Masonry Contractor in Franklin, WI

How old are Franklin's houses?

Franklin stayed a farm town until the early 1950s. Two housing developments went up then, west of 76th Street and south of Rawson Avenue. Franklin became a city in 1956, and in 1962 about 80 percent of the city was still farmland.

Census estimates for 2020 to 2024 count about 14,500 housing units in Franklin. About half were built in 1990 or later, and the median year built is 1990. About a third went up before 1980, and only about 3 percent before 1940. About 62 percent are single-family detached houses.

That mix shapes the work here. On a 1950s or 1960s house, open mortar joints call for tuckpointing, and an old chimney top may need rebuilding. A 1990s house with a brick front has now been through more than 25 Wisconsin winters of freeze-thaw.

Old stone and brick in St. Martins and Painesville

Some of Franklin's oldest masonry stands in St. Martins, the old community on the city's west side. The Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church went up there in 1858, built of cut stone. Its 140-foot steeple followed in 1881, and the church is known today as St. Martin of Tours.

The newer church joined to the 1858 building, finished in 2004, is brick veneer with rough-faced concrete block pilasters. Holy Assumption Church nearby is brick on a stone foundation, built in 1867. Old cut stone and new brick veneer stand side by side in St. Martins.

On Ryan Road, near the city's east edge, the Painesville Chapel of 1852 rests on a fieldstone foundation. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Limestone mining in the center of Franklin began in earnest in 1941.

On old stone walls and soft old brick, the repair starts with the mortar. We match new mortar to the original, and where the old mortar calls for it, that means a lime-based mix.

What masonry work needs a permit in Franklin?

Franklin's building permits come from Inspection Services at City Hall on Loomis Road. A permit is required for a new one or two family house, an addition, or repairs that involve structural parts. Garages and other accessory buildings need one too.

Foundation repairs and dampproofing need a building permit in Franklin. The application states the defects and their cause, and it gives the wall height in courses. The repair follows the foundation repair standards the city adopted, or an engineer's design for that site.

Franklin's Unified Development Ordinance limits retaining walls to 4 feet above natural grade unless the City Engineer approves more. Plans for a wall over 3 feet need a professional engineer's signature. The code also sets walls at least 5 feet back from any lot line. The face must be natural materials, decorative wall block or textured concrete.

The city's permit FAQ says the homeowner is responsible for making sure required permits are obtained. For tuckpointing or a chimney rebuild, Inspection Services can tell you whether a permit applies. We point you there, and the permit is sorted out before work starts.

Clay soils, frost and new building in Franklin

Much of Franklin sits on clay soils that shrink and swell, over dense glacial till. Federal soil maps show Ozaukee soils on about 41 percent of the city's land. Blount and Ashkum soils cover about 28 percent more.

The federal soil survey rates frost action high on about 44 percent of Franklin's land. That means ice lenses form in the soil and heave it, then the soil loses strength as it thaws. Wisconsin's Uniform Dwelling Code puts footings below the frost line or 48 inches below grade, whichever is deeper. The rule, SPS 321.16, covers footings under landings and stoops too.

Franklin keeps adding houses on these soils. The Census counts 79 new housing units permitted in 2024 and 74 in 2025, nearly all single-family. In 2025 the Plan Commission reviewed final plats for 42 more lots in Cape Crossing and nine in Ridgewood Reserve.

Ballpark Commons, a mixed-use development of more than 200 acres, and the city's business parks keep adding buildings. We lay block walls and brick veneer on commercial buildings too.