Serving Residential Customers
Naternicola's Masonry is dedicated to enhancing your home's value and beauty. We bring exceptional craftsmanship to every residential project, from pouring a custom concrete patio or driveway to building durable retaining walls and secure foundations, ensuring lasting quality for your property.Serving Commercial Customers
As a trusted specialty contractor, Naternicola's Masonry understands the demands of commercial construction. We provide reliable, large-scale solutions including comprehensive site paving (concrete and asphalt), strong structural foundations, and high-quality masonry work, all delivered with professional project management.For foot traffic, you can typically walk on new concrete the next day (24 hours). However, you should generally wait 7 to 10 days before driving or parking a vehicle on a new slab to allow it to reach sufficient strength.
Those lines are called control joints. Concrete shrinks as it cures and will crack to relieve internal stress. Control joints are essentially planned, weak spots that encourage the inevitable cracks to occur neatly beneath the joint line, making them less visible and easier to manage.
Yes, sealing your concrete is highly recommended. A quality sealer protects the surface from water absorption, freezing/thawing damage, de-icing salts, and stains. It should typically be re-applied every 2 to 5 years, depending on the traffic and weather exposure.
You can generally walk on the new asphalt within a few hours. For vehicle traffic, we recommend keeping off the surface for at least 24 to 48 hours, depending on the size of the area and the outdoor temperature, to allow for initial cooling and hardening.
Newly laid asphalt can appear slightly gray or rocky because it hasn't fully cured and the top binder layer hasn't completely oxidized. It will darken to a uniform black over several weeks. A sealcoat application (recommended after 6-12 months) will give it the deep, uniform black finish.
New asphalt remains soft and flexible as it cures (which can take up to a year). Power steering marks (turning the wheel while stationary) and heavy objects with small contact points (like motorcycle kickstands or trailer jacks) can easily leave indentations, especially on hot days. Avoiding sharp, stationary turns helps prevent this.
A slight backward lean, or batter, is an intentional design feature. It helps the wall resist the enormous lateral pressure from the soil it retains. For segmental block walls, the blocks are designed with a built-in setback to provide this necessary stability.
Proper drainage is critical. If water builds up behind the wall, the extreme pressure can cause it to crack, bulge, or fail. We always install a robust drainage system, including a drainage layer (gravel backfill) and often a perforated pipe (weeping tile), to direct water away.
You can generally walk on the new asphalt within a few hours. For vehicle traffic, we recommend keeping off the surface for at least 24 to 48 hours, depending on the size of the area and the outdoor temperature, to allow for initial cooling and hardening.
The footing is the wide, reinforced base (usually concrete) at the bottom of the foundation wall. It is poured below the frost line and is crucial because it distributes the entire weight of the house over a larger area of soil, which prevents the foundation from sinking or settling unevenly.
The primary advantage is usable square footage. While more costly to build, a basement provides an entire floor of space for living, storage, or utilities, significantly increasing the home's functional area and value. Basement walls are also placed below the frost line, offering superior stability in cold climates.
A layer of gravel (or crushed stone) is laid first to serve as a drainage layer, preventing water from building up under the foundation. The vapor barrier (a heavy-duty plastic sheeting) is then laid over the gravel to block ground moisture from migrating up through the concrete slab into the home, preventing mold and improving indoor air quality.