MASONRY in Old Town, Chicago
Purpose Design+Build designs and manages masonry projects in Old Town, 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.
Old Town is one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, full of Victorian townhomes and historic frame houses where preservation matters. Most homes here are Victorian townhomes and historic frame houses, built in the mid-to-late 1800s, with some of the oldest framing in the city and protected original detail.
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. Old Town has real preservation expectations and landmark-district blocks, so original detail is matched carefully and street-visible work is planned around review.
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 Old Town?
Yes. Purpose Design+Build designs and manages masonry projects in Old Town and across Chicago's North Side. Old Town is one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, full of Victorian townhomes and historic frame houses where preservation matters, and we design to fit that housing stock rather than around it.
How is a masonry priced in Old Town?
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 Old Town.
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 Old Town.