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How do you choose a stonemason for a house?

Choosing a stonemason starts with saying whether the job is a repair, new stone cladding, or work on a listed wall. This guide is the list of questions to ask in Cheshire, and it is not a method for cutting or lifting stone.

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By the QuoteZila editorial team. Editorial policy.

What job are you actually posting?

"Stonemason near me" is a search for a person. The quote is for a job. A cracked pier, a course of stone to be replaced, cladding on a rendered wall, and a listed door surround are not the same visit. Write the job in the first line, with a photo you can take from the ground. This guide does not tell you how to cut, bed or lift stone.

Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach are the first towns this is written for. Anyone in the UK can post or register. The planning sentences below are national guidance for England, not a claim about what the houses in those towns are built from.

Builders are the live trade page closest to this work. A mason may work inside a building firm or alone. Ask which.

When is cladding different from a repair?

The Planning Portal says you do not need to apply for planning permission for repairs, maintenance or minor improvements, such as painting your house [S1]. If you live in a listed building, you will need listed building consent for any significant works, whether internal or external [S1]. If you live in a conservation area, a national park, an area of outstanding natural beauty or the Broads, you will need to apply for planning permission before cladding the outside of your house with stone, artificial stone, pebble dash, render, timber, plastic or tiles [S1]. Outside those areas, cladding may be carried out without having to apply for planning permission first, provided the materials are of a similar appearance to those used in the construction of the house [S1].

A mason who prices "stone cladding" in a conservation area is pricing a job that may need an application [S1]. A mason who prices "like-for-like repair of three stones" is pricing something the Portal puts under repairs [S1]. If you are not sure which box you are in, say so, and ask them to say which box their price assumes. Do not let the word "stone" cover both.

GOV.UK: find your local council for building control. QuoteZila is not affiliated with this organisation.

The Portal page is external walls: planning permission. GOV.UK says building regulations approval is different from planning permission and you might need both [S2]. You do not need to get approval yourself if you use someone registered with a competent person scheme [S2]. Stonework is not automatically inside a scheme. Check with a building control body if you cannot decide whether approval is needed [S2]. Read building regulations approval.

What does listing add?

GOV.UK says any works to alter or extend a listed building in a way that affects its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest require listed building consent, irrespective of whether planning permission is also required [S3]. Unless the list entry indicates otherwise, the listing covers the entire building, internal and external, and may cover objects fixed to it and curtilage buildings or other structures [S3]. Doing those works without consent is a criminal offence [S3].

That is a wider test than "significant works" on the Portal page, and it is a different sentence. Use both. If the wall is listed, the quote should say that consent is being checked before stone is removed. A garden wall in the curtilage may be included [S3]. Say whether the wall is attached to the house or stands in the garden, and let the council say whether the listing reaches it. This guide does not decide that from a postcode.

The wording is in conserving the historic environment.

Why the look from the ground is enough

HSE says work at height means work in any place where, if there were no precautions in place, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury [S4]. Avoid it where reasonably practicable, and have competent people do it [S4]. A gable, a chimney-side pier or a wall you can only see from a ladder is that kind of place. Do not go up to measure a joint. Describe the height in storeys, from the pavement.

HSE: work at height. QuoteZila is not affiliated with this organisation.

See HSE's introduction to working at height.

If the stone is high and the job includes a scaffold, ask whether the scaffold is in the price and who is responsible for it. This guide does not describe how to put a scaffold up.

What should the quote name?

Citizens Advice says some traders charge for quotes, so ask first, and to try to get written quotes from at least 3 traders [S5]. A quote is a fixed price. An estimate is a rough guess [S5]. Materials should be a separate line [S5]. For stone, that means the type of stone they will use, in their words, and whether it is new or salvaged. This guide does not name a quarry and does not say which stone is usual anywhere.

Ask also:

  • Repair, cladding, or rebuild, in their words, matched to the Portal cases above [S1].
  • Who speaks to the planning authority and to building control [S1] [S2].
  • Whether listed building consent is assumed, excluded, or already in hand [S3].
  • What happens to the stone they take out.
  • Whether the price includes making good the mortar only, or the face as well.

A daily rate needs days and hours written down, or the work can be strung out [S5]. Stone that has to be ordered is a reason to ask how long the price is valid for [S5].

A business registers for VAT when taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000 [S6]. Ask whether VAT is in the figure. That is not a rate for a metre of wall. This guide does not print one.

Jobs you might post

These are examples, not taken from real job posts.

  • "Three stones spalled on a front pier, house not listed, not in a conservation area. Please quote a like-for-like repair and say whether you think planning permission is needed. I have not taken a sample."
  • "Want stone cladding on a rendered side wall. House is in a conservation area. Please say whether the application is in your price, and do not start until that is clear."
  • "Listed house, worn step at the front door. Please look from the ground and say whether listed building consent is required before you price new stone."

How should you compare the people who reply?

Match each reply to repair, cladding or listed work. A low total that assumes no application, on a conservation-area cladding job, has not priced the Portal's rule [S1]. A reply that will not name the stone is harder to compare than one that will. You still check insurance and qualifications yourself.

Up to five matched local businesses can send a quote [QZ2]. QuoteZila is free for customers and local businesses [QZ1]. Roof coverings, if the stonework is really a roof, are a different trade: the roof repair cost guide.

Honest status: QuoteZila is new. We're starting in Cheshire, beginning with Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach, and growing area by area. Anyone in the UK can still post a job or register a business. How fast you get quotes depends on how many local businesses have joined near you. Businesses can register and receive jobs straight away. We don't check insurance, qualifications or registrations, so please check these yourself before you hire.

Posting a job is not open yet

Does 'near me' mean a firm in the same town?

It means a firm that will travel to your house and can describe the stonework in a written quote. QuoteZila sends a job to matched local businesses. It does not rank them, and this page does not name a firm. You still check registrations and insurance yourself.

Is cladding the same as a repair?

No. The Planning Portal treats cladding the outside of a house as its own case, with extra limits in a conservation area, a national park, an area of outstanding natural beauty or the Broads. A repair, maintenance or a minor improvement such as painting is described separately. Say which you want so the quote is not for the other one.

What if the house is listed?

The Portal says you will need listed building consent for any significant works, internal or external. GOV.UK says works that alter a listed building in a way that affects its character require listed building consent, whether or not planning permission is also required. Ask before stone is cut.

Should I chip off a sample?

No. High work is work at height, which HSE says should be avoided where reasonably practicable and carried out by competent people. A sample knocked off a wall is also a way to damage the face you wanted repaired. Describe the wall from the ground.

Does QuoteZila check masons?

No. We don't check insurance, qualifications or registrations, so please check these yourself before you hire. You can report a quote or a business from your job page.

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Sources

  1. QZ1: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila pricing line.
  2. QZ2: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila FAQ How does getting quotes work.
  3. S1: Planning permission: external walls, Planning Portal. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/external-walls/planning-permission
  4. S2: Building regulations approval, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.gov.uk/building-regulations-approval
  5. S3: Conserving and enhancing the historic environment, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/conserving-and-enhancing-the-historic-environment
  6. S4: Introduction to working at height safely, Health and Safety Executive. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.hse.gov.uk/work-at-height/introduction.htm
  7. S5: Before you get work done on your home, Citizens Advice. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/before-you-get-building-work-done/
  8. S6: Register for VAT, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.gov.uk/register-for-vat