Masonry in Monthey: walls, slabs and foundations

Are you looking for a mason in Monthey to open a partition, redo a slab or build a low wall? Masonry in Monthey covers town-centre buildings as well as houses in the residential districts at the foot of the mountains. This page explains what the location changes about this work and how to prepare a quote request that lets you compare serious offers.

The most common masonry jobs in Monthey

The trade covers walls, openings in load-bearing or non-load-bearing walls, foundations, slabs, low walls, small extensions and the repair of concrete or stone. In Monthey, this work falls broadly into two types of building.

In the town centre, you mostly find apartment blocks and flats. Requests then concern the interior: removing a partition to open a kitchen onto the living room, cutting a doorway between two rooms, creating a niche, filling in an old opening, repairing a floor that is sinking. In the residential districts, there are more detached houses with gardens: boundary walls, retaining walls, patio slabs, outdoor steps, foundations for a shelter or a small annexe, repair of a cracked threshold or plinth.

Repair plays a large part. A crack does not always have the same cause: concrete shrinkage, slight settlement, water infiltration or ground movement. A good mason starts by understanding the origin before filling it in, otherwise the crack will come back.

Masonry in Monthey: what the nearby mountains change on site

Monthey opens the Val d’Illiez onto the Valais Chablais, and the mountains are close. As soon as you leave the valley floor, the ground can slope. This matters to the mason in several ways.

• Foundations: on a sloping plot, they are not built as on flat ground. Their depth, shape and protection against water depend on the soil found on site.
• Retaining walls: a wall that holds back earth is subject to thrust. Its design (thickness, reinforcement, drainage behind the wall) cannot be improvised, and a major structure requires an engineer’s calculations.
• Water run-off: on a slope, surface water must be guided away from walls and slabs. A low wall or patio with poor drainage will crack.
• Site access: a narrow or steep track limits the passage of lorries and machines. Mention it in your request, as it affects the organisation of the work and therefore the quote.

The canton is characterised by a dry, sunny Rhône valley, hot in summer. For concrete and render, heat matters: a freshly poured or rendered structure in very hot weather must be protected from drying too quickly. The mason adapts their schedule and precautions to the season, and this is a point to raise during the visit.

Town-centre block or neighbourhood house: two very different requests

In a flat, the central question is the wall you want to open. A non-load-bearing wall is relatively simple to demolish, but nobody can tell from the outside whether it is load-bearing: the building plan is needed, sometimes a test opening. If it is load-bearing, calculations by a civil engineer are essential, with a beam or lintel that takes the load, propping during the work and, often, a permit. In a condominium building, the wall is generally part of the common elements or affects the structure: the association’s agreement must be obtained before starting anything.

In a detached house, requests are more focused on the outdoors and the ground: what the soil bears, what the wall holds back, how water is drained away. A small extension, even a modest one, involves foundations, connections with the existing structure and almost always a permit procedure.

If you are a tenant, nothing can be done without the landlord’s written consent: a wall, a slab or a facade belongs to the owner.

Permits and consent: the procedures for a mason in Monthey

For masonry work that alters a building or its appearance, the general rule in Valais is as follows: in a building zone, the building permit is issued by the municipality; outside a building zone, it is a matter for a cantonal commission. For a house in Monthey in a residential zone, it is therefore the municipality you should ask first.

Typical cases where the question arises:

1. opening a load-bearing wall, with calculations by a civil engineer;
2. a small extension or annexe, which creates floor area or changes the volume;
3. a retaining wall or a low wall of notable size;
4. a change to the facade, which alters the appearance of the building.

If your project also involves energy, for example insulation fitted at the same time, the cantonal energy and hydropower service and its subsidy programme may be concerned. Do not count on any grant before checking the conditions with that service, which sets them. And if your property is a chalet or a second home, the federal law on second homes may limit certain alterations in the municipalities concerned: ask the municipality what applies to your property.

In every case, the mason does not replace verification with the municipality or the competent cantonal service. Ask who handles the permit application and whether or not this step is included in their offer.

Preparing your masonry quote request in Monthey

The more precise the request, the more alike the offers you receive, and the more useful the comparison. Here is what it is best to state:

• The type of property: flat, house, condominium building, tenant or owner.
• The work wanted: which wall, which opening, what slab area, which low wall, with photos and a sketch if possible.
• The ground: flat or sloping, vehicle access, presence of an old stone wall to be kept.
• The existing condition: cracks, damp, known earlier work, building plans if you have them.
• The constraints: desired dates, neighbours, consent already obtained from the landlord or the condominium association.

You can describe all this in a single form to request a quote: your request is passed on to craftspeople and firms in the area, who contact you to prepare a free quote with no obligation.

Comparing quotes: what makes the cost of a job in Monthey vary

Do not compare only the total at the bottom of the page. A useful quote details each item: demolition, propping, removal of rubble, concrete or bricks, reinforcement, support beam, labour, making good. It also states what is excluded: engineer, permit procedures, plastering or painting finishes after a wall is opened.

The cost varies mainly according to:

• whether the wall is load-bearing, and therefore the presence of engineer’s calculations and propping;
• the slope of the ground, the depth of the foundations and the drainage required;
• site access and the space available for machines and materials;
• the condition of the existing structure, which is sometimes only discovered once the wall is open;
• the volume of rubble to be removed and the level of finish requested.

If two offers differ greatly, look for the reason in the detail rather than choosing the lowest. A missing line, for example propping or drainage, often explains the gap. The trade is learned through a CFC (the Swiss federal vocational certificate) as a mason: you can ask the firm who will work on your site and how it organises the work.

Other useful pages for your project in Monthey

• The trade in general: masonry
• The municipality: work in Monthey
• The canton: canton of Valais
• In Monthey, for other work: thermal insulation in Monthey, plumber in Monthey, roofing in Monthey