Brick wall installation in Lincoln CA - a garden wall with every joint filled
Want a brick wall around your yard but not sure which style or brick fits? We'll help you pick, then build it solid.
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What does it take to put up a brick wall in Lincoln, CA?
Brick wall installation in Lincoln, CA means building a freestanding garden wall on a solid footing and laying the brick with every mortar joint full, so you end up with a wall that screens a yard or marks a property line and holds together. Excel Lincoln Masonry and Concrete builds them in Lincoln and across the cities around it.
Most people who call us have the spot picked out and are stuck on two choices, the style of wall and the brick. Price turns more on the kind of wall than on the brick itself, so a solid brick wall costs more than a brick face over block, and the length, the height and how easy the spot is to reach add from there. The schedule mostly depends on whether the city wants a permit for your wall and whether your HOA has to sign off, so we sort those out before anyone digs. If the wall has to hold back dirt, that's a retaining wall and a different job, so tell me when you call. Either way, I look at your yard in person and go over what it needs before I put a number on it.
How we handle brick wall installation
We start by laying out the wall line with you and digging the footing down to undisturbed earth, because a wall set on loose fill settles and cracks. The footing can be brick or concrete, and on active soil, the clay kind that swells when it's wet and shrinks when it dries, it may need reinforcing, so I look at your dirt before we decide. Then we lay the brick and fill every joint full, because that's where a brick wall shows good work or bad, and a hollow joint is where water gets in. If you want old salvaged brick, we check that it meets the SW grade, the rating for brick that holds up to weather outdoors, before it goes in the wall. When the last course is on, we clean the face and haul off the dirt.
A brick wall often ties into other work. Some owners want a stone base or stone caps, which falls under our stone masonry, and brick and stone together suit a lot of yards here. If you've already got an older brick wall with crumbling mortar, brick pointing to replace the worn joints is often all it needs, and I'll tell you that straight before you pay for a new wall.
Pier-and-panel wall
Brick piers set at intervals brace thinner panels between them, so the wall goes up fairly easily and uses less brick. It suits a long run along a property line where you want brick without paying for a solid wall the whole way.
Solid brick wall
This is full brick all the way through, and it costs more per square foot than a veneer wall. It suits a shorter wall by an entry or patio where you want real brick showing on both faces.
Brick veneer over block
A block core gets a brick face, which keeps the look of brick for less than solid brick. It suits a screen wall where the budget matters and only one side faces the house.
If the wall's part of a bigger yard job, call before the patio or plants go in, so we can dig the footing while the ground's still open.
What happens after you call about a brick wall?
I'm the one who comes out and the one who runs the job, so you deal with the same person from the first look at your yard to the final walk-through.
Call or send the form
Give us a call or fill out the form and we'll set a time to come out. It helps to know roughly where the wall goes and how tall you'd like it.
I look the yard over
I walk the wall line with you, check the ground and the slope, and tell you what the wall needs and what can wait. You get a written estimate for your wall, plus the style and brick I'd pick and why.
We handle permits, then dig
If your wall needs a permit, we take care of it before we start. Lincoln inspects before concrete or grout goes into masonry, so we plan the build around that stop.
We build it and walk it
I run the job on site with our crew from the footing to the last course. When it's done, we walk the finished wall together before we leave.
Get an estimate for your brick wall
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time. I'll come out myself, look at your yard and give you a free estimate, with no obligation to book.
(916) 587-8582What shapes brick wall installation in Lincoln
Even when Lincoln doesn't require a permit for a piece of work, that work still has to follow your homeowners association's rules, the city's zoning and grading rules and other local ordinances. A lot of Lincoln homes sit in subdivisions with an HOA, and its rules can decide what brick, what colors and what placement you're allowed before we ever talk style. So pull out your HOA guidelines early, and I'll plan the wall to fit them.
Before we dig a footing, we call Underground Service Alert at 811, because the city tells anyone excavating to do that and newer yards often have sprinkler, gas and cable lines right where a wall wants to go. We see the same kind of yards on jobs in Roseville and Rocklin, and we handle the footing the same way there.
Brick wall questions from Lincoln homeowners
How much does a brick wall cost in Lincoln, CA?
Installed brick across the US usually runs about $8 to $30 per square foot of wall, and that's a national figure, not our price. The wall system moves the cost more than the brick does, since structural solid brick costs more per square foot than thin brick veneer. I'll price your wall when I come out and see the spot.
Do I need a permit to build a brick garden wall in Lincoln?
Possibly, so ask the City of Lincoln about your wall before work starts. The city requires a permit whenever a structure is erected, and its list names fences over 6 feet and retaining walls over 4 feet but doesn't name garden walls. When your wall needs one, we pull it with the city, set up the inspections and tell you where it stands before we start.
How do I check a contractor's license in California?
Call the Contractors State License Board at 1-800-321-2752 and ask about the contractor by name. Lincoln also requires contractors to hold a current City of Lincoln business license, carry workers' comp and be bonded, so ask about those too. We're licensed and insured, and you're welcome to check.
What should I ask a mason before hiring them for a brick wall?
Ask whether everyone working on your job, subcontractors included, meets Lincoln's rules. The city requires every subcontractor to hold a City of Lincoln business license and be bonded, so the answer should cover the whole crew, not just the person who wrote your estimate.
What is the best way to build a brick wall on a sloped yard?
A pier-and-panel wall is usually the easiest fit, because its thinner panels can step with the ground between brick piers. It's also the more economical style, which helps on a long run up a slope. If the slope means the wall would be holding back dirt, that's retaining work, and I'll tell you so when I see it.
What causes a brick garden wall to crack or lean?
Usually it's the ground or the mortar. A footing set on loose fill or on clay that swells and shrinks can move, and joints that weren't filled full let water in and work loose over time. If your wall is doing that now, I'd want to see why before anyone fixes it, because patching over the cause just brings the crack back.
Other masonry work that goes with a brick wall
Stone pairs well with brick for columns, steps and planters, so you can carry the new wall's look across the rest of the yard.
If an existing brick wall or chimney has mortar that's sandy, cracked or missing, fresh joints can keep the brick sound for years without tearing anything down.
Send us your brick wall plans
Call (916) 587-8582 or use the form with the wall's length, height, where it goes and a few photos of the spot, and I'll come out already knowing what to look at.