Stone and Brick Veneer in Cicero

In the Town of Cicero, 59.5 percent of the mapped soil area is classed poorly drained, somewhat poorly drained or very poorly drained, and 6.2 percent is classed well drained. The single largest map unit is Niagara silt loam on 0 to 4 percent slopes at about 28.6 percent of the town, followed by Collamer silt loam at about 12.2 percent and Carlisle muck, a very poorly drained organic soil, at about 12.0 percent.

Source: United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soil Survey Geographic Database for Onondaga County New York, survey area NY067, queried through the Soil Data Access service, accessed 2026-09-14

Niagara silt loam, the second most extensive soil in Onondaga County and the dominant soil across the northern towns, carries a seasonal high water table with its top at about 31 centimeters, roughly 12 inches, below the surface, and the county soil data records that condition for December, January, February, March, April and May. Rhinebeck silt loam has the same 31 centimeter figure. Kendaia silt loam is shallower at about 20 centimeters, roughly 8 inches. For comparison, Collamer silt loam is about 54 centimeters, roughly 21 inches, and Honeoye silt loam about 76 centimeters, roughly 30 inches.

Source: United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soil Survey Geographic Database for Onondaga County New York, survey area NY067, queried through the Soil Data Access service, accessed 2026-09-14

Both of the fast-growing northern towns name fireplaces on their list of work requiring a building permit and neither names a patio. The Town of Clay lists new buildings, all additions and alterations, mobile homes, garages and barns, pools, sheds and storage buildings, decks and porches, fences, signs, fireplaces, stoves and inserts, and demolition. The Town of Cicero lists decks, porches and garages, fireplaces, pellet stoves and wood stoves, storage sheds no matter the size, fences, swimming pools, and structural, plumbing or electrical alterations, and requires a permit before excavation or filling of more than 10 cubic yards. Cicero also requires a Floodplain Development Permit for any work in a 100 year flood zone, including work that would not otherwise need a permit.

Source: Town of Clay, New York, Department of Planning and Development, Building Permits Information, and Town of Cicero, New York, Department of Zoning and Planning, forms and permits, accessed 2026-09-14

National Flood Insurance Program figures in the county hazard mitigation plan annexes show how differently water behaves across the northern towns. The Town of Cicero has 180 active policies and 153 claims paid totalling about 1.44 million dollars. The Town of Clay has 93 policies and 49 claims paid totalling 455,606 dollars, and no repetitive loss or severe repetitive loss properties. North Syracuse village has 4 policies and has had no claims paid at all, a total of zero dollars. Solvay village has 3 policies and 6 claims paid totalling 10,957 dollars, and East Syracuse village has 9 policies and 12 claims paid totalling 223,722 dollars.

Source: Onondaga County, New York, 2025 Hazard Mitigation Plan, Town of Cicero Annex, Town of Clay Annex and Village of North Syracuse Annex, Onondaga County Department of Planning, accessed 2026-09-14

Ranked by the share of housing units built in 2000 or later, the era in which adhered stone veneer and segmental paver hardscape became the dominant new masonry products, the places of this metro spread very widely. Radisson, the census place inside the Town of Clay, leads at 32.4 percent, followed by the Town of Lysander at 25.8 percent, the Town of Van Buren at 21.9 percent, Baldwinsville village at 20.1 percent, the Town of Cicero at 19.1 percent, the Town of Clay at 15.4 percent, the Town of Camillus at 15.2 percent, the Town of Manlius at 11.6 percent, the Town of Marcellus at 11.3 percent, the Town of Skaneateles at 11.2 percent, Marcellus village at 9.9 percent, the Town of DeWitt at 8.7 percent, Skaneateles village at 8.4 percent, Fayetteville village at 8.1 percent, the Town of Salina at 7.0 percent, the City of Syracuse at 6.4 percent, Camillus village at 6.4 percent, Liverpool village at 6.1 percent, North Syracuse village at 4.7 percent, Manlius village at 4.5 percent, and both East Syracuse village and Solvay village at 0.0 percent. The county figure is 11.6 percent.

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, table B25034 Year Structure Built and table B25035 Median Year Structure Built, accessed 2026-09-14

Section R703.12.2 of the Residential Code of New York State, Flashing at Foundation, requires that for adhered masonry veneer on exterior stud walls a corrosion-resistant screed or flashing of a minimum 0.019 inch, or 26 gage, galvanized or plastic, with a minimum vertical attachment flange of 3 1/2 inches, shall be installed to extend a minimum of 1 inch below the foundation plate line.

Source: 2020 Residential Code of New York State, Section R703, Exterior Covering, via UpCodes, accessed 2026-09-14

Section R703.12.3 requires a water-resistive barrier behind adhered masonry veneer and states that the water-resistive barrier shall lap over the exterior of the attachment flange of the screed or flashing provided in accordance with Section R703.12.2. The lap direction is the whole point: the barrier over the flange carries water out of the wall, and the barrier behind the flange carries it in.

Source: 2020 Residential Code of New York State, Section R703, Exterior Covering, via UpCodes, accessed 2026-09-14

Section R703.1.1 of the Residential Code of New York State states the governing principle for every cladding on a frame wall: the exterior wall envelope shall be designed and constructed in a manner that prevents the accumulation of water within the wall assembly by providing a water-resistant barrier behind the exterior cladding as required by Section R703.2, and a means of draining to the exterior water that penetrates the exterior cladding.

Source: 2020 Residential Code of New York State, Section R703, Exterior Covering, via UpCodes, accessed 2026-09-14

The masonry industry's own construction specification sets its cold weather trigger at 40 degrees Fahrenheit, not at freezing. Brick Industry Association Technical Note 1 states that the primary purpose of the cold weather construction procedures is to achieve complete hydration of the cement, which occurs only when material temperatures are 40 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, and that as ambient temperatures fall the chemical reaction slows and may stop completely unless adequate heat is maintained in the mortar or grout. The consequence it names is incomplete cement hydration producing soft, friable mortar with reduced durability.

Source: Brick Industry Association, Technical Note 1, Hot and Cold Weather Construction, accessed 2026-09-14