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Serving San Mateo, CA and surrounding areas. (650) 865-1809
Custom San Mateo Masonry and Concrete is a licensed masonry contractor serving Burlingame, CA with masonry restoration, chimney repair, and retaining wall construction. We work regularly on the older Craftsman and Spanish Colonial Revival homes throughout the city, and our crew understands the specific challenges that Burlingame's marine air, wet winters, and historic housing stock create for masonry work.
Burlingame has a high concentration of homes built before 1960, many with original brick chimneys, stone garden walls, and decorative masonry facades that have never been professionally restored. Persistent marine fog from the Bay keeps these surfaces damp year-round, speeding up mortar breakdown and salt infiltration. Our masonry restoration work matches the original materials in color, texture, and flexibility so repairs blend in rather than standing out.
Burlingame's Craftsman bungalows and Spanish Colonial Revival homes often have original brick chimneys that are 70 to 100 years old and have never had the mortar joints or liner inspected. Clay tile roofs on these home styles look great, but their chimneys take on a lot of moisture over the wet season - crumbling mortar joints and cracked flue liners are common findings on first inspections in older Burlingame neighborhoods.
Burlingame's hillside neighborhoods above El Camino Real have sloped lots where soil movement after heavy rain is a real concern. A properly engineered retaining wall holds soil back, protects driveways and landscaping, and can add usable flat space to a yard that would otherwise be difficult to work with. Tight lot spacing in the city means precise planning for access and staging.
Homes built in Burlingame before the 1960s often have raised foundations with wood framing in the crawl space that has been exposed to coastal humidity for decades. Sticking doors, sloped floors, and new cracks near window corners after a wet winter are the most common signals that something in the foundation has shifted and needs a professional assessment.
Burlingame's historic neighborhoods include homes where the decorative brick on front facades and garden walls is part of what makes the property distinctive. Marine fog deposits salt residue on brick surfaces over years, gradually breaking down the material from the outside in. Catching and replacing damaged bricks before water penetrates the wall behind them keeps repair costs manageable.
Many Burlingame properties have older concrete driveways that have developed cracks and uneven surfaces over decades of use and seasonal soil movement. Replacing worn concrete with properly bedded pavers improves drainage, adds character that fits the architectural style of older homes, and gives the property better curb appeal without needing extensive landscaping work around it.
Burlingame covers just 6 square miles, and the vast majority of its single-family homes were built before 1960 - many in the 1920s through 1940s. Those homes have Craftsman or Spanish Colonial Revival styling with stucco exteriors, clay tile roofs, and original brick chimneys that are now 70 to 100 years old. The mortar used in that era was a softer mix than what is standard today, which means it wears differently and needs a mason who understands how to match it. Packing modern hard mortar into old soft brick causes the brick face to crack over time rather than the joint, which is worse and more expensive to fix.
The city also sits right next to San Francisco Bay, which means marine fog rolls in almost every morning. That fog deposits moisture on masonry surfaces for hours at a time, even on days without a drop of rain. Over years, this persistent dampness draws water into small pores in brick and mortar and accelerates breakdown faster than homeowners expect. Burlingame also has an active historic preservation program - some properties are covered by guidelines that affect what materials can be used on exterior repairs, and a contractor working here should know when those rules apply before starting a job. You can find information about Burlingame's preservation requirements through the City of Burlingame Planning Division.
Our crew works throughout Burlingame regularly, and we understand the local conditions that affect masonry work here. The older neighborhoods near Burlingame Avenue and Washington Park are where we most often encounter original 1930s and 1940s brick and stonework - homes in those streets have character that is worth preserving, and restoration work there requires careful material matching, not just filling in gaps.
The hillside streets above El Camino Real have a different set of challenges - sloped lots, tighter access, and retaining walls that take on significant soil pressure every winter. We work with the City of Burlingame Building Division on permits for structural work and plan project timelines around their inspection schedules. Burlingame's historic train depot near the Caltrain station is a reference point most residents know, and the neighborhoods spreading out from that corridor are where a lot of the city's older masonry work lives.
We also serve neighboring Millbrae, where many of the same housing stock characteristics apply, and San Mateo to the south, which shares Burlingame's older residential neighborhoods and rainy-season masonry demands.
Reach out by phone or the contact form and we respond within 1 business day. We ask a few questions about what you are seeing and the age of the home so we can bring the right background knowledge to the site visit.
We walk the property with you, show you the problem areas in plain terms, and tell you upfront whether a permit is needed and what it adds to the timeline. No hard sell - just an honest look at what the work involves. You will leave the visit with a written estimate.
Once you approve the estimate, we pull any required city permits and schedule the job. Most homeowners stay in their home throughout the work. We protect surrounding surfaces and clean up at the end of each day.
When the job is finished, we walk you through every repaired area, explain what was done, and let you know what to watch for. For permitted work, we coordinate the city inspector visit and give you copies of all documentation.
We work on older homes throughout Burlingame - from the Craftsman bungalows near Burlingame Avenue to the hillside streets above El Camino Real. Call us or fill out the form and we will respond within 1 business day.
(650) 865-1809Burlingame is a small city of about 32,000 people packed into roughly 6 square miles on the San Francisco Peninsula, sitting between San Francisco to the north and San Mateo to the south. Most of the city is residential, with single-family homes on modest lots arranged in quiet neighborhoods that spread out from Burlingame Avenue - the main commercial strip known to anyone who lives here. The Burlingame Caltrain station, an 1894 historic depot, is one of the city's best-known landmarks and sits at the heart of the downtown corridor. Washington Park, with its rose garden and recreation center, is where most families in the city spend weekend time.
For a masonry contractor, Burlingame stands out because of how old most of the housing stock is and how close the city sits to the Bay. Neighborhoods like Burlingame Park and the Easton Addition are full of homes built between the 1920s and 1940s in Craftsman, Spanish Colonial, and Tudor styles - all of which use brick, stone, and mortar in ways that need periodic professional attention. The hillside streets above El Camino Real have a different character, with larger lots and retaining walls that handle significant soil loads every winter. Nearby Millbrae shares similar property characteristics and is another area we serve regularly.
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Learn MoreWe serve homeowners throughout Burlingame, CA. Call or send a message and we will get back to you within 1 business day with a clear, written estimate for your project.