MASONRY in Lincoln Square, Chicago
Purpose Design+Build designs and manages masonry projects in Lincoln Square, Chicago. Masonry work covers repointing failing brick, rebuilding parapets and stairs, sealing seams at grade, and laying new paver and concrete surfaces. Purpose Design+Build designs the approach, locks the budget, and manages the build.
Lincoln Square is a tree-lined neighborhood with deep German heritage, known for its solid brick bungalows and two-flats and a strong sense of block. Most homes here are brick bungalows and two-flats, built between the 1910s and 1930s, with plaster walls and heavy original woodwork still intact in most homes.
Century-old Chicago brick relies on mortar that was always meant to be the sacrificial layer, so once it cracks water gets in, freezes, splits the brick and works down toward the foundation. We grind the joint all the way out and repack it rather than smearing over the old. The community is preservation-minded and the original woodwork is strong, so new work is expected to match the era rather than modernize over it.
Most masonry on the North Side is repair before it is anything else. Mortar is the sacrificial layer, softer than the brick on purpose, and when it goes water gets into the wall and a cosmetic problem turns structural. So we do it the slow way. The old mortar is ground all the way out of the joint and repacked, not smeared across a joint nobody opened. Done properly that is preservation rather than patching, and it holds for around twenty years. Individual brick can be chopped out and replaced where it has already split. Parapets are what stop a building crumbling at the roofline, and where the ground meets the house we seal the seam so water cannot wick in. On new concrete and paver work we design the surface first, then set slope and drainage so water runs away from the building instead of back at it.
Assessment of what is failing and why
Full grind out and repack, never a surface smear
Mortar, brick and paver selection matched to the building
Managed build, and permits pulled under our own license
Do you do masonry in Lincoln Square?
Yes. Purpose Design+Build designs and manages masonry projects in Lincoln Square and across Chicago's North Side. Lincoln Square is a tree-lined neighborhood with deep German heritage, known for its solid brick bungalows and two-flats and a strong sense of block, and we design to fit that housing stock rather than around it.
How is a masonry priced in Lincoln Square?
Every project is priced after a paid design consult, since scope and materials vary. Request an estimate and we send a ballpark range within two business days, then, for larger jobs, book an in-person visit in Lincoln Square.
How do I get started?
Use our online estimate tool. We send a ballpark range within two business days and, for bigger jobs, book an in-person visit in Lincoln Square.