About Murfreesboro Masonry Co.

We are a masonry contractor working in Murfreesboro, Rutherford County and the surrounding Middle Tennessee towns. Brick, block and stone, new work and repair.

What we do

Masonry, start to finish. New brickwork and stone, veneer over frame or block, repointing and tuckpointing, crack and settlement repair, chimney rebuilds, fireplaces, retaining walls, patios and outdoor kitchens, foundation and basement wall work, and waterproofing details.

The split is roughly half repair and half new work. Repair is the harder half, because it means matching brick and mortar that has been weathering for decades and finding the water source that caused the damage before rebuilding over it.

• Brick and stone masonry, new construction and additions
• Brick veneer installation over frame and block walls
• Tuckpointing and repointing, including soft historic mortar
• Crack, spalling and settlement repair, and partial rebuilds
• Chimney repair, crowns, flashing and rebuilds above the roofline
• Indoor and outdoor fireplaces, fire pits and seat walls
• Retaining walls in block, brick and natural stone
• Foundation and basement masonry, waterproofing and drainage details
• Light commercial masonry for retail and multi-family buildings

What we do not take on

We are masons, not a general contractor with a masonry side. We do not roof, though we will reset flashing where a roof meets our work. We do not sweep chimneys or perform flue inspections, so when the problem turns out to be the liner rather than the brick, we say so and hand it to a certified sweep.

Structural questions go to a structural engineer. If a wall is moving because the ground under it is moving, rebuilding the brick without answering that first is money spent twice. We would rather lose the job to an engineer's report than take it and have it crack again.

How we quote

Someone comes out and looks at the actual wall. We test the joints for soundness, read the crack pattern, check the chimney crown and flashing, and look at grade, gutters and downspouts, because water is behind most of what we get called about.

Then you get a free written quote. It says what we are doing, what materials and mortar type we are using, and what it costs. If a repair is the right call, we quote the repair. If a wall is past repairing, we say so instead of selling you the cheap fix twice. Prices we discuss before a site visit are ranges only, because access, height and hidden damage move the number more than anything you can describe over the phone.

How we build

Mortar is matched to the brick it is going into rather than to whatever is strongest. On older soft brick, hard modern mortar transfers stress into the brick face and spalls it, so we go softer and we cut joints by hand instead of running a saw through the wall.

The rest is water management. Flashing and weeps that actually drain, drainage stone and a daylighting drain line behind a retaining wall, backfill compacted in lifts, footings below frost depth, and grade that carries water away from the base of the wall. Freeze-thaw is the defining problem for masonry in this part of Tennessee, and every one of those details exists to keep water out of the wall before winter can work on it.

• Mortar type matched to the substrate, not the strongest bag on the pallet
• Joint color, sand and profile matched so repairs blend into the wall
• Flashing, weeps and drainage detailed so walls shed water
• Cold-weather protection on fresh mortar, or the work waits for spring
• Fresh joints kept damp and given time to cure before they are loaded

Where we work

Murfreesboro and Rutherford County are the center of it, including Smyrna, La Vergne, Christiana and Woodbury. We travel out to Nashville, Franklin, Brentwood, Lebanon, Shelbyville, Manchester and Tullahoma.

Addresses outside that list are still worth a phone call. Some we cover and some we do not, and you will hear which on the phone rather than after we have driven out.

• Murfreesboro and Rutherford County
• Smyrna and La Vergne
• Christiana and Woodbury
• Nashville
• Franklin and Brentwood
• Lebanon
• Shelbyville
• Manchester and Tullahoma