Retaining walls, patios, steps, walkways and stone veneer built by our own crew. Nelson walks the property, writes the price, and is on site while the work goes in.
Masonry is a large part of what Baudi does. Most weeks the crew is setting wall block, cutting bluestone or rebuilding front steps somewhere in northern Westchester.
Common masonry work:
Hardscape here fails from below more often than at the surface. Water under a patio or behind a wall freezes, expands and lifts what sits on top of it.
Day one on a masonry job is usually excavation and base work. We dig past topsoil to ground that will not compress, then build back up with crushed stone compacted in lifts. Anything rigid gets a footing below frost depth. Drainage is part of the masonry scope, not a separate trade afterward.
Square footage and material choice matter, but site conditions usually move the number more. Two patios of identical size can price very differently when one sits on stable, accessible ground and the other needs deep excavation, drainage work, or hand-carried material because a machine cannot reach the back yard. That is why we measure on site instead of quoting by the square foot over the phone.
Factors we measure on the walkthrough:
Most of what we set falls into four materials, and each behaves differently through a Westchester winter.
The default for patios and walks here, and for good reason: it is dense, it takes freeze-thaw well, and it sits comfortably next to a hundred years of existing stonework. Thermal-finish gives an even, slightly textured surface that stays grippy when wet; natural cleft is the split face, more variation, more relief underfoot. We use full-thickness stone on sand-set work because inch-and-a-half bluestone stays put where thin veneer-cut stone rocks and cracks.
What the glaciers left in every yard north of White Plains, and what the old walls are made of. We use it dry-laid for walls and borders where mortar would look wrong against the property.
The abuse jobs: driveway aprons, curbing, edging that a plow will eventually meet. Harder than bluestone, nearly indestructible in the ground.
Dresses concrete: foundations, chimney faces, poured walls that need to read as masonry. The skill is in the pattern and the joints, so the veneer reads as structure rather than wallpaper.
Every job here starts the same way: a twenty-minute walkthrough and a written price.
Not every failed surface needs demolition. A patio that has settled in one corner can often be lifted and re-set on a corrected base, using the stone you already own. Steps that shed a tread can take a new tread. Joints that washed out can be repointed or re-sanded.
What we will not do is cosmetic work over a structural problem. If the base has failed, new joints are makeup on a moving surface and the call-back is a matter of months. Nelson tells you which one you are looking at during the walkthrough, and the difference is usually visible from grade: a surface that failed evenly needs joints, a surface that failed in one place needs its base opened.
Old dry-laid walls are their own subject and have their own page, linked below.
Most masonry contractors stop at the edge of the stone. The lawn that was torn up by the excavator, the bed the wall now shadows, the downspout that has to move: someone else's problem, usually yours.
Baudi does the green half of the property as its everyday work, so a masonry job ends with the ground finished. Grade corrected, topsoil back, sod or seed down, plantings in. One scope, and the same phone number if anything needs attention afterward.
Each specialty below has its own page, linked under "Related work we do" at the end of this page. All of it is the same crew.
Masonry and hardscape, by job:
If yours is not here, call (914) 486-3682. Someone answers seven days a week.
There is no honest single number without seeing the site, because the price of stonework in Westchester is mostly set by what happens below the surface. Two patios of identical size can price very differently: one sits on stable, accessible ground, the other needs deep excavation, a drainage layer, or hand-carried material because no machine can reach the back yard. The stone itself matters too. Full-thickness bluestone, fieldstone, granite cobble and segmental block all carry different material and labor costs, and mortared work adds a poured footing below frost depth that dry-set work does not need. Nelson walks the property, measures, and leaves a written scope and price the same visit. The walkthrough is free, and the price is in writing before any work starts.
It depends on the soil and what is going on top, but the pattern is consistent. We excavate past topsoil and any soft fill to ground that will not compress, which in most Westchester yards means eight to twelve inches down for a dry-set patio and more where fill or wet soil turns up. The hole is then built back up with crushed stone compacted in lifts of a few inches at a time, never dumped in one pour, because stone that was not compacted in layers settles later and takes the surface with it. Anything rigid and mortared gets a footing that reaches below frost depth, roughly 42 inches in this county, so freeze-thaw cannot lift it. The finished stone is the thinnest part of the whole assembly.
Usually. Walk us to the existing wall and we will look at the stone, color range and joint before quoting. If a true match is not available, we will say so.
Often, yes. Settled sections can be lifted and re-set on a corrected base with the same stone, and washed-out joints can be repointed. If the failure is structural we will say so, because new joints over a failed base do not last.
Excavation, base work and dry-set stone run from spring thaw until the ground freezes, usually April into early December. Mortared work needs temperatures reliably above freezing to cure. Winter is when we plan and quote, so spring slots go to people who called in February.
Most properties need more than one of these. One call covers all of them.
I've used Baudi for lawn care, masonry, landscaping and snow removal and do not have a single negative to report. Highly recommend Nelson and his team.
Always taking good care of everything and doing the best job. Attentive, and answers all my questions.
Send a few details and we will come out, measure, and leave you with a written price. No fee, no sales visit, no pressure to sign anything that day.
Prefer to talk? Call (914) 486-3682 or text a photo of the area. Open seven days, 7 AM – 7 PM.
Nelson or someone on the crew will call you within 24 hours to set up the walkthrough. If it is urgent, call (914) 486-3682 and you will get a person.
