Masonry contractor in Birmingham, AL - repairs that fit older brick

The city's Department of Planning, Engineering & Permits handles most permits in Birmingham, and its Permitting Division takes building permit applications at the front counter in City Hall. Work that holds a city permit is then inspected on site by the city. Before we start, I check with the office for your address about what your job needs, and when a permit is required we handle it with them.

Building permits for miscellaneous repairs and minor projects can usually be processed over the counter at City Hall. If your lot sits in a mapped flood hazard area, the floodplain application adds a review that averages 3 to 5 business days. We'll know which applies once we've checked your address, and we plan the start date around it.

If your lot is in a mapped Special Flood Hazard Area, the city requires a floodplain development permit application for the wall, and the same goes for fences, grading and outbuildings there. Repairs to a house in that area that cost more than half its market value are treated like new construction, so the house has to be raised or floodproofed. The city's floodplain office names heavy rain and poorly built drainage among the causes of flooding here, which is why we plan where the water behind a wall will go before we set the first block.

Yes, a contractor working on homes in Birmingham answers to both the city and the state. The city can license any business doing trade inside its limits, and those licenses run out every December 31. The Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board licenses residential construction and remodeling, and in one of the board's own examples a $20,000 siding contract signed directly with a homeowner needs a residential home builder's license because it's over $10,000, while larger construction and repair projects can also fall under the state's general contractors board. We're licensed and insured, and you're welcome to ask about it when I come out.

Repairs, alterations and additions to an existing house in Birmingham follow the International Existing Building Code, which the city adopts as part of its technical code. New detached homes and town houses up to three stories follow the residential code instead. Which one your job falls under gets sorted out when we check with the city for your address.

The cost comes down to the size of the job, the materials and what we find once we look closely, so I give you a number after walking the job with you. Matching an older brick or mortar color takes more hunting than common brick, a tall chimney needs staging so we can reach it safely, and a retaining wall or paver drive costs more as the base and drainage behind it grow. I'll explain what's driving the number before anything starts, so you know what you're paying for.