Three Masonry Quotes, Thousands Apart: How to Read Them
Almost never the stone. Two things account for most of the gap: the month the work is booked into, and the half of the job that ends up buried, which is base depth, compaction, drainage, the flashing behind a veneer wall and the footing under anything that carries weight. Neither appears in a photograph, and both can be turned into numbers on a page before you sign anything.
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How to make three quotes genuinely comparable
Look up your own ground
NRCS Web Soil Survey, no costMap unit name and drainage class for your address. It tells you whether the well drained base minimum applies to you at all.
Call your code office
One phone callTwo questions: what frost line depth have you entered in Table R301.2(1), and is this on your permit list.
Ask all three the same six questions
Base depth, compaction, fall, drainage, flashing, cold weather protectionSame words to each contractor, and in writing. Differences in the answers are the differences in the prices.
Read the contract against section 771
Within three business days of signingDates and contingencies, a payment schedule in dollars and cents against named stages, the deposit notice, and the cancellation notice.
Four steps, none of which needs a contractor's cooperation to start.
All three quotes agree on the only part you can see
Bluestone or concrete pavers. Manufactured or natural veneer. This pattern or that one. Those are the choices every quote puts in front of you, and they are also the choices where three contractors will land within a fairly narrow range of each other, because they are all pricing the same material off similar supplier lists. The spread comes from everywhere else. A masonry job is mostly labor, excavation, machine time, base material and protection, and every one of those is invisible in the finished result. That is the position a homeowner is put in: asked to choose between three prices on the basis of the one variable that barely varies. The fix is not to trust harder. It is to ask for the buried half in writing, where it becomes as comparable as the stone.
The calendar is a line item, not a courtesy
Ask each contractor what month they intend to start, and then ask what changes if it slips. The masonry industry sets its cold weather trigger at 40 degrees Fahrenheit rather than at freezing, because complete hydration of the cement happens only when material temperatures are 40 degrees or above, and below that line the work needs heated sand or mixing water, covers over the finished masonry and, colder still, insulated blankets or a heated enclosure. All of that is fuel, equipment, labor and extra days on site. At Syracuse, October normally brings 12.8 nights below 40 degrees and November brings 25.0, so a job that starts in mid October and runs three weeks over has crossed into a different procedure. If one of your three quotes is notably cheaper for a late season start, the most likely explanation is not a leaner business. It is a bid written as though it were June.
The five numbers that make the buried half comparable
Ask for all five in writing and three quotes stop being a matter of instinct. One, the base depth in inches after compaction, against an industry minimum of 4 inches for a patio or walkway over well drained soils and at least 6 for a residential driveway, thicker in cold climates over wet or weak soils. Two, the compaction standard, which the hardscape specification puts at a minimum of 98 percent of standard Proctor density under ASTM D698. Three, the finished fall, a minimum of 1.5 percent. Four, where water leaves the assembly, which on slow draining soils means a perimeter drain line described rather than implied. Five, on any veneer, the base flashing and the lap direction of the barrier over its flange. None of those five is an unreasonable request, none takes a contractor more than a minute to answer, and a quote that contains them is a quote you can hold someone to. A contractor who declines all five has told you something without either of you having an argument.
On a footing, two honest quotes can genuinely differ and neither be wrong
This one surprises people and it is worth knowing before you accuse anyone of padding. New York publishes no statewide or county frost depth: Section R301.2 says additional criteria shall be established by the local jurisdiction and set out in Table R301.2(1), and the table's frost line depth column is printed blank for each municipality to fill in. Meanwhile Section R403.1.4.1 exempts free-standing accessory structures of 400 square feet or less of other than light-frame construction with an eave height of 10 feet or less from frost protection entirely, and a garden fire feature can sit inside that exemption. So one mason quoting a shallow footing and another quoting a deep one may both be applying the code, differently. The difference between those two prices can be thousands. The person who settles it is your own code enforcement officer, not whichever mason you liked more, and one phone call to them makes both quotes readable.
What New York already requires on the page, before you ask for anything
General Business Law section 770(3) defines home improvement to include the construction, erection, replacement or improvement of driveways, siding, terraces, patios, landscaping, fences, porches, garages and other improvements to residential property and to the land and structures adjacent to it. Your patio is named in the statute. That means section 771 applies, and it requires the contract to carry the approximate or estimated dates when the work will begin and be substantially completed, including a statement of any contingencies that would materially change that completion date, and to specify whether or not you and the contractor have agreed that a definite completion date is of the essence. Read that alongside the season. If the work is going in late in the year, weather and temperature are exactly the contingency the statute is asking to have named, and asking for it in writing is not an imposition on a contractor. It is a term the law already puts on them.
