What all is involved with building a cultured stone back wall?

[michaelthomas]

I just got a quote from a mason to build a 54"x116"(sloping) cultured stone back wall and a 54x54 solid stone hearth. His labor quote was $2999. I believe his hourly rate is $40 an hour. Will this project really take 75 hours to do? It just seems like a crew can frame an entire one story house in less time. Is this a do able DIY project with no previouse masonry experience?

 

[Shane]

Just a rough guess but if I was bidding such a job I would figure 1.5 days and bid 2 to 2.5 just to be on the safe side. So all said and done I would think that 24 hours or three days would be worst case scenario. Of course this is site unseen etc. so take an armchair QB's opinion for what it's worth. Might be worth another quote though just to see what the ballpark is.

 

[begreen]

Yeah, I got a quote for our porch stairs like that. When I divided the labor quote by his hourly there was 3 weeks work into it. All other quotes were like 3-4 days.

 

[nshif]

I did this with cultured stone in less then 3 days myself (with a bit of help ) and had not done alot of masonry before. Id say that quote is way high.

 

[scfa99]

my hearth took an experienced mason and his assistant 90 hrs to complete. Luckily I paid by the job not the hour. Measures 8.5' wide, 11' tall, and 2.5' deep.