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Serving Artesia, CA and surrounding areas. (562) 625-1349
Artesia Concrete & Masonry serves Torrance homeowners with stone veneer installation, brick repair, tuckpointing, concrete driveways, and retaining walls. Torrance is a city of mostly postwar ranch homes, and those homes - many built in the 1950s and 1960s - are now at the age where concrete flatwork, mortar joints, and exterior surfaces need real attention. We respond to all Torrance inquiries within one business day.
Many Torrance homeowners update the curb appeal of their postwar ranch homes by adding a stone veneer accent to the front facade, a fireplace surround, or a retaining wall facing. Our stone veneer installation uses products that stand up to the salt air and marine layer moisture common across Torrance - particularly in the Hollywood Riviera and South Torrance neighborhoods closest to the water - without the weight and cost of full natural stone.
Torrance homes built in the 1950s and 1960s commonly have original brick chimneys that have had 60-plus years of coastal weather working on their mortar joints and crowns. When the mortar opens up, the marine layer moisture that rolls in most mornings finds its way into the chimney structure - and water damage inside a chimney is far more expensive to fix than the repointing work that would have prevented it.
In Torrance - especially in older neighborhoods like Old Torrance where homes date back to the 1920s and 1930s - brick planters, boundary walls, and chimney bases have mortar joints that are simply at the end of their useful life. Tuckpointing restores the waterproofing line of the wall without replacing sound bricks, and on properties near the coast it closes the gaps that salt-laden moisture uses to work into the structure.
Southwood, Walteria, and South Torrance have large concentrations of 1950s and 1960s ranch homes whose original concrete driveways are now six to seven decades old. Torrance's clay-heavy soils expand with winter rain and shrink back in the dry summer, and after 60-plus years of that cycle, the cracking and settlement on these original slabs is often too advanced for patching to address.
Some Torrance properties - particularly in the Hollywood Riviera and near the Palos Verdes foothills - have sloped lots where retaining walls manage grade changes between the yard and adjacent properties or the street. Clay soils hold water and exert pressure on retaining walls, which is why drainage behind the wall is as important as the wall itself.
Concrete slab foundations on Torrance's postwar homes have been absorbing the effects of clay-soil seasonal movement for 60 to 70 years. Cracks in the slab or stem walls, uneven flooring, and sticking doors and windows are the early signs - and in Torrance's damp coastal microclimate, water finds cracked foundation concrete quickly.
Torrance built out rapidly after World War II, and the majority of its housing stock dates from the late 1940s through the early 1970s. Those homes - the ranch houses in Southwood, the bungalows near Old Torrance, the larger properties in the Hollywood Riviera - were built on concrete slab foundations with stucco exteriors and modest concrete driveways and walkways. At 60 to 75 years old, that original flatwork and masonry is at the point where seasonal soil movement, UV exposure, and the persistent coastal moisture have pushed many surfaces past what maintenance and patching can address.
Torrance sits closer to the Pacific Ocean than most people outside the South Bay realize - the Hollywood Riviera neighborhood borders Redondo Beach, and the marine layer that rolls in off the water keeps the entire city damper than inland areas for much of the year. Salt air accelerates mortar breakdown, promotes rust in embedded metal fasteners, and works into any crack in stucco or masonry. Del Amo Fashion Center sits at the commercial heart of the city, but the surrounding residential neighborhoods - Seaside, South Torrance, Walteria - are full of homes dealing with the same combination of age and coastal exposure that drives most of the masonry work we see here.
Our crew works throughout Torrance regularly, and the postwar ranch-home stock here has its own set of predictable needs - aging stucco over wood-framed walls, original concrete flatwork on clay soil, and brick chimneys that have had 60 or more years of coastal weather cycling through their mortar joints. Permit applications for structural masonry and concrete work in Torrance go through the City of Torrance Community Development Department. We handle permit applications on behalf of our customers so the administrative side of the job does not fall on you.
Torrance is a city most people navigate by its main corridors - Hawthorne Boulevard runs north-south through the commercial core, Pacific Coast Highway marks the southern edge, and the 405 freeway crosses the northern end. The neighborhoods closest to the Palos Verdes Peninsula, including the Hollywood Riviera, have older and more varied homes - some dating back to the 1930s - alongside the postwar tracts. Toyota North America has its headquarters in Torrance, which helps explain the city's long-term economic stability and the fact that homeowners here tend to stay put and invest in their properties.
We also serve nearby Artesia, CA and Long Beach, CA, where we handle similar coastal masonry and concrete work throughout the South Bay.
Reach us by phone or through the contact form - we respond to all Torrance inquiries within one business day. You do not need to know exactly what you need; a description of what you are seeing is enough to get the conversation started.
We visit your Torrance property, assess the work, and provide a written itemized estimate at no charge. This is also when we identify whether a permit is needed and explain what that process looks like, so there are no surprises once work starts.
Once you approve the estimate, we schedule the work around your availability. For most Torrance jobs you do not need to be home during the work - we let you know upfront if that changes based on the specific scope.
We clean up the work area when the job is done and walk you through the completed work. For any concrete or masonry that needs cure time before it can be used, we give you clear instructions on what that looks like.
We serve all Torrance neighborhoods - from the Hollywood Riviera to Southwood to Old Torrance. Free estimates, no obligation.
(562) 625-1349Torrance is a South Bay city of about 147,000 people in Los Angeles County, sitting between the Palos Verdes Peninsula and the 405 freeway. The city is made up largely of single-family homes on modest lots, with a commercial spine running along Hawthorne Boulevard and Del Amo Fashion Center anchoring a large retail and office corridor near the city center. Distinct neighborhoods - Old Torrance, Southwood, Hollywood Riviera, and Walteria among them - give the city a patchwork character, with each area having its own housing age and style. Most Torrance homes are owner-occupied, and the city has long had one of the higher homeownership rates in Los Angeles County. You can read more about the city at the Torrance, California Wikipedia article.
The bulk of the housing stock dates from the postwar boom of the late 1940s through the 1960s, when Torrance grew rapidly as an industrial and residential suburb. Those homes are now 60 to 75 years old, and the masonry and concrete that was poured alongside them is showing it. The Hollywood Riviera, near the coast, has some of the city's older and more varied homes - including Spanish Colonial and Craftsman-influenced styles from the 1930s - while neighborhoods like Southwood have the consistent postwar ranch style that defines most of the city. We also serve neighboring Carson, CA and Hawthorne, CA with similar concrete and masonry services for South Bay homeowners.
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 MoreTorrance homes need a contractor who understands coastal soil, salt-air exposure, and 60-year-old concrete. Call us or submit a request and we will get back to you within one business day.