind it. A free-draining gravel zone with a perforated outlet at the base does more for longevity than another course of stone.
Type N is softer than Type S — and that's a feature, not a bug. The mortar should be weaker than the brick. Otherwise the brick cracks before the joint does, and you replace bricks instead of joints.
An honest estimate names the scope, the materials, the timeline, and the price. If a quote skips any of those, you're not buying a job — you're buying a guess. Ours come on letterhead.
We carry the licenses, the bond, and the insurance you expect from a working masonry shop. Documents available on request before any job begins.
We work the Anchorage bowl and the Mat-Su Valley year-round. Outlying jobs by appointment.