
Artesia Concrete & Masonry serves Lakewood homeowners with retaining wall construction, concrete driveway repair, tuckpointing, and masonry restoration. Most homes in Lakewood were built in the early 1950s, and we have worked on this housing stock long enough to know what 70-year-old slabs and aging mortar look like here. We reply within one business day.

Many Lakewood backyards sit on grade changes that need a properly built wall to keep soil from shifting, especially on smaller lots where neighbor fences and property lines are close. Our retaining wall construction includes drainage planning designed for Lakewood's clay soil, which holds water behind walls and builds pressure after every winter rain.
Original concrete driveways on Lakewood properties from the 1950s are now past 70 years old, and the combination of clay soil movement and the roots of mature trees makes cracking and heaving nearly universal. We assess whether targeted repair or full replacement makes more sense for your property before recommending a plan.
Santa Ana winds roll through Lakewood each fall and dry out mortar joints faster than homeowners expect. Once joints crack, the winter rains that follow find every opening. Scheduling tuckpointing in late summer seals the wall before wind season begins and gives fresh mortar time to cure before the first storm.
The expansive clay soils throughout the Los Angeles Basin swell with winter rains and shrink during dry summers, and that cycle puts steady stress on the slab foundations that most Lakewood homes were built on in the 1950s. Sticking doors, diagonal cracks near window corners, and uneven floors are early signs worth investigating before the damage spreads.
Brick planters, entry columns, and garden walls on Lakewood properties from the postwar building era show the effects of decades of Southern California sun and soil movement. Repairing or replacing individual spalled or cracked bricks while the surrounding masonry is still sound is a cost-effective way to preserve a structure that would cost far more to rebuild from scratch.
Concrete walkways on Lakewood lots were often poured at the same time as the original driveway and are now equally worn. On properties with large established trees, pavers with sand joints handle root pressure better than solid concrete and are easier to reset when a section lifts.
Lakewood was developed almost entirely between 1950 and 1954 as one of the largest planned housing tracts in U.S. history. That means roughly 17,500 homes were built at the same time using similar materials and methods, and the majority of them are now more than 70 years old. The original concrete driveways, walkways, patio slabs, and masonry walls from that era were built to the standards of their time and have had seven decades of California sun, clay soil movement, and occasional heavy rain to work against them. Repairs that were put off 10 or 20 years ago are showing up now as larger problems.
Lakewood also sits in the Los Angeles Basin, where the soil has a high clay content that expands when wet and contracts when dry. That seasonal movement is the main reason concrete cracks, retaining walls lean, and mortar joints fail here, even on properties that were built well and maintained reasonably. The mature trees planted along Lakewood streets in the 1950s are now large enough to push roots under driveways and walkways, which compounds the flatwork problems visible across nearly every block in the city. A masonry contractor who works regularly in Lakewood knows these patterns well enough to address the real cause of damage, not just the surface symptom.
Our crew works throughout Lakewood regularly, and we understand the local conditions that affect masonry work here. The properties we service most often are single-story ranch homes on 5,000 to 6,000 square foot lots - the kind that make up most of Lakewood - where the concrete flatwork and masonry were poured when Dwight Eisenhower was president and have not been touched since. We pull permits through the City of Lakewood as needed and know what the city requires for structural masonry and retaining wall work.
Lakewood is a fully built-out city with no undeveloped land left, and working in tight suburban lots with shared fences and mature landscaping is simply how jobs go here. Whether a property sits a few blocks from Lakewood Center mall or on the quieter streets closer to the Cerritos border, the issues tend to be the same - aging concrete, root damage, and mortar that has had 70 years of Southern California weather work against it. We also work frequently in neighboring Long Beach to the south and know how conditions shift as you move toward the coast. Homeowners in the Bellflower area to the northeast will find that we cover that corridor as well through our work in Bellflower.
Reach out by phone or through the contact form and we will get back to you within one business day. You do not need to diagnose the problem first - just describe what you are seeing and where it is on the property.
We visit your Lakewood property, look at the damage or planned project in person, and give you a written estimate with a clear scope of work and price. We also discuss whether a permit is required and handle that application on your behalf if so - at no extra step for you.
Once you approve the estimate, we schedule the job and tell you exactly what to clear from the work area ahead of time. Most residential masonry jobs in Lakewood run one to three days. You can be away during the work - we just ask that you are reachable by phone.
Before the crew packs up, we walk the completed work with you, explain what was done and why, and answer any questions about ongoing care - including any curing time for fresh mortar or concrete. Nothing should be left unclear on our way out the door.
We serve Lakewood homeowners with free on-site estimates and a reply within one business day. No runaround, no surprises on the invoice.
(562) 625-1349Lakewood is a city of roughly 80,000 people in Los Angeles County, bordered by Long Beach, Bellflower, Cerritos, and Norwalk. It incorporated as its own city in 1954 and is distinct from Long Beach despite the shared border - Lakewood has its own city government, services, and community identity. The city became known nationally in the 1950s for the "Lakewood Plan," a model in which the city contracts with Los Angeles County for many public services, an arrangement later adopted by dozens of California cities. Most of Lakewood's housing is single-story ranch style, built on small lots, and the neighborhoods are mature and well established, with wide tree-lined streets and Lakewood Park at the center of community life.
The residential character of Lakewood - a high rate of owner-occupied homes, long-term residents, and properties that have been in families for decades - means homeowners here tend to invest seriously in maintenance and improvement. The housing stock is almost entirely from the early 1950s, which creates a consistent set of masonry needs across the city: aging concrete flatwork, mortar joints that have had 70 years of weathering, and retaining walls that were built before current drainage standards were established. We work with Lakewood homeowners across all neighborhoods, from the streets near Lakewood Center to the blocks near the Norwalk border to the northeast.
Restore your foundation's stability and stop structural damage from spreading.
Learn MoreBuild solid retaining walls that control erosion and reshape your landscape.
Learn MoreBring aging masonry back to its original beauty and structural integrity.
Learn MoreTransform any wall with elegant stone veneer for lasting visual impact.
Learn MoreConstruct strong, low-maintenance concrete block walls built to last decades.
Learn MoreInstall block foundation walls engineered for long-term structural support.
Learn MoreCreate an outdoor kitchen built from premium masonry for years of entertaining.
Learn MoreDesign and build beautiful walkways that improve safety and curb appeal.
Learn MoreCraft handsome, durable brick walls that define spaces and stand the test of time.
Learn MoreShape natural stone into stunning structures with craftsmanship that lasts generations.
Learn MoreRepoint deteriorating brick joints to protect your walls from water intrusion.
Learn MoreCall us or send a message and we will be back to you within one business day with a free estimate for your Lakewood property.