Tuckpointing & Masonry Repair in Elmhurst

Elmhurst has some of the best prewar housing stock in DuPage County, and that shapes the work we do here.

Georgians, Tudors, foursquares and brick bungalows built in the 1910s through the 1930s, many with limestone sills, lintels and water tables. These homes were laid up with soft lime-based mortar, and the single most important thing about repointing them is matching that softness. Modern Portland-heavy mortar is harder than the brick around it. The wall still moves with temperature and moisture, but now the brick is the weakest link, so brick faces spall off instead of joints giving way. We have been called in to fix that mistake more than once.

The limestone details need the same care: lime mortar at the joints, gentle cleaning rather than blasting, and dutchman or color-matched patch repairs on cracked sills instead of gray Portland smears.

Elmhurst also has a lot of newer construction on teardown lots, which is a completely different and much more standard job: modern brick veneer, control joints, and sealant that needs replacing at roughly the fifteen-year mark.