The payment schedule is where a quote becomes a contract
Section 771(1)(f) requires that where a contract provides for progress payments before substantial completion, it must contain a schedule showing the amount of each payment as a sum in dollars and cents, specifically identifying the state of completion of the work, including materials to be supplied, before each payment is due. It further requires each progress payment to bear a reasonable relationship to the work to be performed, the materials to be bought or the expenses the contractor will have incurred by that point. On a patio that reads naturally as materials delivered, excavation and base complete, paving complete. On a veneer wall it reads as stone delivered, barrier and flashing complete, stone complete. Separately, section 771(1)(e) requires the contract to notify you that payments taken before completion are to be deposited under subdivision four of section 71-a of the Lien Law, and that in place of that deposit the contractor may post a bond, a contract of indemnity or an irrevocable letter of credit with you. Ask which of those applies before money changes hands. A large sum up front, before anything has been delivered, does not bear a reasonable relationship to anything.
You have three business days, and that is enough to read a quote properly
Section 771(1)(h) requires the contract to tell you that, in addition to any other right to revoke an offer, you may cancel the home improvement contract until midnight of the third business day after the day you signed the agreement or offer to purchase. Cancellation happens when written notice is given to the contractor, is treated as given when it is deposited in a properly addressed and prepaid mailbox, and is sufficient if it shows you do not intend to be bound. Practically, that window is your defense against a decision made at a kitchen table under pressure. If a price is only available today, the statute has already given you until the third business day to think about it, and a contractor who works here should not be surprised to hear you say so.
The cheap bid is usually not missing profit, it is missing a line
Put the two mechanisms together and the pattern behind most large spreads is dull rather than sinister. The cheap number is often a smaller excavation, a thinner base, no perimeter drain on a lot where more than half the mapped soil drains poorly, no allowance for the protection a late start requires, or a veneer wall priced without opening the base down to the foundation plate line. Every one of those is a real saving on the day and a real cost later, and none of them is visible in the finished job. This is also why a mid price quote with the five numbers in it is usually a better purchase than a high one without them. You are not looking for the largest number, you are looking for the quote that has written down what it is actually doing under the surface.
You can use every bit of this without hiring anybody
Nothing above requires us. Look your soil up on the NRCS Web Soil Survey, call your town or village code office for their frost line depth and their permit list, ask each of your three contractors the five questions and the one about cold weather protection, and read section 771 against the contract you are handed. That is an afternoon, and it is worth more than any opinion we could offer on a price we did not write. If you would rather have the questions asked for you, tell us what you want built, the rough size, what the ground does after rain and the month you had in mind, and we will pass it to licensed, insured masons and hardscape crews who quote in those terms. There is no obligation, and if the honest answer is that your job belongs in spring, that is what you will hear.
Sources used in this guide
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
Below 25 degrees Fahrenheit the specification requires newly constructed masonry to be covered with weather-resistive insulating blankets, or equal protection, for 24 hours after completion, extended to 48 hours for grouted masonry unless the grout uses only Type III portland cement. Below 20 degrees the masonry must be kept above 32 degrees for at least 24 hours using heated enclosures, electric heating blankets, infrared lamps or other acceptable methods, and a heated enclosure must be provided for masonry under construction. Where wind velocity exceeds 15 miles per hour, windbreaks or enclosures are required during construction.
Source: Brick Industry Association, Technical Note 1, Hot and Cold Weather Construction, accessed 2026-09-14
October is where the Syracuse season turns. The normals give October 12.8 nights with a minimum below 40 degrees Fahrenheit and 3.8 nights at or below freezing, against a normal monthly mean of 51.3 degrees. November has 25.0 nights below 40 degrees and 15.5 at or below freezing, and its normal daily maximum stays above 40 degrees on only 23.8 days. October also carries a normal 3.89 inches of precipitation, the wettest month of the Syracuse year.
Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 1991-2020 US Climate Normals, monthly normals, station USW00014771 Syracuse Hancock International Airport, accessed 2026-09-14
The hardscape industry's own base specification is short and checkable. It states that the thickness of the base is determined by traffic, soil type, subgrade soil drainage and moisture, and climate; that sidewalks, patios and pedestrian areas should have a minimum base thickness after compaction of 4 inches over well-drained soils; that residential driveways on well-drained soils should be at least 6 inches thick; and that in colder climates, continually wet or weak soils will require that bases be thicker.
Source: Concrete Masonry and Hardscapes Association, PAV-TEC-002, Construction of Interlocking Concrete Pavements, accessed 2026-09-14
Compaction is a measurable number, not a matter of judgment. The specification states that compaction of the soil subgrade is critical to the performance of interlocking concrete pavements, that adequate compaction will minimize settlement, and that compaction should be at least 98 percent of standard Proctor density as specified in ASTM D698. It adds that this compaction standard may not be achievable in extremely saturated or very fine soils and that stabilization of the soil subgrade may be necessary in those situations.
Source: Concrete Masonry and Hardscapes Association, PAV-TEC-002, Construction of Interlocking Concrete Pavements, accessed 2026-09-14
Two further numbers from the same document. Base material is to be spread and compacted in 4 to 6 inch lifts using a 7,000 pound-force reversible plate compactor, with thinner lifts required for compactors in the 5,000 pound-force range. And the finished surface must drain: slopes should be a minimum of 1.5 percent.
