Masonry Contractor in Mount Prospect, IL

Tuckpointing, Chimney and Brick Repair in Mount Prospect

Our Mount Prospect work covers the whole wall, and most of it starts with the joints: tuckpointing and repointing with mortar matched to the original and softer than the brick, along with brick repair and replacement, chimney repair and rebuilds, crowns and flashing, replacing rusted steel lintels over windows and doors, repairing sills, rebuilding steps and stoops, and restoring the flashing and weep holes that brick veneer depends on. For new walls, garages and additions we work as a bricklayer, and for leaks we offer masonry waterproofing that starts with the water path, not a coating. About 35 percent of Mount Prospect homes are in buildings of five or more units, and downtown redevelopment in the 1990s and 2000s added condominium buildings, so we also take on building restoration for condo associations, landlords and commercial owners.

What Mount Prospect Is Built Of, and What Fails

Mount Prospect grew around the railroad. Ezra Eggleston bought most of what became downtown, planned a station and gave the village its name, and it incorporated in 1917 with about 300 people. Axel Lonnquist’s 1920s land speculation built very few homes that survive, and the most concentrated group of 1920s Tudor-style houses on the 300 block of South Wa Pella Avenue. The real boom came after the war: the 1950s added about 370 percent to the population, and Randhurst opened in 1962 as the upper Midwest’s first indoor, air-conditioned mall. Brick is part of the story too: the 1912 Busse Building was the village’s oldest standing brick building until it came down in 2006, and the nearest brick industry was in Park Ridge, once called Brickton. On the few prewar houses, mortar can be anything from pure lime and sand to a lime and Portland blend, and a later repair in hard Portland cement can trap moisture until brick faces pop off. On postwar brick homes, chimneys, steel lintels, sills and veneer are the parts the Brick Industry Association flags as most exposed to water. Brick veneer is a drainage wall that relies on flashing and weeps at the base, over openings and where porches or decks attach. Steel lintels rust, and rust can take up to ten times the space of the steel it came from, cracking the brick above a window or door. 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 damage comes when brick freezes while saturated, so sound joints, flashing and chimney crowns come first. The Village’s building code rates local weathering Severe and sets a 42-inch frost line. We match mortar on evidence, as in our historic mortar and stone matching work.

Mount Prospect Rules, and When to Call an Engineer

Mount Prospect’s code lists no preservation or landmarks commission, so ordinary homes face no preservation review; the building permit is the gate. Village code makes it unlawful to erect, alter or repair a structure before a permit is issued, and chimney repair carries its own permit. The property maintenance code treats open mortar joints and loose veneer as unsafe, requires chimneys to be sound, and asks that exterior repairs match, conform and be consistent with the existing exterior, so we select replacement brick and mortar to blend with the wall, though no one can promise an exact brick match. 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 a Mount Prospect building, 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.

Serving Mount Prospect as Part of the Chicago Area

North Shore Masonry serves Mount Prospect from our Chicago operation, with work nearby in Prospect Heights, Des Plaines, Park Ridge, Rolling Meadows and Northbrook. Start at our Chicago masonry services hub for every service and town we cover.

Talk to a Masonry Contractor About Your Mount Prospect Home

If you are seeing open or crumbling mortar joints, spalled brick, a cracked chimney crown, rust staining under a window, a sill tipping back toward the wall or white bloom that will not go away, call us at +1 847-864-5990 or request a free on-site estimate. Chimney repair has its own Village permit, and any repair to a structure needs a permit first, so we confirm permit needs with the Village of Mount Prospect Building Division (847-870-5675) before work starts. Condo associations and landlords should know the Village licenses every rental and inspects 20 percent of multifamily rental units each year.

Masonry Contractors in Mount Prospect, IL: Common Questions

Do I need a permit to tuckpoint in Mount Prospect?

Plan on checking. Village code makes it unlawful to erect, alter or repair a structure before a permit is issued, and chimney repair has a permit of its own. We confirm permit needs with the Building Division (847-870-5675) before work starts, and permits lapse if work is not started within 60 days or stops for 30.

What mortar should be used to repoint a 1960s Mount Prospect home?

Mortar matched to the original and softer than the brick, never stronger than what is already in the wall. 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 mix harder than the brick pushes the damage into the brick faces.

Is my Mount Prospect house under historic preservation review?

Probably not. Mount Prospect’s code lists no preservation or landmarks body, the village is not a Certified Local Government, and it has no National Register listings, so ordinary homes face no preservation review. The building permit is the gate.

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.

Why is the brick on my Mount Prospect house turning white?

That white bloom is efflorescence, salts carried to the surface by water. On new brick it is often called new building bloom and tends to fade in the first year. If it keeps appearing on an older wall, it points to water getting in, and the fix is finding the water path, flashing and weeps, not a sealer. Some coatings can trap water and spall the brick.

Can I replace Dryvit on my Mount Prospect house?

Mount Prospect’s code bans EIFS, often sold as Dryvit, on houses, treats a repair of more than half of it as a replacement, and approves traditional stucco. So when an EIFS wall reaches that point, brick or traditional stucco are the routes to look at. Brick re-cladding is work we do, and we confirm permit needs with the Building Division before it starts.