I'm Phil Wright. This site is the information I wish every heritage homeowner had before they made their first call.

Meet Phil. Forty years in stone, and why I built this. More videos on YouTube →

Why this exists

A while back I took two site visits in the same stretch. One was a couple whose new windows had quietly started to settle the arches above them, a few-thousand-dollar worry that was really a much bigger job. The other was an owner who had been told a quick cleaning would fix a wall that was actually failing from trapped water. Both were about to spend money on the wrong thing, for the same reason: there was no easy way to understand what they were really looking at before someone showed up with a quote.

So I started putting what I know here, in plain language, question by question.

How I work

My job is to read your wall and tell you what it actually needs. I look for the cause behind the symptom, not just the symptom itself. A stain is usually water getting in, or not getting out. A crack is usually something that moved. I will give you my best read of the size and scope of the work, from the problem itself to the repair and the restoration. People are often surprised how it adds up once the full picture is clear, and just as often surprised when the whole answer is a redirected downspout and a bit of grading. And when the trouble has gone past the masonry, I will tell you it is time for a structural engineer, not just a mason.

What I recommend to you is more than my personal opinion. The gentlest fix that works, repair before replacement, and materials matched to what your home was built with, all of it follows the national conservation standard, the same one Ontario's heritage committees and grant programs work from. That is why the work holds up with reviewers, and why it lasts.

Rebuilding a stone chimney, from the roofline up.

Who I help

Homeowners, architects and builders, on pre-1950 brick and stone, from Toronto through the Kawarthas and Peterborough. Different needs and different price points, but the same honest read of what your wall actually needs.

The Heritage Masonry Assessment & Conditions Report

Sometimes you need more than a plain answer, you need it on paper. A full Heritage Masonry Assessment and Conditions Report is a detailed written record of your masonry's condition: what is failing, why, and the scope of work it needs, documented to the national conservation Standards. It is not a quick look and a verbal opinion. Homeowners use it to support heritage grant applications. Architects use it to put heritage masonry work out to bid. When you need the real picture on paper, this is it.