Brick, Mortar and Lintel Repair Across North DFW

DFW Brick Repair, Rusted Lintel Repair and Mortar Repair

Brick veneer is a drainage wall. The Brick Industry Association (BIA Technical Note 28) describes brick tied to the frame across an air space of at least 1 inch, with flashing and weep holes at the base of the wall and at lintels and openings, and notes that failure of any one part affects the whole system. As a regional recommendation for North Texas, the North Central Texas Council of Governments’ 2021 IRC amendments space ties no more than 24 inches apart vertically on studs at 16 inches on center, starting about 12 inches above the foundation. We work to that anatomy: replacing cracked and spalled brick, rebuilding sections of veneer once the cause has been dealt with, reopening clogged weeps and drilling new ones, replacing failed flashing in the 2 to 5 foot sections BIA Technical Note 46 describes, and adding remedial anchors where ties have failed. Rusted lintels deserve their own attention on North DFW brick. Rust can take up to 10 times the volume of the steel it forms from (BIA Technical Note 18), so a rusting angle over a garage door can push the brick above it out and crack it. For mortar, see our tuckpointing service: we repoint with mortar matched to the original and softer than the brick, no stronger than the original, following National Park Service Preservation Brief 2. We also do bricklaying, chimney repair, masonry waterproofing and concrete flatwork. On concrete block screening walls some cracking is expected: block shrinks as it cures while brick grows, and NCMA TEK 10-2C calls for control joints at the lesser of 1.5 times the wall height or 25 feet, describing shrinkage cracks as not a structural concern.

Two Soils, One Problem: Clay Under North DFW Slabs

The Texas State Historical Association describes Denton County as three belts: Grand Prairie black soil to the west, the sandy Eastern Cross Timbers through the middle and the edge of the Blackland Prairie to the east. The clays are what move. Sanger clay, whose type location is in Denton County, cracks 1/2 to 3 inches wide when dry, and Houston Black, the leading soil in USDA data for a block of land running from Denton toward Carrollton and Plano, cracks 0.5 to 4 inches wide and 12 inches or deeper. Heiden and Ferris reach up to 17% linear extensibility, and Houston Black 17% in the Dallas and Collin county surveys (12% in Denton County’s), against about 4.5% for the Cross Timbers loams. In USDA NRCS data about 41% of the rated land in a block around Denton, and about 62% in the Denton to Carrollton and Plano block, is rated very limited for houses; those are sampled blocks, not city limits. Smectite clay swells when wet and shrinks when dry (Texas A&M AgriLife). The National Weather Service’s 1991 to 2020 normal for Denton is 38.44 inches of rain a year, yet the Denton record (1913 to 2025) runs from 65.07 inches in 2015, the wettest year, to 17.51 inches in 1956, the driest. At DFW Airport, 2011 brought 71 days of 100 F heat, and in February 2021 the airport fell to -2 F and stayed at or below freezing for 139 hours. When the slab moves, the single layer of veneer on it moves too.

Reading a North DFW Crack, and Where Our Job Stops

BIA Technical Note 18 ties diagonal and stepped cracking to expansive soils, and tapering cracks to deflection or settlement. Not every crack is the ground: fired brick grows slightly and permanently, and BIA Technical Note 18A spaces expansion joints no more than 25 feet apart, 20 feet on walls with several openings, so a long wall without them can crack at corners and openings on its own. BIA Technical Note 46 says cracks wider than about 0.075 inch, cracks through several bricks, stepped or diagonal cracks, widespread spalling, rust on lintels or shelf angles and brick pushed out of plane call for a professional engineer. In Texas, working out the cause of a foundation condition or recommending foundation repair is engineering (TBPELS Engineering Advisory Opinion 43). So we check for signs of foundation movement, document them, refer them to a structural engineer, and repair the masonry once an engineer has cleared it. We do not do foundation repair. Denton has a brick history: the Denton Pressed Brick company organized in 1901 on local clay in tan, orange and red, and Acme Brick bought it in 1912. Even so, BIA Technical Note 46 warns that locating matching brick may take considerable effort, so we show you samples and never promise an exact match.

Serving North DFW as Part of the Denton Area

North Shore Masonry serves North DFW from Denton, where I-35E and I-35W rejoin as I-35, with town pages for Lewisville, Corinth, Highland Village, Lake Dallas, Little Elm, Aubrey, Sanger and Plano. Start at our Denton masonry services hub for every service and town we cover in North Texas.

Talk to a North DFW Masonry Contractor

If you are seeing stair-step cracks, brick pushing out over a garage door, rust on a lintel, blocked weeps or open mortar joints, call us at +1 469-409-3515 or request a free on-site estimate. We check for signs of foundation movement and refer them to a structural engineer, and on the masonry we tell you what needs attention now and what can wait. Permit rules are set city by city in Texas, so we confirm permit needs with your city’s building department before work starts, for example Plano Building Inspections (972-941-7140), Little Elm Building Safety (214-975-0456) or the City of Denton’s Building Safety division. Work in a historic district may need city approval first.

Brick and Mortar Repair FAQs for North DFW, TX

Why does the brick crack over my garage door?

Often it is the steel lintel. Rust can take up to 10 times the volume of the steel it forms from (BIA Technical Note 18), so a rusting lintel can push up and crack the brick above it. BIA Technical Note 46 lists rust on lintels among the conditions that call for a professional engineer, so we document what we see, recommend an engineer’s assessment, and repair the lintel and brick once an engineer has cleared it. Where we also see signs of foundation movement, we refer those to a structural engineer too.

What do stair-step cracks mean on a North DFW house?

BIA Technical Note 18 links diagonal and stepped cracking to expansive soils, and USDA soil data for sample blocks around Denton and from Denton toward Carrollton and Plano shows clays such as Sanger and Houston Black, which swell when wet and shrink when dry (Texas A&M AgriLife). In Texas, determining the cause of a foundation condition is engineering, so we check for signs of foundation movement, refer them to a structural engineer, and repair the masonry once an engineer has cleared it. We do not do foundation repair.

Why are there small gaps along the bottom of my brick?

Those evenly spaced open joints are usually weep holes. Brick veneer is a drainage wall: water that gets through the brick runs down the air space and leaves through flashing and weeps at the base of the wall and above openings (BIA Technical Note 28). They should never be sealed. If they are clogged we open them, and where there are none we can drill new ones.

Can you match my brick?

We aim for a close match, not an exact one. Brick has been made in Denton since Denton Pressed Brick organized in 1901, but BIA Technical Note 46 warns that locating matching brick may take considerable effort. We show you samples before anything is laid, and we never promise a perfect match.

What mortar do you use for repointing?

Mortar matched to the original and softer than the brick, and no stronger than the original, as National Park Service Preservation Brief 2 advises. A hard, cement-rich mix is not an upgrade on brick.

Do I need a permit for brick repair in North DFW?

It depends on the city and the job; Texas has no statewide general contractor license, and permits and contractor registration are set locally. We confirm permit needs with your city’s building department before work starts, for example Plano Building Inspections (972-941-7140) or Little Elm Building Safety (214-975-0456). Work in a historic district may need city approval first. Texas Government Code chapter 3000 (HB 2439, 2019) preempted most city rules requiring a set share of masonry, though historic areas can be exempt.

How much does tuckpointing cost in North DFW?

It depends on how much of the wall needs repointing, how deep the joints are worn and how easy the wall is to reach, so we price each job after an on-site look rather than by a flat rate. Our tuckpointing cost guide explains what drives the price.