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About Stone & Trowel
Heritage Masonry Restoration, Consulting, Assessment, and Conservation in Victoria, BC
Stone & Trowel provides heritage masonry restoration, conservation and consulting for historic buildings across Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. Our work includes building assessments, restoration specifications, maintenance planning, contractor oversight and the physical restoration of aging stone and brick structures.
Heritage masonry is more than stone and mortar. It is the craft, history and character of a building, preserved through careful evaluation, appropriate materials and skilled restoration. At Stone & Trowel, we help protect that legacy by combining decades of hands-on masonry experience with a practical, conservation-minded approach to both consulting and restoration work.
Our Background | Sean Lennox
Heritage StoneMason & Consulting Advisor
Founder Sean Lennox has worked on heritage and historical buildings since the 1990s, beginning in Vancouver, BC by working on the Vancouver City Hall, Vancouver Art Gallery, and numerous heritage homes; later continuing across Vancouver Island through his work with Lennox Masonry.
Over that time, his work has included stonemasonry, bricklaying, repointing, façade repair, chimney restoration, and heritage conservation work on a wide range of residential, institutional, and civic buildings.
During those decades of hands-on work, Sean became aware of a critical gap between masonry contractors and building owners. He saw that the wrong types of solutions were often being implemented for repairs on heritage buildings, and the wrong type of advice was being given to homeowners, strata councils, and institutions. Many contractors, focused on selling repair work rather than providing unbiased guidance, recommended unnecessary interventions, specified incompatible materials, or oversimplified complex heritage preservation challenges. This led to heritage buildings falling into greater despair through a lack of awareness and misinformed decision-making.
Sean recognized this gap and decided to fill it by establishing Stone & Trowel as an independent heritage masonry restoration and consulting firm. The goal was to provide honest, expert assessments and specifications that ensure heritage buildings receive the right care, at the right time, in the right way — preserving them for future generations rather than accelerating their deterioration.
That background is what makes the restorations and consulting side of Stone & Trowel valuable. We understand how heritage masonry is built, how it fails, how it should be repaired, and what can go wrong when work is specified poorly or carried out with incompatible materials. That practical knowledge informs every assessment, report, specification, and maintenance plan we produce.
Our Background | Robert W.
Heritage Stonemason & Consulting Advisor
Robert W. brings over 50 years of hands-on masonry experience to the Stone & Trowel Heritage Restoration consulting practice. His deep expertise in traditional stonemasonry, bricklaying, and heritage conservation has been invaluable to the consulting team, providing technical insight that informs every assessment, specification, and maintenance plan we produce.
Throughout his career, Robert worked on heritage and institutional projects across Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland, specializing in stone façade repair, historic brick restoration, traditional mortar systems, and chimney restoration. He has hands-on knowledge of how heritage masonry is constructed, how it ages, and the specific failure patterns that develop over decades and centuries.
Robert's role at Stone & Trowel focuses on technical consultation and quality oversight. He reviews assessment findings, advises on mortar composition and compatibility requirements, and provides expert guidance on traditional construction methods that inform our restoration specifications. His practical experience ensures that our consulting recommendations are not just theoretically sound, but also practical and achievable for contractors to execute properly.
With Robert's expertise combined with Sean Lennox's consulting background, Stone & Trowel benefits from more than 75 years of combined masonry experience—giving our clients a depth of knowledge that few heritage consulting firms can match.
From Hands-On Work to Independent Consulting
Stone & Trowel brings together the knowledge of an experienced masonry contractor with the documentation and planning skills of a heritage consultancy. This allows us to assess a building, identify the causes of deterioration, recommend appropriate conservation strategies and carry out restoration work where it is the right fit.
Our role is to assess the building, identify the causes of deterioration, recommend appropriate repair methods and prepare clear documentation for owners, architects, contractors and property managers. We can also review proposals, help clients understand contractor quotes and provide quality oversight during restoration work. When clients prefer to use their own contractor, we can provide the specifications and guidance needed to ensure the work is completed to an appropriate heritage standard.
The goal is always the same: to ensure heritage buildings receive the care, materials and technical understanding they require.
Heritage Experience
Over the years, we have worked on and around many of the region’s important heritage and historical buildings, including public landmarks, private estates, churches, civic buildings, chimneys, stone façades, and traditional brick structures. That experience has given us a strong understanding of historic materials, traditional mortar systems, moisture movement, cleaning methods, and the realities of restoring older masonry in coastal British Columbia.
We bring particular attention to:
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Brick and stone condition assessment.
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Mortar analysis and compatible repointing recommendations.
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Heritage façade deterioration and moisture issues.
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Traditional masonry detailing and material matching.
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Long-term maintenance planning for older buildings.
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Contractor coordination and specification writing.
Who We Work With
Stone & Trowel works with property owners, strata councils, architects, engineers, heritage planners and institutions that need clear, technically sound guidance for historic masonry buildings. Whether the project is a small chimney assessment or a larger multi-stage restoration, our job is to help clients understand what the building needs and how best to approach the work.
We are especially useful for clients who want:
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An informed opinion before committing to masonry repairs.
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A detailed condition assessment for planning or budgeting.
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Restoration specifications for tendering or contractor selection.
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Maintenance planning to protect a heritage structure over time.
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Guidance on heritage-compatible repair methods and materials.
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A qualified team to complete heritage masonry restoration work.
Our Approach
We believe good heritage work starts with good information. That means careful observation, clear communication and recommendations grounded in real masonry experience.
Our approach is built around:
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Respect for original materials and workmanship.
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Practical, technically informed recommendations.
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Conservation-minded solutions that prioritize longevity.
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Clear documentation that helps owners and contractors work from the same plan.
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Honest advice about what should be repaired, preserved or monitored.
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Skilled restoration using appropriate traditional methods and compatible materials.
Why Stone & Trowel
Stone & Trowel combines the depth of a working mason’s background with the planning and documentation skills of a heritage consultancy. That gives clients access to real-world masonry knowledge, whether they need advice before a project begins or a qualified team to complete the restoration.
We understand the craft because we have lived it for decades. We use that experience to help heritage buildings receive the right care, at the right time, in the right way—through thoughtful assessment, clear specifications and quality restoration work.
Ready for an Assessment?
If you need heritage restoration, masonry consulting, a condition assessment, restoration specifications, or a long-term maintenance plan, Stone & Trowel can help. We provide the technical insight needed to move a heritage project forward with confidence.