Brick repointing in South Philadelphia, PA

Miles of two-story rowhomes, largely 1890s to 1930s, in brick with steel lintels and, on a great many blocks, formstone or stucco applied over the original brick in the middle of the last century.

Front-elevation repointing, rusted lintels over front windows and doors, marble and brick step repair, and stucco or formstone coatings that have started letting water in behind them.

A mason cuts or grinds the old mortar back to sound material, usually three quarters of an inch deep, brushes and wets the joint, then packs new mortar in and tools it to match the original profile. The mortar has to be softer than the brick. On a Philadelphia rowhome built before about 1930 that means a lime-rich mix, not the hard grey Portland cement a general contractor reaches for, because cement is stronger than the brick around it and pushes the brick faces off instead of giving way.

• Mortar you can rake out with a screwdriver or a key
• Sand or grit collecting on the sill or the sidewalk below a wall
• Open gaps where the joint has washed out completely
• White powdery marks on the brick, which is salt carried out by water moving through the wall
• Damp patches or stains on the inside of an exterior wall
• A hard grey patch from an old repair that has cracked away from the brick

• Photographs of the joints close up, and of the whole wall from across the street
• Which elevations need work, and how high the highest joint is
• Roughly how many square feet of wall are involved
• Whether anyone has pointed it before, and with what
• Whether water is already getting inside

Describe the job once: the service, your South Philadelphia ZIP code, a few words, and photographs if you have them. Mortarook writes your description back in trade language for you to check, then matches you with a maximum of three local masonry contractors whose registered services and service area cover your ZIP 19145, 19146, 19147, 19148.

Every Verified Pro has had their Pennsylvania home improvement contractor registration checked against the Attorney General’s public registry and has a certificate of insurance on file. Your phone number and address are seen only by the pros who accept your project. There is never a fourth contractor, and we do not sell your information.

Mortarook is new in South Philadelphia. If fewer than three verified masons cover your ZIP code for this work, we tell you that plainly with a date rather than leaving you waiting.