Onondaga County
Masonry Contractors in Skaneateles: The Mortar Question
If one question decides a job here it is which mortar, and it can be answered before anyone starts cutting. Skaneateles village is 54.3 percent pre-1940 with only 13.1 percent from the 1940s and 1950s, first in the county on the soft brick measure and near the bottom on the steel lintel one.
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First on one age map, near last on the other
Skaneateles village has 1,353 housing units and a median year of construction reported as 1938 or earlier, with 54.3 percent built in 1939 or earlier, the highest pre-1940 share of any place of its size in Onondaga County. Only 13.1 percent of its stock dates from the 1940s and 1950s. The surrounding Town of Skaneateles has a median of 1956 and a pre-1940 share of 36.6 percent, itself well above the county figure of 22.6 percent.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, table B25034 Year Structure Built and table B25035 Median Year Structure Built, accessed 2026-09-10
Preservation Brief 2 explains that ASTM established five mortar types, each with a corresponding recommended mix, to distinguish high strength mortar from soft flexible mortars, and lists them in decreasing order of approximate general strength as Type M at 2,500 psi, Type S at 1,800 psi, Type N at 750 psi, Type O at 350 psi and Type K at 75 psi. The letters are taken from the words MASON WORK using every other letter. Type K has the highest lime content of the mixes that contain portland cement and is seldom used today except on some historic preservation projects. Proportions are always given in the order cement, lime, sand, so Type O is 1 to 2 to 9 and Type K is 1 to 3 to 11 or 1 to 3 to 10.
Source: National Park Service, Technical Preservation Services, Preservation Brief 2: Repointing Mortar Joints in Historic Masonry Buildings, by Robert C. Mack, FAIA, and John P. Speweik, 1998, accessed 2026-09-10
The same National Park Service records list village historic districts across the metro: the Skaneateles Historic District with 59 contributing buildings, the Manlius Village Historic District with 50, the Genesee Street Hill and Limestone Plaza Historic District in Fayetteville with 40, and the Oswego-Oneida Streets Historic District in Baldwinsville with 32. Individual listings outside districts include the Lucius Gleason House in Liverpool, the Solvay Public Library, the Dan Bradley House and the Tefft-Steadman House in Marcellus, five listings at Camillus including the Wilcox Octagon House and the Camillus Union Free School, and the Stone Arabia School in Cicero.
Source: National Park Service, Cultural Resources geospatial data, National Register of Historic Places points and polygons map service, queried for Onondaga County, New York, accessed 2026-09-10
Is the house inside the village line?
Send the address and a note on the joints. Village and town are different stock here, and that changes the mix.
Village or town, and what Skaneateles brick can take
Skaneateles village and the Town of Skaneateles are separate governments with separate counters, and here they are also different housing. The village's 1,353 units have a median build year the Census reports as 1938 or earlier and a 54.3 percent pre-1940 share, the highest of any place its size in the county. The town around it has a median of 1956 and 36.6 percent pre-1940, itself well above the county's 22.6 percent, so both sides of the line are old enough to need the soft answer. Only 13.1 percent of the village dates from the 1940s and 1950s, which is why the rusting lintel story that dominates the postwar suburbs is comparatively rare here and the mortar story is nearly everything. That makes the letters worth learning before the quotes arrive. ASTM Type S runs to 1,800 psi and Type O to 350, more than five times apart, and the National Park Service names the assumption that hardness measures quality as the standard error on lime-based historic mortar. A quote for a village house that discusses lintels and never names a mortar type has the emphasis backwards. One thing to check before agreeing a start date: the Skaneateles Historic District carries 59 contributing buildings, and a contributing address both opens New York's 20 percent homeowner rehabilitation credit, which has to be approved before work begins, and sets the standard the mortar should be matched to.
Masonry we take on in Skaneateles village and town
Repointing and Mortar Joint Repair
Find out whether crumbling or missing mortar needs the joints raked out and refilled, and which mortar type belongs on the brick you actually have.
Repointing in Skaneateles →Chimney Repair and Rebuilding
Work out whether a chimney needs its crown and top courses rebuilt, a rebuild from the roofline, or work at the footing, and what the state code requires either way.
Chimney Repair in Skaneateles →Lintel Repair and Opening Repairs
Tell a rusting steel lintel apart from settlement, so the crack above your window, door or garage opening gets the trade it actually needs.
Lintel Repair in Skaneateles →Brick and Stone Replacement
Understand why brick faces are flaking or popping off, which units have to be cut out and replaced, and what has to change so the new ones do not go the same way.
Brick Replacement in Skaneateles →Retaining Walls, Steps and Foundation Masonry
Establish whether a leaning retaining wall, crumbling brick steps or a failing block or stone foundation wall needs rebuilding, and what has to change underneath so it stays put.
Retaining Walls and Steps in Skaneateles →Get a mortar type in writing for Skaneateles
Mortar washing out, a stone sill lifting, a chimney breaking up at the top: describe it with an address, no obligation.