Masonry Contractor in McCalla, AL - Solid Brick and Stone Work on Hilly Ground

For an address in Jefferson County, you apply to the county online through its ePermitJC portal. The permit names the trade contractors on the job, so a mason works under that one permit instead of pulling a separate one. On a new building or an addition, the county's erosion control requirements come with the permit, which matters on a sloped lot where loose dirt heads downhill in the first hard rain.

For an address in Jefferson County, the county's own building code applies, and the county posts its codes and floodplain rules online. The state's builder licensing board now holds authority over the residential code, and when it looks into a contract it applies the code the city or county adopted, falling back on the 2015 International Residential Code only where there isn't one. A proposed statewide residential code based on the 2024 edition would start January 1, 2027, but it keeps local codes adopted and enforced before then in place.

You can look up your address on AlabamaFlood, which shows the official FEMA floodplain maps, and Jefferson County's GIS site maps the county's flood zones too. It's worth checking before a retaining wall, foundation or addition goes in, because the county keeps separate floodplain regulations.

There's no set price for McCalla jobs, because the number comes from the on-site estimate and turns on the things I covered above, mainly how far the damage runs and what the slope asks of a wall. If your job needs a Jefferson County permit, the county adds its own charges when things go wrong, $55 for each incomplete or failed inspection and $300 for an after-hours inspection of up to four hours, plus $75 for each hour after that. That's one reason we get the work ready before an inspection is booked.

The best way is to deal with the water first, with gravel and a drain pipe behind the wall and a footing set below the loose topsoil, because water pressure is what pushes most failed walls over. On the rolling ground around McCalla, a long wall usually steps down with the slope, and I'll tell you on site whether block, stone or brick suits your yard.

Water is usually the cause, soaking into the joints and working them loose through wet winters and the odd freeze, and an old repair done with mortar harder than the brick can make it worse. We cut out the failed mortar and repoint with a mix that suits your brick, which is what tuckpointing means, so the joint wears before the brick does.