Masonry Contractor in Elmhurst, IL

Masonry Services in Elmhurst, IL

Our Elmhurst work covers the whole wall: tuckpointing and repointing with mortar matched to the original and softer than the brick, brick repair and replacement, chimney repair and rebuilds, replacing rusted steel lintels over windows and doors, repairing limestone sills and trim, rebuilding masonry steps and stoops, retaining walls, and restoring flashing and weep holes on brick veneer. Chimneys matter here: Elmhurst’s building code requires wood-burning fireplaces to be masonry, with the exposed chimney in brick, stone or other masonry, and the same code rates local weathering Severe and sets a 48-inch minimum frost depth. For larger jobs we handle full building restoration and masonry waterproofing, for houses and commercial buildings.

What Elmhurst Is Built Of, and What Fails

Elmhurst grew in two big waves: from about 2,400 people in 1910 to more than 14,000 by 1930, and again after the war, from about 21,000 in 1950 to about 37,000 in 1960, and the 1950s remain its largest building decade. In the City’s 2016 survey of the York-Cottage Hill area, Colonial Revival was the most common style, including red brick examples from the 1920s, and the Tudor Revivals there are typically brick, many with prominent brick or stone chimneys. Mortar in houses of that age can be anything from lime and sand to a lime and Portland blend, and the classic failure is a later repair in hard Portland cement that traps moisture until the brick faces pop off. Winters are hard on wet brick: NOAA readings at O’Hare average 74 days a winter that cross freezing, in a range of 47 to 91 (winters 2015-16 to 2024-25), and the Brick Industry Association’s guidance is to keep brick from staying saturated in freezing weather, so sound joints, flashing and chimney crowns come first. The postwar ranches and split-levels often bring chimneys, steel lintels and brick veneer: rust can take up to ten times the space of the steel it came from, cracking the brick above a window, and veneer depends on flashing and weeps to drain. On new houses, white bloom on the brick is usually efflorescence, which tends to fade in the first year. We match mortar on evidence, as in our historic mortar and stone matching work.

Structural Inspection in Elmhurst: When to Call an Engineer

Some cracks are maintenance and some are structural. The Brick Industry Association says a professional engineer should investigate cracks wider than about 0.075 inch, cracks through several bricks, stepped or diagonal cracks, widespread spalling, rust building up on lintels or shelf angles, brick that has moved out of plane, and sills that slope flat or back toward the wall. When we find any of those on an Elmhurst house, we document them and recommend an engineer’s assessment before we repair the masonry, and we work from the engineer’s findings once they are in. Elmhurst’s code also requires a structural engineer’s written report before a second-floor addition goes on an existing masonry or block foundation.

Serving Elmhurst as Part of the Chicago Area

North Shore Masonry serves Elmhurst from our Chicago operation, with work nearby in Oak Park, Berwyn, Cicero, Park Ridge and Des Plaines. Start at our Chicago masonry services hub for every service and town we cover.

Talk to a Masonry Contractor About Your Elmhurst Home

If you are seeing open or crumbling mortar joints, spalled brick, a cracked chimney crown, rust staining under a window, a tipped limestone sill or white bloom that will not go away, call us at +1 847-864-5990 or request a free on-site estimate. Foundation repair, fireplace work, steps, stoops and retaining walls need a City permit; we confirm permit needs on repointing and chimney repairs with the City (630-530-3030) before we start. Elmhurst’s preservation commission has told a City Council committee that many historic homes on Arlington and Kenilworth have already been torn down, so on the older houses still standing we repair sound masonry rather than replace it.

Masonry FAQs for Elmhurst, IL

What mortar should be used to repoint an older Elmhurst house?

One that is softer and more vapor permeable than the brick and no harder than the original mortar. Mortar in houses built between the 1870s and 1930 ranges from pure lime and sand to lime and Portland blends, and Portland cement was not common until the early 20th century. The Brick Industry Association says repointing mortar should be equal to or lower in strength than the original: Type N for modern work, Type O where a cement-rich mix would be too strong, and Type K for historic work, with lab analysis when the original is unknown. Mortar is meant to be the sacrificial part of the wall; a hard Portland mix on soft old brick traps moisture and pushes the damage into the brick faces.

Do I need a permit for masonry work in Elmhurst?

Often, yes. Elmhurst’s code says all work requires a permit, with a short list of exemptions that includes minor repair or replacement, which the code does not define, and the City’s permit list includes fireplaces, footing and foundation repair, exterior steps and stoops, seat walls and retaining walls, and porches. It does not name tuckpointing or chimney repair either way, so we confirm permit needs on repointing and chimney repairs with the City (630-530-3030) before we start. Masonry contractors also have to be registered with the City, and Elmhurst requires a wet saw when masonry is cut.

Is my Elmhurst house under historic preservation review?

Probably not. Elmhurst’s preservation ordinance dates from 2006, and a house becomes a landmark only with every owner’s consent, so most older Elmhurst homes are not under preservation review. On a designated landmark, a Certificate of Appropriateness is needed before the City issues any permit, and also for work, including repair, that the City judges a major change to the front or publicly visible exterior. Its standards ask for deteriorated features to be repaired rather than replaced, matching materials, and the gentlest cleaning, which is how we approach older masonry anyway.

When is a crack in brick a structural problem?

The Brick Industry Association says a professional engineer should investigate cracks wider than about 0.075 inch (2 mm), cracks through several bricks, stepped or diagonal cracks, widespread spalling, rust building up on steel lintels or shelf angles, brick that has moved out of plane, and sills that slope flat or back toward the wall. If we see any of those, we document them and recommend an engineer’s assessment before any masonry repair. Elmhurst’s code also requires a structural engineer’s written report before a second-floor addition goes on an existing masonry or block foundation.

Why is the brick on my new Elmhurst house turning white?

That white bloom is usually efflorescence, salts carried to the surface as new masonry dries out, often called new building bloom, and it usually fades on its own. If it is still appearing a year or more later, it points to water getting into the wall, and the fix is finding the water path, flashing and weeps, not a sealer. The Brick Industry Association generally advises against water repellents on new brick veneer and says they should never replace flashing and weeps.

Do you repair limestone sills and trim?

Yes. Limestone sills, copings and other trim often sit where a brick wall is most exposed to water. The Indiana Limestone Institute recommends nothing stronger than Type N mortar for pointing Indiana limestone and warns that limestone must be protected from the acid in brick-cleaning chemicals, so we keep acid cleaners off limestone trim, and we repair or replace sills so they slope water away from the wall.