Masonry Contractors in Jeffersonville, IN

Homeowners searching for masonry contractors in Jeffersonville are usually living in one of two very different places. Near the river, the city still follows the street grid residents adopted in 1802 from a pattern designed by Thomas Jefferson, and its brick houses and storefronts date mostly from after 1870. Farther out, Jeffersonville has grown into a city of 49,447 people at the 2020 census, with subdivisions that look nothing like the old blocks. We work on both, from repointing a 19th-century brick wall to building a block retaining wall behind a new house.

The Old Jeffersonville Historic District

The Old Jeffersonville Historic District covers 203 acres between Court Avenue, Graham Street, Interstate 65 and the Ohio River. Its National Register listing counts 500 buildings, and the nomination describes Italianate, Gothic Revival, Classical Revival, American Foursquare, bungalow and shotgun houses. Most of what stands was built after 1870, during the decades when Jeffersonville was one of the country's leading steamboat building centers.

Brick from that period is softer than what comes off a truck today. On these houses we rake out failed joints by hand where we can, mix a softer lime-rich mortar and match the joint width and tooling of the original. A wall repointed with hard modern mortar can look fine for a year or two and then start shedding brick faces, which is a far bigger repair.

1937 left its mark on every old foundation

In January 1937, after record rainfall, a levee failed and about 90 percent of Jeffersonville flooded, according to Wikipedia. Brick foundations and lower courses that sat underwater for days, then dried out slowly, often show it decades later: soft or eroded mortar near grade, salt bloom on the inside of basement walls and brick that powders when you scratch it. When we look at a foundation in the old part of town, we check those bottom courses closely and recommend repairs that let the wall dry instead of sealing water in.

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Floodplain rules for new walls and structures

Clark County Planning and Zoning administers the county floodplain ordinance from Jeffersonville. Its permit sheet says floodway construction needs an Indiana Department of Natural Resources permit or approval letter, residential lowest floors must sit 2 feet above base flood elevation, and an accessory building over 400 square feet needs a variance if it is not elevated. If you are planning a garage, a large masonry structure or a wall in a mapped flood zone, we confirm the flood status of the lot before we design anything.

Chimneys, steps and stoops

Older Jeffersonville houses often have tall brick chimneys that have lost their crowns or have open joints near the roofline, plus front stoops that have pulled away from the house. We rebuild chimney tops, pour new crowns, replace caps and flashing and rebuild steps on proper footings so they stop settling. On newer homes the common calls are cracked brick veneer at window corners, failing mailbox columns and patio walls.

Services in Jeffersonville

• Tuckpointing and brick repair on historic and newer brick
• Chimney repair and rebuilding, including crowns, caps and flashing
• Stone and veneer for walls, columns and house fronts
• Retaining walls in block, stone or brick
• Brick and block construction, from garden walls to foundation repairs
• Masonry steps and porches

Call (502) 443-8557 to book a visit anywhere in Jeffersonville.