Guide
Your brick house may be in a historic district
You are about to repoint or replace brick on an older house, and a neighbor mentioned a historic district. Check before you book. Review rules and a state tax credit can change which repairs and materials you may use. This guide shows where to look and what to ask.
Tell us what you see on the wall
We help you get the repair priced by separate local masonry contractors, and tell you what to ask them first.
Three things to say before you hear a price
Say them on the phone or at the wall. The answers show how a mason works.
Which mortar type goes in, and why?
A good answer names a mix softer than your brick.
How deep will you cut the old joints?
Too shallow, and the new mortar pops out.
What is the lintel made of, and is it flashed?
Rusting steel lifts brick; flashing keeps water off it.
$100 off your first job
Book your first repair through us and take $100 off.
The $100 comes out of our fee; the mason's price stays the same.
Each customer gets one credit per property.
Book the first repair by December 31, 2026, to use it.
Say you hold the credit as you book; we confirm it before work starts.
The Soft Joint promise
- Asking us is free, and asking never ties you to anything.
- We never charge you for the introduction.
- Your $100 credit is honored exactly as our Terms say.
- If an introduction goes wrong, we help you sort it out.
The masonry work is between you and the mason you hire.
Masonry Contractors Syracuse, (315) 640-3590
Check whether your house is listed
National Park Service records list historic districts in the City of Syracuse, including Strathmore By the Park, Scottholm Tract and Berkeley Park Subdivision. Villages in the area have districts too, among them Skaneateles, Manlius, Fayetteville and Baldwinsville.
Look up your address before you collect quotes. If you cannot tell, ask your city, town or village office, and ask the mason whether they have worked in the district before.
Local review is a separate step
Syracuse has a Landmark Preservation Board. The city says that exterior changes to designated sites or to properties in preservation districts must go through a Certificate of Appropriateness. The city names four local districts: Hanover Square, Columbus Circle, Berkeley Park and Sedgwick-Highland-James.
A National Register listing and a local district are not the same thing. Ask the city which one applies to your street, and ask early, because review can come before the work.
What the state tax credit offers
The state's historic preservation office runs a homeownership credit. It is worth 20 percent of qualified rehabilitation costs, for work on a historic home that you own and live in.
Because it is a tax credit, ask a tax professional how it works for you. We are not tax advisers and cannot say what it means for your return.
Who can claim it
Three tests apply. You own the house and live in it. The house is on the State and National Registers, on its own or as part of a listed district. And its census tract qualifies.
Qualified costs must total at least $5,000, and at least 5 percent of that must go to exterior work. Check each point with the office before you sign a contract, not after.
Approval comes before the work
For the state credit, the office wants approval in hand before any work starts. A repair that is finished before approval may not count.
So the order is: confirm the listing, ask the office about the work, get approval, then book. Tell each mason that the house may be in the program, and ask whether they have done work under it.
Repair what you can, replace in kind
The office advises against replacing material that can be repaired, and says damaged pieces should be replaced in kind. It also warns that modern materials laid over old masonry can lead to moisture damage and spoil the historic look.
For you that means asking a mason what can be saved, and what the new mortar and brick will be. It lines up with the mortar advice elsewhere on this site: soft mortar, no hard patches.
Why district rules and mortar advice point the same way
Historic review boards and preservation guidance share one worry: repairs that are harder than the original. A hard modern mortar on soft old brick can damage the wall and change how it looks.
That is the same mistake this site warns about for every old wall. If your house is in a district, the mortar question becomes more than a matter of taste. Ask each mason which type goes in and what tells them it is softer than your brick, and ask for the answer in writing.
A sensible order of steps
- Look up your address in the Register records.
- Ask your city, town or village what review applies.
- If the state credit may apply, ask the State Historic Preservation Office about your project before work begins.
- Collect quotes from masons, and tell each one what you learned.
- Get the approvals you need in hand before you sign.
None of this has to slow you down. It is a few phone calls, and it can save you from redoing work that was done the wrong way.
Questions for your municipality
Call your city, town or village hall and ask three things. Does review apply to exterior masonry on my street? Who decides, and how long does it take? Is there a form I must file before work begins?
Note who you spoke with and the date. If a question comes up later, you have a record. It also helps to tell each mason what you were told, so their quote reflects it.
What to ask each mason
- Have you worked on a house in a historic district?
- Which mortar type would you use here, and why?
- Can the old brick be repaired instead of replaced?
- Will you work with the review board or the state office when needed?
Send us your address and your question, and we help you get your repair priced by local masons.
Basis: NPS National Register of Historic Places geospatial data, polygons layer (queried 2026-10-09) City of Syracuse, Syracuse Landmark Preservation Board (syr.gov)
Find which joint you have first.