Emergency Masonry in St. Paul
10 Years
Workmanship warranty, in writing
If water is actively coming into your house through a chimney or a brick wall, call. That is the situation this page is for, and it is by a distance the most common reason anyone rings us out of hours.
Before you do, two things worth knowing that you will not often see written down. We are not a twenty-four-hour service. And rushing a masonry job costs more, which we would rather tell you now than put on the invoice.
What Counts As An Emergency Here
Water is running into the house through the chimney
The single most common out-of-hours call we take. It arrives during or just after heavy rain, and the water has usually been getting in for some time before anyone saw it inside.
Water is coming through a brick wall
Same category. What makes it urgent is what the water is reaching on the other side.
Brick or stone has come loose somewhere it could fall
Above a door, over a walkway, on a stack visible from the yard. That is an injury risk, and it gets treated as one.
A storm has taken something off
It happens, and when it does, the first job is making it safe. Making it right comes after.
You are about to have a much bigger problem
A crown that has just failed going into a wet week, a section of wall opening up. Sometimes the emergency is the timing, not the damage.
What We Will Actually Do
Getting there and finding out what is happening
Free, in person. There is no phone diagnosis on masonry: Sam needs to see it, and the volume of water helps a little and not much.
Protecting the house
Doing what can be done to keep water away from what it is damaging, and to remove an injury risk. This is the part that genuinely happens fast.
Making something safe
Where masonry is loose enough to fall, dealing with that takes priority over everything else, including the finish.
Telling you honestly whether this is an emergency
A lot of what people ring about out of hours can safely wait until the next working day. Sam cannot diagnose masonry down a telephone, and he will say so, but he can tell you whether what you are describing sounds like it needs somebody tonight. That conversation costs you nothing.
Getting the permanent repair scheduled
With a written quote and an honest date, including the premium if you want it moved up the queue.
What this job does not include
Twenty-four-hour service. We answer evenings and weekends. We are a small crew, and we sleep.
Roofing itself. Flashing where a chimney meets the roof we do take on, but as scheduled work rather than an emergency call-out.
Water extraction, drying, mold remediation and interior restoration. Different trade entirely, and if water has gotten into the house, that is who you need next.
Insurance claims. We do not deal with adjusters. We will document what we find, so you have something to submit, and the coverage decision sits between you and your insurer.
Flue liners, chimney sweeping and anything to do with gas. Not our trade at any hour.
Permanent exterior masonry in a freeze. Mortar will not cure, and we will not pretend it will.
What Happens When You Call
Straight Answers, Same Standard of Work
Plenty of out-of-hours calls do not need an out-of-hours visit, and saying so costs us the call. It also means that when we do say come now, it is worth listening to.
An emergency job is not a different standard of work. It carries the same ten-year workmanship warranty, in writing, as anything else we do.
Two Different Clocks, And Nobody Explains Them
There are two separate timescales in a masonry emergency, and confusing them is where most of the frustration in this trade comes from.
The visit is fast: Call early in the day, and Sam can usually be there the same day. Call late, and it is the next day. That part is genuinely quick and free.
The permanent repair is not fast, and it cannot be: mortar needs time and temperature to cure. A rebuilt crown has to set before anything else can happen. In practice, a non-urgent job in-season goes in within about a month, and even a job we are treating as urgent is typically within about two weeks of your approving the quote.
So what the first visit buys you is a diagnosis and, where it is needed, protection. Getting water out of the path of the damage, making something safe, stopping the situation from getting worse. Then the actual masonry happens on masonry's schedule.
Anyone promising you a permanent exterior masonry repair tonight is promising something the material will not do. We would rather be the company that says so than the one that turns up, caulks it, and leaves.
One more thing that belongs in plain sight. We charge considerably more to get work done as soon as possible, because it means moving other people's jobs. That is a real cost, and you will hear it before you agree to anything, not after.
Common Questions
No, and we would rather say it plainly than bury it. We answer evenings and weekends. If you are calling at three in the morning about water coming in, the honest advice is to get a bucket and a bowl under it and ring us when we are awake.
Same day if you call early; next day if you call late. That is the visit. The permanent repair is a separate timeline.
On an urgent job, typically within about two weeks of you approving the quote. Non-urgent work in season goes in within about a month. Mortar sets the pace, not us.
Yes, considerably, if you want the work itself moved ahead of other people's. The visit and the quote are free either way, and you can always take the normal slot at the normal price.
We can usually stop water reaching what it is damaging, and we can make loose masonry safe. What we cannot do is lay a permanent repair in the dark or in a freeze, because mortar will not cure.
Come and look, protect what can be protected, and be honest that the permanent exterior repair will wait until the season. Interior work is a different matter and can go ahead.
If water is appearing near a chimney, it is a fair question, and the answer is not obviously clear. If roofers have already cleared the roof, that points to the masonry, and our chimney repair page explains how we find the entry point.
That is between you and your insurer, and we are not going to guess at it. What we can do is document what we found, so you have something factual to submit. We do not handle claims or deal with adjusters.
Then we will tell you that you will not be charged for the visit, and you can book the work in as usual. That happens reasonably often, and it is a good outcome.
Where We Do This Work
Emergency response is the one thing where the drive genuinely decides what we can promise. Closer in, same day is achievable. Toward the edge of our area, it may not be, and we will tell you which one you are on the phone with rather than after you have waited. The cities we cover are on our service area page.
What Customers Say
What appears below is our live Google feed rather than testimonials we picked out, so it shows whatever is genuinely on it.
Google review, September 2025Call Now
Call (612) 509-0718. For anything active, phone rather than the form, because the form is not monitored out of hours.
If you can safely take a photograph of where the water is coming in inside the house, have it ready. It will not replace the visit, but it helps us judge the urgency on the phone.
(612) 509-0718 · Evenings and weekends · Not a 24-hour service, and we will not pretend otherwise