Source: Concrete Masonry and Hardscapes Association, PAV-TEC-002, Construction of Interlocking Concrete Pavements, accessed 2026-09-14
The specification treats subsurface drainage as a design item rather than an extra. It states that free-standing water saturating the soil should be removed, that low wet areas can be stabilized with a layer of crushed stone or cement, and that a typical assembly is a 4 inch diameter perforated drainage pipe surrounded by a minimum 3 inch of No. 57 or similar open-graded stone, wrapped in geotextile, set with the top of the stone even with the compacted subgrade and run along the pavement perimeter to remove excess water from the subgrade and base, sloped and directed to outlets. It states that drain pipes are recommended in clay soils or other slow draining soils, and that subgrade drainage extends pavement performance to the extent that the small additional investment is returned many times in additional pavement service years.
Source: Concrete Masonry and Hardscapes Association, PAV-TEC-002, Construction of Interlocking Concrete Pavements, 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
There is no state-wide or county-wide frost depth figure in the New York code. Section R301.2 states that additional criteria shall be established by the local jurisdiction and set forth in Table R301.2(1), and the table's own footnote for the frost line depth column reads: the jurisdiction shall fill in the frost line depth column with the minimum depth of footing below finish grade. The column is published blank.
Source: 2020 Residential Code of New York State, Section R301.2 and Table R301.2(1), Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria, via UpCodes, accessed 2026-09-14
Section R403.1.4.1 carries three exceptions to the frost protection requirement. Protection is not required for free-standing accessory structures with an area of 600 square feet or less of light-frame construction with an eave height of 10 feet or less; nor for free-standing accessory structures with an area of 400 square feet or less of other than light-frame construction with an eave height of 10 feet or less; and decks not supported by a dwelling need not be provided with footings that extend below the frost line.
Source: 2020 Residential Code of New York State, Chapter 4, Foundations, via UpCodes, accessed 2026-09-14
The two largest soil map units in Onondaga County pull in opposite directions for a hardscape base. Honeoye silt loam on 3 to 8 percent slopes covers about 29,876 acres and is classed well drained, hydrologic group B. Niagara silt loam on 0 to 4 percent slopes covers about 23,452 acres and is classed somewhat poorly drained, hydrologic group C over D. Honeoye silt loam on 8 to 15 percent slopes adds about 21,772 acres of well drained ground, Collamer silt loam on 2 to 6 percent slopes about 13,303 acres of moderately well drained, and Carlisle muck about 9,791 acres of very poorly drained.
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
New York law puts this exact work inside its home improvement consumer protections by name. General Business Law section 770(3) defines home improvement as the repairing, remodeling, altering, converting or modernizing of, or adding to, residential property, and states that it shall include but not be limited to the construction, erection, replacement or improvement of driveways, swimming pools, siding, insulation, roofing, windows, terraces, patios, landscaping, fences, porches, garages, solar energy systems, flooring and basements, and other improvements of the residential property and all structures or land adjacent to it.
Source: New York General Business Law section 770, Definitions, Article 36-A Home Improvement Contracts, via the New York State Senate, accessed 2026-09-14
The calendar is a required contract term in New York, not a courtesy. General Business Law section 771(1)(b) requires every home improvement contract to contain the approximate or estimated dates when the work will begin and be substantially completed, including a statement of any contingencies that would materially change the approximate or estimated completion date, and requires the contract to specify whether or not the contractor and the owner have determined a definite completion date to be of the essence.
Source: New York General Business Law section 771, Contract provisions, Article 36-A Home Improvement Contracts, via the New York State Senate, accessed 2026-09-14
Section 771(1)(f) requires that where a contract provides for progress payments before substantial completion, it must contain a schedule of those payments showing the amount of each payment as a sum in dollars and cents and specifically identifying the state of completion of the work or services to be performed, including any materials to be supplied, before each payment is due. It further requires that the amount of any such progress payment bear a reasonable relationship to the amount of work to be performed, materials to be purchased, or expenses the contractor would be obligated for at the time of payment.
Source: New York General Business Law section 771, Contract provisions, Article 36-A Home Improvement Contracts, via the New York State Senate, accessed 2026-09-14
Section 771(1)(e) requires the contract to notify the owner that, except where the contractor is paid on a specified hourly or time basis for work already performed, the home improvement contractor is legally required to deposit all payments received prior to completion in accordance with subdivision four of section seventy-one-a of the Lien Law, and that in lieu of such a deposit the contractor may post a bond, contract of indemnity or irrevocable letter of credit with the owner guaranteeing the return or proper application of those payments to the purposes of the contract.
Source: New York General Business Law section 771, Contract provisions, Article 36-A Home Improvement Contracts, via the New York State Senate, accessed 2026-09-14
Section 771(1)(h) requires the contract to notify the owner that, in addition to any other right to revoke an offer, the owner may cancel the home improvement contract until midnight of the third business day after the day on which the owner has signed an agreement or offer to purchase relating to the contract. Cancellation occurs when written notice is given to the contractor, is deemed given when deposited in a properly addressed and prepaid mailbox, and is sufficient if it indicates the owner's intention not to be bound.
Source: New York General Business Law section 771, Contract provisions, Article 36-A Home Improvement Contracts, via the New York State Senate, accessed 2026-09-14
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