Restoration Register

Heritage masonry contractors in Kingston and Eastern Ontario

Eastern Ontario is limestone country, and limestone fails differently from brick. Water gets into the bedding planes, freezes, and delaminates the face in sheets. Repointing it with hard cement mortar accelerates that, which is why this region has more genuine stone masons per capita than anywhere else in the province.

Kingston's building stock is the densest concentration of pre-Confederation limestone in Canada, and the work reflects it: repointing in lime mortar matched by analysis, cutting dutchman repairs into eroded stone rather than replacing whole units, resetting displaced quoins and sills, rebuilding rubble walls that have lost their bond, and dealing with the iron cramps and pins that earlier repairs left in the wall to rust and split the stone. Ottawa and the Rideau corridor add sandstone and early brick to the mix. Ask any mason how they intend to source replacement stone, because a match from the wrong quarry stays visibly wrong for the life of the building.

What to ask before you hire

  1. How will you match replacement stone? The quarry, bed and finish all show. Ask where the stone is coming from before you accept the price.
  2. What mortar will you use, and how did you determine it? On limestone the mix has to be softer than the stone, and analysis of the original beats a guess.
  3. How will you deal with any embedded iron? Rusting cramps and pins from earlier repairs split stone from the inside, and leaving them in place guarantees a return visit.
Grant funding

Ottawa's Heritage Grant Program funds 50% to $35,000 on large projects and $10,000 residential, the largest published municipal amount in Eastern Ontario. Kingston funds at 50% without publishing a cap, and Perth offers a tax-based offset rather than a cash grant.

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