Masonry Contractor in Skokie, IL

Masonry Services in Skokie, IL

Our Skokie 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, restoring flashing and weep holes on brick veneer, and rebuilding masonry steps and stoops. Outside the house we build and repair patios, walks, driveways and retaining walls as a concrete and paving contractor. Skokie builds to the 2021 International Residential Code with local amendments, which set the frost line at 42 inches and rate weathering here as Severe, so footings and brick grades have to suit a hard winter. For larger jobs we handle building restoration and masonry waterproofing for two-flats, apartment buildings and commercial frontages as well as houses.

What Skokie Is Built Of, and What Fails

Skokie was incorporated in 1888 as Niles Centre and voted to take the name Skokie in November 1940, after postal confusion with nearby Niles. It was a village of 763 people in 1920. Transit and new roads brought 5,007 by 1930, and the 1920s boom left many two- and three-flats and Chicago bungalows. The bigger wave came after the war. A 1946 master plan steered building toward single-family homes, the Edens Expressway opened in 1951, and the Village went from 124 houses built in 1945 to 1,554 in 1954 alone, passing 65,000 people by 1962. Today about 85 percent of Skokie’s homes predate 1980, only about 6 percent predate 1940, and just over half are single-family detached houses, with about 13 percent in buildings of two to four units. Those eras fail in different places. On the 1920s flats and bungalows, mortar can be anything from lime and sand to a lime and Portland blend, and a later repair in hard cement mortar can trap moisture until the brick faces spall. Postwar brick houses can have chimneys, steel lintels and brick veneer, each with its own weak points: rust can take up to ten times the volume of the steel it came from, cracking the brick above a window, and brick veneer depends on its air space, flashing and weep holes to drain. White bloom on brick that keeps coming back points to water moving through the wall. Winters make much of it worse: 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 crowns, flashing and sound joints come first. You can see the materials of the 1920s on the Dempster Street Station, built in 1925 of dark textured brick with a cast stone belt course and slip sills; its restoration reopened windows that had been bricked over (the station is a public example of the era’s materials, not an NSM project). A local history blog also places a brickyard south of Oakton Street by the North Shore Channel. On our own jobs we match mortar and stone on evidence, as in our historic mortar and stone matching work.

Skokie’s Masonry Rules and When to Call an Engineer

Skokie’s code requires dwellings to have exterior walls that are at least 51 percent masonry. Concrete block does not count as an exterior finish, and neither does thin brick under 2 inches thick. That matters when an addition or a rebuilt wall has to blend with brick that is 60 or 70 years old, and an exact match is not always possible; the Village’s Appearance Commission can grant relief, including where masonry cannot be matched to the original. Some cracks are structural, though. 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 on lintels or shelf angles, brick out of plane, and sills sloping flat or back toward the wall. When we find any of those on a Skokie building, we document them and recommend an engineer’s assessment before masonry repair, and work from the engineer’s findings.

Serving Skokie as Part of the Chicago Area

North Shore Masonry serves Skokie from our Chicago operation and also serves nearby Evanston and Wilmette, which border Skokie, as well as Kenilworth, Northfield, Northbrook, 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 Skokie Property

If you are seeing open or crumbling mortar joints, spalled brick, a cracked chimney crown, rust staining or cracks above a window, a sinking patio or walk, a leaning retaining wall, or white bloom that will not go away, call us at +1 847-864-5990 or request a free on-site estimate. Patios, walks, driveways, retaining walls and masonry fences need a Village permit, and we confirm permit needs with Building & Inspection Services (847-933-8223) before work starts, including on repointing, chimney rebuilds and structural repairs. Skokie permits are signed by both the homeowner and the contractor, and the Village does not allow construction work between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m., on Sundays or on holidays.

Masonry FAQs for Skokie, IL

Do I need a permit for masonry work in Skokie?

Often, yes. Skokie’s permit list covers patios, garages, fences, decks and sheds, and driveways and sidewalks go through the Village’s Civil Engineering division. Skokie also removes several of the building code’s usual exemptions, so retaining walls, walks, fences, small sheds and decks need a permit too. The homeowner and the contractor both sign the application, and a permit lasts 18 months. We confirm permit needs with Building & Inspection Services (847-933-8223) before work starts, including on tuckpointing, chimney rebuilds and structural repairs.

How deep do footings for a Skokie retaining wall go?

Skokie’s code sets the frost line at 42 inches, so footings for a mortared brick or reinforced block retaining wall go down on undisturbed soil below that depth. Segmental block walls work differently: they sit on a compacted gravel or concrete leveling pad at least 6 inches thick, with backfill placed in lifts of 8 inches or less. Either way, water works against a wall: the block industry warns it can add load, erode the soil around it and weaken the ground it stands on, and for segmental walls it calls for clean gravel and a drain pipe behind the units and for grading water away from the wall. Taller walls and walls carrying extra load should be designed by an engineer.

What mortar should be used to repoint a 1950s Skokie house?

Mortar matched to the original and softer than the brick, never stronger than what is already in the wall. The National Park Service describes mortar as the sacrificial part of the wall, meant to wear before the brick does. The Brick Industry Association says repointing mortar should be equal to or lower in strength than the original, which points to Type N, O or K depending on the original. We check what is in the joints before we choose a mix; a hard mortar on softer brick pushes the damage into the brick faces.

What is Skokie’s 51 percent masonry rule?

Skokie’s code requires dwellings to have exterior walls that are at least 51 percent masonry. Concrete block cannot be used as the exterior finish, and thin brick under 2 inches thick does not count toward the 51 percent. The Village’s Appearance Commission can grant relief, including where new masonry cannot be matched to the original. Brick that is 60 or 70 years old cannot always be matched exactly, so on additions and rebuilt walls we talk through the closest available options first.

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, cracks through several bricks, stepped or diagonal cracks, widespread spalling, rust on lintels or shelf angles, brick out of plane, and sills sloping 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.

What hours can masonry work be done in Skokie?

Skokie does not allow construction work between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m., on Sundays or on holidays, so we schedule Skokie work between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, avoiding holidays.