The south end of the lake
Alton sits where Lake Winnipesaukee narrows into Alton Bay, an inlet about four miles long fed by the Merrymeeting River. The village is a mile or so south of the bay, and Routes 11, 28, 28A and 140 all come together in this corner of town. Houses run from older homes in the village to cottages around the bay to big lake houses up the west shore.
Each of those calls for different stone. A village house with a plain concrete foundation might want a modest fieldstone face. A newer house up the shore might want cut granite on the columns and a full stone face on the lake side.
West Alton and the Mount Major side
Route 11 runs up the west side of the bay under Mount Major and Straightback Mountain, the Belknap Mountain peaks at this end of the lake. Where a house sits on the slope between the road and the water, the lake side usually shows a tall foundation and long runs of steps down to the dock.
Natural stone veneer is how that foundation stops being a gray wall. On a slope like that, veneer and retaining walls often get planned together so the stone on the house matches the stone holding up the yard.
Built for the cold that freezes Alton Bay
In a cold enough winter the ice on Alton Bay gets thick enough for volunteers to plow a runway on it for small planes. That is the kind of cold stone in Alton has to live through.
Veneer fails in this climate when water gets behind it, freezes and pushes. So most of the work is in the parts nobody looks at: a sound, clean backing, flashing above the stone, a way for water to drain out at the bottom, and joints packed full. Kevin sets the first course up off the ground so snowmelt and splash do not sit against it.
Walkways, walls and steps on Alton's slopes
Steep Alton lots tend to need more than a stone face on the house. Kevin builds the retaining walls that hold a hillside back, the flagstone walkway and stone steps that get you down to the dock, and a patio at the bottom if there is room for one. He paints too, inside and out.
Getting a price in Alton
Text a photo to (603) 581-5350 and say whether the house is in the village, around the bay or out in West Alton. If the wall is on the lake side, a photo from the water or the dock helps too. Kevin will come out to look and give you a price for the job.
