AJ Torrance Concrete and MasonryAJ Torrance Concrete and Masonry

Masonry contractor in Lynwood, CA - brick and block work that matches your house

AJ Torrance Concrete and Masonry is a masonry contractor working in Lynwood, CA. We repair and build the brick and block walls, chimneys and mortar joints on Lynwood houses, and we match each repair to what's already there.

Request a quote(424) 318-3093
A stone outdoor kitchen under a wooden pergola features a pizza oven, grill, metal cabinets and a central fire pit.
  • Licensed and insured.
  • Free estimates at your property.
  • We reply within 1 business day.

About Lynwood, CA

Lynwood is mostly houses set close together on small lots, with busier commercial streets running through and the 105 cutting across the middle. A lot of the homes are older stucco and brick, and most yards are fenced in masonry, with block walls between neighbors and a low brick or block wall across the front, often with iron on top. It looks a lot like Compton next door, and we work there too.

That shapes the job. With houses this close, a wall usually belongs to two families, there's not much room to stack brick, and whatever we patch sits where the whole street can see it, so it has to match.

Services in Lynwood, CA

  • Concrete block walls

    Older block walls between Lynwood yards lean when roots or sprinkler water undercut a shallow footing. We fix them or build new concrete block walls on a footing sized for the wall.

  • Brick wall installation

    Plenty of Lynwood houses have a low front wall topped with iron, the first thing anyone sees. We build brick front walls that suit the house and the lot.

  • Brick repair

    Older brick here takes hits from cars, swinging gates and age, and cracked faces let water in. We cut out damaged brick and set replacements matched to the wall.

  • Chimney repair

    Brick chimneys on older Lynwood houses take the worst of every shake, so the cap on top cracks and joints loosen. We repair the cap, joints and brick before pieces come loose.

  • Tuckpointing

    Mortar on older walls here goes sandy, and patches done with hard cement crack the brick beside them. We grind out worn joints and refill them with mortar suited to the wall.

  • Driveway pavers

    Plenty of older Lynwood driveways are cracked slabs patched more than once. We replace them with pavers on a packed base, so a settled section can be lifted and reset.

How a masonry job runs in Lynwood

Building permits here come from the city's Building and Safety Division, which reviews plans for building, altering or repairing any structure in Lynwood and then inspects the work, so a job that needs a permit runs on their review and their inspection visits. Whether your wall or chimney needs one is the division's call, and if it does, we handle the application and tell you what we learn before any work starts. On the contractor side, the state requires a current license from its contractor board for any job that needs a permit, and we're licensed and insured. The price moves with how much wall there is, what has to come out first and how much hunting it takes to match your brick, and your written estimate spells that out for your job.

We're a masonry contractor based in Torrance, and the 105 runs right through Lynwood, so getting our crew and a load of block here is simple. Most of the masonry we work on here sits tight against a sidewalk, a driveway or the neighbor's yard, so I plan where the pallets and the mixer go before the first day, not on it. We do the same kind of work just southeast in Paramount, where the houses and the walls look a lot like these.

Lynwood, CA properties and local conditions

Most of what gets us called out in Lynwood is block walls. A lot of the older ones went up on a thin footing with little or no steel inside, and after years of sprinklers soaking the base and tree roots pushing from one side, they lean, or crack in a stair-step line along the joints. If the footing is still sound, we can often rebuild just the top of the wall. If it isn't, we take the wall down and build it back on a footing sized for its height, not one twice as big as it needs to be.

Older brick chimneys and walls take a beating in every quake, and the soft old mortar in them has often been patched with hard gray cement. That patch held up fine. The brick around it didn't. We match the mortar to the brick so the joint gives a little before the brick does.

Get a free written estimate for masonry at your Lynwood home

Send the form or call (424) 318-3093, and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time for me to come out to your Lynwood property. I'll look at the job and send a written estimate with the scope spelled out. It's free, and there's no obligation.

What happens after you call us about a Lynwood job

  1. Call us or send a request

    Tell us what you're seeing and where the house is, and we'll set a time for me to come out. We answer the phone seven days a week, early mornings and evenings included.

  2. I look at the job

    I walk the wall or chimney with you, tell you what needs fixing now and what can wait, then send a written estimate with the scope spelled out. You see the whole job and its cost before you decide anything.

  3. We handle permits and build

    If the job needs a permit, we apply with Building and Safety and work starts once it's issued, with inspections on the division's schedule. Our own crew does the work with a lead mason running the site, and you don't need to be home as long as we can get into the yard.

  4. Final look before we finish

    I come back and look the work over before we call it done, and we clean up and haul off the old material. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a permit for a block wall or brick repair in Lynwood?

Some masonry jobs do, and Lynwood's posted permit list doesn't spell out which ones, because it names things like water heaters, wall heaters, re-roofs, solar and electrical work rather than walls or chimneys. We ask Building and Safety about your job before it goes on the schedule, so you aren't finding out halfway through.

Does my contractor need a California license for masonry work in Lynwood?

Yes, in most cases, because the Contractors State License Board requires a current license for any work that needs a building permit, uses employees, or comes to $1,000 or more in labor and materials combined. The board lets someone skip the license only when all of these hold at once: no permit, no employees, under $1,000 in total costs, and no advertising as a licensed contractor. We're licensed and insured.

How do I find out if my Lynwood project needs a grading permit?

Work out how much soil the job will disturb, because an undated city submittal document says a separate grading permit is required once that reaches 25 yards or more. Most wall repairs and walkways move far less dirt than that, but a long new wall with a deep footing or a regraded yard can get close, so I size up the digging when I come out.

Do I need a separate permit to build a front wall near the sidewalk in Lynwood?

You do if any of the work lands in the city's right-of-way, the public strip along the street, because the same undated city document says that work needs a separate encroachment permit. Front walls and the part of a driveway that crosses the sidewalk are where this comes up, so we find where your property line sits before we plan anything on the street side.

How do I check whether my Lynwood address is in an earthquake hazard zone?

Type your address into EQ Zapp, the state geological survey's map, and it shows whether your property sits in any of their mapped earthquake hazard zones. It's worth a look before you rebuild a chimney or put up a tall wall, and you can bring what you find when I come out.

What affects the cost of a masonry wall in Lynwood?

The length and height of the wall and the footing under it drive most of the cost, followed by tearing out and hauling off whatever's there now. Brick takes longer to lay than block, matching old brick can take some searching, and a narrow side yard where everything goes in by wheelbarrow adds labor. A wall built bigger than it needs to be just costs more and causes its own problems, so I size it for the job and your written estimate shows where the money goes.

Service areas

Explore the services

Torrance, CA

Tell us about your Lynwood wall or chimney

A leaning wall or a loose chimney cap is usually a smaller fix the earlier I see it, so call (424) 318-3093 or send the form.

Request a quote(424) 318-3093
(424) 318-3093Request a quote