Fireplaces and Interior Stonework in St. Paul
10 Years
Workmanship warranty, in writing
Firebox rebuilds and refractory work; masonry fireplaces built new; stone and brick accent walls; columns, archways; stone floors and stair treads. What we do not touch is anything that burns gas or plugs in.
Firebox Repairs, New Fireplaces and Feature Stonework
The firebrick at the back of the fireplace is cracked or falling out
The firebox is the chamber where the fire actually sits, and it is built from refractory brick laid in refractory mortar because ordinary materials do not survive there. When those joints open up, the heat starts reaching things that were never meant to take it.
The mortar between the firebricks has crumbled to dust
Refractory mortar takes the heat directly, and it is the part designed to be replaceable. Repointing a firebox is a much smaller job than rebuilding one.
You want a fireplace that was never there, or one that was bricked up
Building a masonry fireplace is construction, not installation. Whether your house can take one depends on the house, and it is worth establishing early rather than late.
You want stone on a wall, a column, an archway or a staircase
This is the part of masonry that is not about failure, and it is a different conversation from the rest of this site: what do you want it to look like, as opposed to what has gone wrong.
Something needs cutting to fit around new flooring or new cabinetry
Undercutting a stone hearth or a limestone surround so new flooring runs under it cleanly is a small job, and it belongs to the mason, not the floor fitter, which is why it can end up in nobody's scope.
The stone on the front of the house has come loose or lost pieces
Decorative stonework on a period house is the same trade as the work inside.
What We Do Inside The House
Firebox rebuild and refractory work
Replacing cracked and spalled refractory brick, replacing refractory panels, and repointing the firebox in refractory mortar. This is the work that keeps a working fireplace working.
Masonry fireplace construction
Built from the footing up, in brick or stone, including the surround and hearth.
Fireplace restoration
Bringing a fireplace that has been closed up, painted over, or badly patched back to something you would want to look at. On period houses this is often more about undoing than about building.
Stone and brick accent walls
Interior or exterior, in natural stone or cultured stone. This is the one veneer product we do work with, and the finish depends far more on the layout and the joints than on the stone you pick.
Columns and archways
In brick or stone, built as part of a room or as a feature in their own right.
Stone flooring and stone staircases
Laid, repaired and reset. Stair treads in particular take real wear and are worth doing properly once.
Hearths, surrounds and undercutting
Including cutting back an existing stone or limestone surround to allow new flooring to run underneath. Small, quick, and worth asking about while a floor is being planned, before it goes down.
Custom stone mantels and stone backsplashes
Available on request. Neither is something we push, and both are straightforward when we are already on site.
Decorative and feature stonework on older houses
Repairing and replacing the stone detail on period exteriors. The stone is generally sound; what has failed is what it was bedded in.
What this job does not include
Gas fireplace inserts, installation or removal. Not our trade and we will point you to somebody whose it is.
Wood stove installation.
Smoke chamber parging. We do refractory mortar and firebox work, but not that.
Flue liners and relining of any kind.
Chimney sweeping, creosote removal and graded safety inspections.
Anything to do with venting, draft or combustion air. We are masons, and that is a different set of questions with a different set of consequences.
The Firebox, And Why It Is Not The Chimney
The single most useful thing to understand about fireplace work is that a chimney and a fireplace are two different structures that happen to be joined, and they fail for different reasons, on different schedules, and get repaired by different trades.
The chimney is masonry exposed to weather. It fails from the top down, from water.
The firebox is the chamber the fire burns in. It fails from heat and from thermal cycling, and it is built from refractory brick and refractory mortar precisely because ordinary brick and ordinary mortar would not last. When people say the fireplace needs work, this usually means it has nothing to do with the state of the stack outside.
The flue is the passage through which the smoke rises, and this is the part we do not touch. Liners are not our trade; we do not sell them. We will tell you if yours looks like it needs attention, and we will leave the quoting to somebody else. The same goes for anything related to drafting and venting, which is a combustion question and a different discipline.
