Pomona has one of the oldest housing stocks in the eastern San Gabriel Valley. A large share of the city's homes were built before 1970, and a significant portion of those were built before 1960. That means much of the masonry on Pomona homes - chimneys, brick walls, block foundations, decorative garden walls - is now 60 to 80 years old and running on its original mortar. Heat cycles, Santa Ana winds, and occasional frost have been doing their work on these homes for decades, and the resulting cracks and separation are not cosmetic. Water finding its way through failed mortar joints causes far more damage than the repair would cost, especially on homes with wood framing behind the masonry.

The Lincoln Park neighborhood adds another layer of complexity. Homes there from the late 1800s and early 1900s were built with soft, lime-based mortars and porous bricks that are nothing like the harder materials used after World War II. A standard portland cement repair on a 1910 Lincoln Park brick chimney will crack and cause damage within a few years because the mortar is harder than the brick. This city demands masonry contractors who understand material science, not just how to fill a crack. Permit requirements for structural masonry work in Pomona can be confirmed through the City of Pomona website.

Pomona is one of the larger cities in Los Angeles County, covering about 23 square miles at the eastern edge of the county where the San Gabriel Valley meets the Inland Empire. The city is home to more than 150,000 residents and includes a remarkable range of housing types and ages. The Lincoln Park neighborhood in the center of the city is one of the most intact historic residential areas in the Inland Valley, with Victorian, Craftsman, and Colonial Revival homes from the late 1800s and early 1900s - some on the National Register of Historic Places. Further out from the historic core, ranch-style homes from the 1950s and 1960s fill the mid-century neighborhoods, and stucco subdivisions from the 1980s and 1990s line the edges of the city near the 10 and 60 freeways. The Fairplex, home of the Los Angeles County Fair, sits on the west side of the city and is a landmark nearly every Pomona resident has visited. Neighboring Diamond Bar to the southeast is also part of our service area.

Cal Poly Pomona sits on the eastern edge of the city and is one of the largest campuses in the Cal State system. Western University of Health Sciences is also located in Pomona, adding to the city's institutional mix. Despite these large institutions, the bulk of Pomona's geography is residential - working-class and middle-class neighborhoods of single-family homes and small multi-family buildings on modest lots, most of them built before 1980. For masonry contractors, that housing stock means a steady mix of restoration work on older homes and straightforward repair work on mid-century concrete block and brick. Our service area extends from Pomona into neighboring Claremont, where the housing stock has similar age and character.