Brick steps shedding their faces, a stoop that's pulled away from the house, a retaining wall leaning toward the neighbor's yard, a walk that heaves every winter. Masonry fails from the bottom — bad footings and no drainage — and we fix it from the bottom. Rebuilt on proper bases, drained, and finished clean.
Free in-home estimate · written price on the spot
Licensed & insured · 2,000+ NJ projects · 7 years · a real person answers 24/7
Brick steps shedding their faces, a stoop that's pulled away from the house, a retaining wall leaning toward the neighbor's yard, a walk that heaves every winter. Typical price: $450 – $25K+. Licensed & insured, written itemized price before work starts, no deposit, one dedicated crew. Serving all 21 New Jersey counties from Paramus. Call (201) 676-3099 or book a free estimate.
If the treads are loose or the faces are popping, we can often re-cap: strip the treads, repoint the risers, set new bluestone or limestone treads on a proper bed. If the stoop has cracked through or pulled away from the house, it gets rebuilt: demo, a footing below frost, a block core, brick or stone veneer, treads pitched a hair to shed water, and a railing set in the masonry. Rise and run to code, so nobody trips.
A wall that leans has lost the argument with water. We build them to win it: a compacted gravel base, segmental block or natural stone with a slight batter into the hill, clean gravel behind, a perforated drain pipe at the base running to daylight, and filter fabric to keep the dirt out of the gravel. Walls over about 4 feet need an engineer's design and a permit in New Jersey; we handle both. Old timber walls get replaced, not 'braced.'
Repointing is grinding out the failed mortar to a proper depth, brushing and wetting the joint, and packing new mortar in that matches the old in color and, more important, in hardness. On pre-1940 brick that means a lime-based mix, not bagged Type S. Done right, it's another 30–50 years for the wall. Done with a caulk gun and gray mortar, it's a repair you'll see from the street and redo in five.
Four inches of concrete over four inches of compacted stone, reinforced, with control joints cut where the cracks want to be, broom finished, pitched away from the house. Old walks come out; we don't pour over them. Paver walks get a compacted base and edge restraint so they don't spread. Either way, the walk is graded so water runs to the lawn, not the foundation.
Steps, walls, repointing and walks across all 21 New Jersey counties from Paramus. Same-day and next-day estimates.
typical fixed-price range — your exact number goes in writing after a free visit
How we beat the big chains: Big hardscape outfits price a stoop like a patio and send a landscaping crew to do a mason's job. No franchise fees, no commissioned salesmen, no rented subcontractors — that's typically 15–30% under national-brand quotes for the same or better spec. Bring us any written quote and we'll match the scope line by line.
“They 'repaired' the steps with a skim coat. It peeled off in one winter.”
“The new retaining wall started leaning the second spring.”
“The repointing was gray cement smeared on red brick. It looks like a patch, and the brick around it is crumbling.”
You found a crew that is actually near you. First Call Contracting is based in Paramus, in Bergen County, and our own licensed techs handle masonry & steps in all 21 New Jersey counties — no call center, no subcontractor sent from two states away. Most of Bergen, Passaic, Hudson and Essex is 15 to 30 minutes from our shop, and emergencies go to the nearest crew, 24/7.
Closest to us: Bergen CountyPassaic CountyHudson CountyEssex CountyMorris CountyUnion CountyAll 21 counties & 219+ towns →
Call (201) 676-3099, text us a photo, or book a free in-home estimate — you get a written price before any work starts.
Re-capping the treads and repointing an existing stoop runs about $1,200 to $4,000. A full rebuild of a brick stoop with a landing and footing is $4,500 to $12,000 depending on size, stone and railings. Concrete steps are less; natural stone is more.
Segmental block runs roughly $45–$90 per square foot of wall face installed with base, drainage and backfill; natural stone is higher. A typical 40-foot, 3-foot-high wall lands between $6,000 and $12,000. Walls over 4 feet add engineering and a permit.
About $12–$30 per square foot depending on joint condition, height and whether the mortar needs to be a custom lime mix. Small jobs — a chimney, one wall, the front stoop — usually run $800 to $4,000.
Steps and walks generally don't in New Jersey, but retaining walls over about 4 feet, any wall holding up a driveway or structure, and structural repairs to a foundation do. We pull whatever your town requires.
Spring through fall is ideal. Mortar and concrete need to stay above about 40°F while they cure, so December through February work waits for a warm stretch or gets heated and blanketed. We'll tell you honestly if it should wait.
Yes. Aluminum or wrought iron, core-drilled and set in the masonry with epoxy or anchored to the house — at the 34–38-inch height code asks for on steps with four or more risers.
Because pouring new concrete over the same soft ground gets you the same sinking slab in a few years, and it costs a lot more. Lifting the existing slab back to grade fixes the settlement and fills the void underneath, usually for a fraction of replacement — figure roughly $2 to $6 a square foot, with most driveway aprons, walks and patio sections landing between $500 and $2,500. When a slab is cracked into pieces or crumbling from road salt, then replacement is the honest answer and we'll say so.
It isn't. Drilling the right hole pattern, judging how much material a void will take, and knowing when to stop is what keeps a slab from cracking or lifting unevenly, and the foam kits sold online don't give you that. Use a licensed, insured contractor who'll put the price and the scope in writing first. We're a registered New Jersey Home Improvement Contractor, fully insured, and our own crew does the work.
We drill small ports through the slab, inject an expanding polyurethane foam underneath, and the foam fills the void and raises the concrete back to grade while we watch the level. The holes get patched, and the foam is lightweight and doesn't wash out, which matters in New Jersey clay that holds water. Most jobs take a few hours and you can walk on it the same day.
If you're anywhere in New Jersey, yes. First Call Contracting is based in Paramus and handles masonry & steps across all 21 counties with our own licensed crew. Most of Bergen, Passaic, Hudson and Essex is 15 to 30 minutes from our shop, and emergencies are dispatched to the nearest crew 24/7. Call (201) 676-3099 or book a free in-home estimate.
Built from the footing up · drained · priced in writing before the first brick comes off
Or call Alex direct: (201) 676-3099
A real person picks up every hour of every day. We tell you what to shut off first, then send the nearest crew.