Where this matters in practice: if a single estimate covers both a firebox and a chimney rebuild, it is worth asking to have the two priced separately, because they are distinct structures with distinct failures. Sometimes both genuinely need doing. Sometimes only one does, and you cannot tell from a combined number.
It runs the other way too. A stack in sound condition can sit above a firebox in poor condition, and that is an interior job. It is not a reason to put staging around a house.
How An Interior Job Runs
Why Hire A Mason Rather Than A Fireplace Company
It is work Sam wants
Nearly all of the masonry is repairing failures. Building something is the other thing, and he took up the trade for the building part.
We will not quote you a chimney you do not need
We price the firebox and the stack individually, so you can see which one you are actually paying for.
Ten years on the workmanship
In writing, on what we performed. Not a materials warranty.
Working Inside
Outside, mortar will not cure in a freeze, so exterior masonry waits on the weather. A firebox or an interior stone wall does not, which is worth knowing when you want the work finished before you actually need the fire.
The practical point is that a firebox or a feature wall is not competing for the same weather window as a chimney or a wall. Ask us when we can fit it in, and you will get an answer based on the crew's calendar, which is a more useful answer than the weather.
The other thing worth saying about interior work is that you notice a fireplace in January and forget about it in June. If you are reading this in the cold half of the year, that is usually why, and it is a better time to get it looked at than to try to remember in the spring.
Common Questions
The firebox is the chamber where the fire burns, built of refractory brick and mortar, and it fails due to heat. The chimney is the masonry outside, and it fails from water. They are joined, but they are separate problems, and it is worth knowing which one a quote is for.
We do not publish a range for interior work, because the variation between repointing a firebox and rebuilding one is wide and the estimate is free anyway. Sam will look at it and price it.
Yes, in brick or stone, including the surround and the hearth. It is a real construction project, not an installation, and worth talking through early, because the answer to what is possible depends on the house.
No, and we do not install wood stoves either. If that is what you want, it is a different trade, and we will say so on the phone, before anybody drives out.
Sometimes, and we would want to see it before promising anything. It is slow work; it is more about removal than about masonry, and the result depends entirely on what the paint has done to the surface underneath.
Yes, interior and exterior, in natural or cultured stone. It is the one veneer product we work with. What decides whether it looks right is the layout and the jointing far more than the stone.
Yes. It is a small job that belongs to the mason, which is why it sometimes falls between two trades.
Interior masonry is not affected by the freeze the way exterior mortar is, so the calendar constraint that governs the rest of this website does not apply here in the same way. Ask us when you call, and we will tell you honestly what the schedule looks like.
No to both. Liners are not our trade, and draft is a combustion question, which is a different discipline. We will tell you plainly if we think yours needs looking at.
Not immediately. Refractory mortar needs to dry properly, and the first fires should be small so the whole assembly comes up to temperature gradually. We will tell you how long to wait.
Yes, laid new, and repaired or reset where they have moved. Treads take more wear than any other stone in a house and are worth doing once, properly.
Ten years on what we did. What matters more than the number is that you have it on paper before you sign, so ask us for the terms and ask everyone else quoting you for theirs. A verbal warranty is worth what it sounds like.
Where We Do This Work
Interior work is neither weather-dependent nor especially distance-sensitive, so our range on this is a little wider than usual. The cities we cover are on our service area page. Past about forty-five miles from St. Paul, photographs first.
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 2025Get A Free Estimate
Photographs of the firebox from the front, or of the wall you have in mind, are the fastest way to start. For a build rather than a repair, a photograph of the room matters more than a photograph of the masonry.
If you are reading this in the middle of winter because you have just spent an evening looking at a cracked firebox, that is the usual way people arrive here, and it is a reasonable time to get it priced.
(612) 509-0718 · A person answers during business hours; Sam does the estimate · No service call fee