We build houses, drystone walls, feature walls, fireplaces, chimneys and  outdoor cooking features.  Our skill in building with local basalt, more commonly known as bluestone, is unsurpassed.  We have built and restored numerous buildings locally and throughout Victoria  Our most recent building is our new office in Piper Street, Kyneton.  We have the skills and knowledge to use all types of stone, both local and introduced.  Of course, our preference is to be sensitive to original features and use the stone type that the building was originally built in.

Over the years we have renovated a wide variety of buildings.   We have restored early settler’s cottages and shed’s, using the materials available in the immediate vicinity. This creates restorations that are sympathetic to the original structures. We have also worked on the restoration of many highly decorative and ornate buildings that exist around Victoria.

One of the lost skills in the restoration and renovation of heritage masonry is the preparation and use of hydronic lime.  On a building site in days gone by, the first task was to prepare lime.  This lime would have been in rock form and needed curing before use. This process takes up to three months to.  We are sensitive to the “living nature” of hydronic lime and use it in our restorations of Victoria’s beautiful heritage buildings.

WT Jones excels at the traditional masonry side of this industry.  We craft monuments, restore walls and buildings. We construct new houses and architectural and sculptural features both internally and externally.

Stone masonry today forms a tiny percentage of building construction.  Compounded by the fact that most monumental work is manufactured overseas, the perception is that the art  of  the mason is lost.

In the 1970’s there were over 20 break down stone saws in Melbourne and five quarries on Mt. Alexander alone, with many more scattered around the country. These quarries and saws supplied many monumental masons around Victoria.  Business was booming!  The construction side of the business was, however, minimal.

With the increased use of crematoriums and the introduction of lawn cemeteries, as well as cheaper overseas imports the industry went into decline.   On the other hand, the increased need for the maintenance and restoration of  heritage buildings and a client base with greater disposable income wanting stone housing, paving, bench tops  and garden objects, saw a resurgence in the construction side of the industry.