Tuckpointing Contractor Serving Chicago and Surrounding Suburbs

Knowing what professional tuckpointers do can prove beneficial to homeowners because fine tuckpointing masonry work provides an incredible increase in your home’s value and aesthetic appeal. Tuckpointing services in Chicago can increase your property’s value, provide extended protection against fires and repair the damaged brick, stone and concrete features of your house.

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What Kind Of Work Do Tuckpointing Company Do?

Tuckpointing contractors in Chicago perform all types of residential and commercial project that involves brick, stone or concrete. That includes chimney repair and replacement, tuckpointing, brick restoration, lintel repair and replacement and brick and stone chemical cleaning service.

Brick and stone have been staples of building construction since ancient times, and this is essential in Chicago where the weather can often be extreme. Stone, concrete and brick never rot and are impervious to insects like termites. The work lasts for years with minimal maintenance, and outfitting your house with durable brick and stone is a wise choice because the material doesn’t swell, dent, warp or splinter.

Our team works primarily in laying home and building foundations and framing, sheathing and roofing activities during new construction. However, aging buildings and house in the Chicago frequently require repairs of brick walls, walkways, chimneys and stone features. Common duties include:

• Assist in new construction projects.
• Provide layout, framing, sheathing and roofing services.
• Cut openings in existing walls, ceilings and floors.
• Tear down and rebuild chimneys.
• Erect sound barriers for homes and buildings.
• Increase the thermal mass of your house to reduce energy consumption.
• Tuckpointing and repointing brick surfaces to improve the aesthetic appeal and structural integrity of homes respectively.

Tuckpointing

Pointing services are often referred to under the umbrella term “tuckpointing,” but tuckpointing and repointing are actually two different services. Repointing is the repair of brick surfaces by digging out crumbling mortar between the brick and replacing it with fresh mortar.

Weakened mortar can result in further damage to walls, chimneys and other structures as well as allowing water to seep through. These leaks often occur between the vertical joints between brick and CMU veneer walls. Cracked and loose brick and stone and missing mortar can generate further deterioration and lead to bigger structural and engineering issues.

Repointing is the repair of function in brick surfaces by shoring up the walls and repairing any missing or cracked mortar. The tuckpointer digs out the crumbling mortar until he or she contacts intact, unblemished mortar. New mortar is applied to return the wall to its original engineering strength.

Which is designed to give brick walls a more appealing aesthetic look. The process alters the appearance of the mortar joints between brick, which makes the space between brick appear smaller. The final application of colored mortar gives the wall a cleaner look. Although the application of mortar in tuckpointing can improve the wall’s structural integrity, that is not guaranteed.

The labor involved in tuckpointing or repointing is relatively intensive, but ignoring damaged walls is not a good option. Hiring professional tuckpointing contractors to do the job saves money over the long-term outlook by increasing your house value and preventing further damage to brick and stone.

Brick Restoration

Most masonry installers offer brick restoration service. Unfortunately, harsh winters are rough on brickwork, and other causes of deterioration include aging, resettling, pollutants and loss of mortar. This service typically includes:

• Repointing service to restore the underlying functionality of brick walls, chimneys and other brick
• Replacement of spalling or cracked brick
• Resetting of deflected or displaced brick
• Rebuilding of firewalls and parapet walls
• Restoring brick columns, fences, arches and chimneys
• Rebuilding of areas that have leaning, bulging or bowing brick

Dealing with brick repair ranks as one of the last things homeowners want to do, but proactive attention prevents the problems from escalating. Aging brick is the most common reason for repair, and maintenance of the mortar between bricks is the second most common reason for repair. The problems aren’t that expensive or difficult to repair if detected early enough.

Brick spalling is common in bricks made before 1980. Aging brick becomes softened and more porous, absorbs too much water and expands in freezing weather, which causes the face’s surface layer to separate from the rest of the brick. Maintaining the deteriorating mortar in older brickwork and repointing when necessary helps to prevent spalling.

If you're concerned that you may be affected by spalling bricks then chances are you should check around your leaking windows, around your gutters, doors and stairs, an old chimney, and towards the lower part of your exterior walls. This is where moisture has the highest probability of affecting your bricks. If you see that moisture is penetrating, it's time to have it addressed.

How often should you get your brick and stone cleaned?

Brick and stone are both durable material that last long and require little care. That being said, they do deserve regular check-up to make sure that the natural elements aren't eroding away the joints that hold them together. In addition, if you live in an area where humidity is an issue then your brick and stone can also accumulate efflorescence,  which is a salt deposit that is visible on the face of your wall. This is not harmful but it is an aesthetic eyesore. 

Considering everything, you should have your brick and stone cleaned annually with some bleach and water (or any cleaning agent for exterior use on your house). This is also a great time to inspect your walls to see if anything is loose or if the joints are eroding. If so, get it addressed as soon as possible, it's always easier (and less costly) to perform maintenance than to completely repair/replace your bricks and stones.

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