Brick, Stone and Chimney Repair in Auburn and DeKalb County, Indiana

Repointing, Limestone Trim and Chimney Repair for Auburn Masonry

Downtown Auburn’s older masonry often pairs brick with limestone: the courthouse is Indiana Oolitic limestone over brick, and several 1910s and 1920s downtown buildings carry limestone trim, cornices and parapets. That changes how the joints get repointed. The National Park Service says brick laid between 1873 and 1930 can have pure lime mortar, that repointing mortar must be softer than the brick and no harder than the original, and that hard mortar has popped the faces off old brick. On older brick, our crews repoint with lime-rich mortar and match lost brick with salvaged brick where it is available. The Brick Industry Association points to Type N in general and Type O or K for historic work, with lab analysis when the original is unknown, and the Indiana Limestone Institute says nothing stronger than Type N for Indiana limestone and no acids on it. Our tuckpointing and repointing uses mortar matched to the original and softer than the brick, as in our historic mortar and stone matching work, and the Indiana Limestone Institute says to shield limestone sills and trim from brick-cleaning acid. NOAA readings at Fort Wayne International Airport (USW00014827), about 20 miles south and not in Auburn, averaged 85.8 days a winter that crossed freezing over the winters 2015-16 to 2024-25, in a range of 64 to 117. For chimney repair, the Brick Industry Association calls for Grade SW brick, Type N mortar, lined flues and base flashing at least 4 inches up the chimney, and it prefers a prefabricated cap to one cast in place, and the Park Service notes that mortar washes on chimney tops crack. Where walls need brick repair or rebuilding, a downtown front needs building restoration, or a damp wall needs masonry waterproofing, we start with where the water gets in: sills, copings, flashing, downspouts and open joints.

What the Downtown Auburn Historic District Is Built Of

The Downtown Auburn Historic District was listed on the National Register on 10 September 1986. It covers 25 acres and about 15 blocks around the courthouse, with over 90 structures built from about 1870 to 1936, nearly half of them by 1900. The 1860s to 1880s blocks are two-story brick with corbelled brick cornices, segmental-arched windows and metal hoods and cornices. One cast-iron front on East Ninth Street was made locally by Auburn Foundry and Machine Works, and the 1902 City National Bank is rusticated concrete block. The 1910s and 1920s brought brick with limestone: orange and tan brick on the 1917 Commercial Club and Henry Opera House, a Sullivan-influenced limestone City Hall in 1913, the 1918 County Jail, the 1922 Auburn Hotel and the yellow brick of Auburn State Bank. The courthouse went up from 1911 to 1914, designed by Mahurin and Mahurin of Fort Wayne, and its exterior was cleaned and tuckpointed for its 50th anniversary in 1964. Nearby, the 1911 Eckhart Public Library is glazed brick on Bedford limestone. Not every upper facade kept its brick: the nomination records stucco over several upper fronts, marble, brick and fieldstone veneers, and upper windows filled or boarded, with most change in the ground-floor storefronts. For work on buildings like these, the Brick Industry Association treats cornices, parapets and sills as the trim most vulnerable to water and wants them sloped and flashed, rust on a steel lintel can take up to ten times the volume of the steel and crack the brick above, and the Park Service says abrasive cleaning is not appropriate for historic masonry and chemical cleaning should wait until it is above 40 F. The district is National Register listed; the City’s boards list shows no preservation commission, and the City has offered a Facade Improvement Grant, whose current terms we check with the City.

Auburn Houses, DeKalb County Clay and Cedar Creek

Around downtown stand houses from small cottages to medium-sized mansions of automobile families such as the Eckharts and McIntyres. USDA soil maps show downtown on well-drained Boyer sandy loam, but DeKalb County’s till soils include Pewamo silty clay, poorly drained with about 40 percent clay in the subsoil and high shrink-swell, and Blount, at about 42 percent clay with moderate shrink-swell. Cedar Creek adds water: the gauge at 18th Street crested at a record 12.3 feet on 11 March 2009, above its 12 foot major flood stage. On wet clay the Park Service’s advice is to handle surface water first, with downspouts discharging well away and grade sloping away from the wall. We never diagnose a foundation. The Brick Industry Association lists the signs that call for a professional engineer, among them wide, stepped or diagonal cracks, rusted lintels and brick out of plane (see the FAQ below). When we find any of those on an Auburn house, we document them and recommend that assessment before any masonry repair.

Serving Auburn as Part of the Fort Wayne Area

North Shore Masonry serves Auburn from our Fort Wayne operation, about 20 miles south, and also serves Garrett, Kendallville, Angola, Columbia City and New Haven. Start at our Fort Wayne masonry services hub for every service and town we cover.

Talk to a Masonry Contractor About Your Auburn Project

If you have soft or missing mortar joints, spalling brick, a tipped or cracked limestone sill, a loose cornice or parapet cap, rust under a window lintel, or a cracked chimney crown, call us at +1 260-305-8760 or request a free on-site estimate. Structural masonry and foundation work need a City permit under Auburn’s building code, Chapter 151, and we confirm permit needs with the Department of Building, Planning & Development (260-925-6449) before work starts. Work near a regulated drain can also need DeKalb County Drainage Board approval, and Indiana 811 needs two full working days’ notice before digging.

Masonry Repair FAQs for Auburn, IN

Do I need a permit for masonry repair in Auburn?

It depends on the work. Auburn’s building code, Chapter 151, requires a permit before any structural change or permanent foundation, and the City’s permit FAQ lists foundation work and fences as needing one. The City’s pages do not agree on every item and do not settle every masonry job, so we confirm permit needs with the Department of Building, Planning & Development (260-925-6449) before work starts. Work in the public right-of-way needs an excavation permit, and work near a regulated drain can need DeKalb County Drainage Board approval.

Is my downtown Auburn building under design review?

The Downtown Auburn Historic District, about 15 blocks around the courthouse, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 10 September 1986. The City’s boards and commissions list shows no preservation commission, but zoning rules and the Facade Improvement Grant the City has offered can carry their own standards, so we confirm with the Department of Building, Planning & Development (260-925-6449) whether any review applies before work starts. Matching original materials is still good practice on a building of this age.

What mortar should be used to repoint pre-1940 brick in Auburn?

Mortar matched to the original and softer than the brick. The National Park Service says brick laid between 1873 and 1930 can have pure lime mortar and that repointing mortar must be no harder than the original, and the Brick Industry Association points to Type N in general and Type O or K for historic work, with lab analysis to ASTM C1324 when the original is unknown. Mortar that is too hard can pop the faces off old brick.

Can limestone trim be cleaned with acid?

No. Downtown Auburn’s limestone runs from the courthouse’s Indiana Oolitic limestone to the Eckhart Public Library’s Bedford limestone base, and the Indiana Limestone Institute says to use no acids on Indiana limestone, to shield limestone trim from brick-cleaning acid, and to use nothing stronger than Type N mortar for pointing it.

When does a crack in brick need an engineer?

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, sills that slope flat or back toward the wall and brick that has moved out of plane. We document those signs and recommend an engineer’s assessment before any repair; we do not diagnose foundations or do foundation repair.

Can you match the old brick on my Auburn house?

We look for the closest practical match in size, color and texture and match the mortar to the original, but we do not promise an exact brick match.