Masonry in Bienne

Are you looking for a mason in Bienne to open a wall, pour a slab or repair a façade? Masonry in Bienne covers very different jobs, depending on whether the house is in the old town, in a district of apartment blocks or on the higher ground. On sos-travaux.ch, you describe your project online; your request is passed on to craftspeople and companies in the region, who get back to you to prepare a free, no-obligation quote.

The most common masonry jobs in Bienne

The mason’s trade covers structural work and everything built in solid materials. In Bienne as elsewhere, requests tend to revolve around a few types of work:

• opening a wall, load-bearing or not, to enlarge a kitchen or join two rooms;
• foundations and slabs, for example for a shelter, a garage or an outbuilding;
• low walls, masonry fences and outdoor steps;
• small house extensions;
• repairing cracked or spalled concrete, and restoring stone masonry.

What sets Bienne apart is the variety of its buildings: old houses, apartment blocks, villas, and a town set between the lake and the foot of the Jura. The same trade therefore takes on very different forms from one district to another.

Bienne old town: working on the walls of an old house

Bienne’s old town is made up of old houses. Working there cannot be improvised. In a building of that age, the walls have often been altered over the generations: an opening filled in, a lintel replaced, a partition added. Before cutting into a wall, the mason must understand how it works structurally.

In practice, this means:

• examining the condition of the stone and joints before deciding on a job;
• knowing whether the wall is load-bearing, and what it supports on the upper floors;
• choosing mortars and materials compatible with the existing fabric, rather than applying a material that is too hard onto softer stone;
• checking whether the building is subject to special protection, which can change the procedure.

On this last point, all we can do is refer you to the municipality of Bienne: only it can say whether your building is affected. A façade visible from the street, even for a simple stone repair, deserves this question before work begins.

Slopes towards Evilard and Macolin: low walls, retaining walls and foundations

The districts of apartment blocks and villas in Bienne climb towards Evilard and Macolin. On sloping ground, masonry changes in nature. A simple garden wall is no longer merely decorative: it holds back soil, and the soil pushes. A retaining wall must be designed for this, with suitable foundations and drainage behind the structure.

On a sloping plot, several points weigh on the work:

• the stability of the ground, which determines the depth and type of foundations;
• rainwater runoff, which builds up behind a poorly drained wall;
• access: getting a concrete truck or materials onto a plot on higher ground is not always easy, and this affects how the site is organised;
• the height of the structure, which can turn routine work into a project requiring a permit.

If you are planning a patio, a garage dug into the slope or a small villa extension, mention the topography in your very first request. It is one of the factors that makes the cost vary the most.

Between lake and Jura: what cold and damp do to stone and concrete

The canton of Bern, at the foot of the Jura and on the shore of Lake Biel, has colder winters than the Lake Geneva basin. For masonry, this is a serious factor. Water that seeps into a crack and then freezes widens that crack: it is one of the classic causes of deterioration in concrete and stone.

This explains several habits of the trade:

• repairing a crack early, before water settles in;
• treating the tops of low walls and ledges, which are particularly exposed;
• taking care over waterproofing and drainage at the foot of walls;
• taking the season into account: some work cannot be done in severe cold.

If you notice chipping, damp patches or crumbling joints, make a note of them and photograph them. This information helps the company assess the job even before the site visit.

Permits, the canton of Bern and Bienne’s bilingualism

In the canton of Bern, the building permit is issued by the municipality or by the prefecture, depending on the project. A small repair does not have the same requirements as an extension or a new retaining wall. To know where you stand, the safest course is to ask the municipality of Bienne before signing a quote.

A few useful points of reference:

• opening a load-bearing wall requires a civil engineer’s calculation and often needs a permit;
• an extension, even a modest one, generally requires a permit application;
• a low wall, an outdoor slab or a façade repair may need to be checked with the municipality, depending on their scale and location.

If the work affects the energy performance of the building, the cantonal office for the environment and energy runs a cantonal subsidy programme. Ask that service about the conditions currently in force.

As Bienne is officially bilingual, you may come across documents in French as well as in German. This is nothing unusual: do not let the language of a form put you off, and ask the company to write its quote in the language that is clearest to you.

Rental apartment blocks in Bienne: landlord and co-ownership

Many people in Bienne live in apartment blocks. If you are a tenant, you cannot open a wall or alter a structure without the landlord’s written consent. If you are a co-owner, a load-bearing wall, a façade or a slab is often part of the common areas: the decision then goes through the co-ownership. Settle this point before requesting quotes, so that you do not have offers drawn up for work that cannot go ahead.

Preparing your request and comparing quotes from masons in Bienne

The more precise your description, the more comparable the quotes will be. Indicate:

• the nature of the work (opening, slab, low wall, repair) and its exact location;
• the type of building: old house, apartment block, villa;
• the layout of the plot: flat, sloping, difficult access or not;
• the visible condition of the walls, with a few photos;
• your status: owner, tenant with the landlord’s consent, co-owner.

A good masonry quote details what is included: site preparation, any demolition, removal of rubble, materials, propping during an opening, finishes, cleaning. It also states what is not included, for example the engineer’s calculation or the permit applications.

The cost varies with the size of the structure, the nature of the ground, access to the site, the need for propping, the materials chosen and the level of finish. This is why no serious figure can be given without a visit. Compare the items between offers rather than looking only at the total, then request a quote describing your project.

Useful pages on masonry in Bienne

• The trade in general: masonry
• The town: work in Bienne
• The canton: canton of Bern
• In the same municipality: thermal insulation in Bienne, plumber in Bienne, roofing in Bienne