Brick Pointing
Brick pointing for houses, garages and chimneys around Pittsburgh. We cut the failed mortar out of the joints and repoint them with mortar matched to the wall.
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Our Services
Brick repair is the work on the bricks themselves. Faces pop off, bricks crack, and courses go loose and out of line. We cut the bad brick out and set new brick in its place, matched to the wall. Whole sections, porch piers and brick steps get rebuilt the same way.
Davis Demolition and Masonry is based in Pittsburgh and works about 40 miles around. Brick pointing and brick repair are the masonry work we do most. We have been in the demolition business since 2001, and we are licensed and insured. Brick repair sits with the rest of the brick, block and stone work we do on older houses here. Call or text (412) 720-1866 and we will come look at the wall.
Tell us about the job. We will call or text you back.
Water is behind most of it. It soaks into the brick, and the pressure of trapped moisture and salts under the surface forces the face off. Federal preservation guidance names freeze-thaw cycles and salt pressure as the usual cause of spalling. Road salt tracked onto brick steps works the same way.
Pittsburgh brick has stood through a lot of winters. The median home in the city was built in 1942. About half the housing here dates from 1939 or earlier. Brick has a hard outer face and a softer core. Once that face is gone, water wicks into the core and freezing weather breaks it up.
Two common repairs make it worse. Hard modern mortar is less permeable than the brick around it. Federal guidance says it often makes the surrounding masonry break down faster. Waterproofing chemicals and non-permeable paint trap moisture behind the coating and speed the decay up. Brick has to dry out.
Replacing a brick starts by breaking the damaged one out. The mortar left in the hole is cut and chiseled back without chipping the brick next to it. The opening gets cleaned out and dampened. New brick and old are buttered with mortar and the brick is pressed into place. Then the joints around it are tooled to match the wall.
Matching is the part that takes time. Brick industry guidance is plain about it. Replacement brick has to match the size, color and texture of the brick in the wall. Finding it can take real effort, and on an old house salvaged brick is often the closest match.
When a section is loose, bowed or broken down, the brick comes back to sound masonry and gets laid again. That is how a wall base, a porch pier or a set of brick steps is rebuilt. Interior brick in a house under renovation gets repaired the same way, so the masonry stays sound. Brick above the roofline on a stack is chimney repair.
Steel lintels carry the brick over windows and doors. Federal preservation guidance says iron and steel lintels crack the masonry as they deflect or rust over time. Rusting metal inside a wall builds pressure and spalls the masonry around it. The fix is usually replacing the failed part and rebuilding the brick around the opening.
Some cracks are not masonry repairs at all. Brick industry guidance treats a set of them as structural signs. Cracks wider than about 2 millimeters are on that list. So are cracks that run through the bricks instead of the joints. Stepped cracking, widespread spalling, rust piled on a lintel and walls pushed out of plane are too. A structural engineer should look at those first. Lower down, the work belongs with foundation repair and waterproofing.
Closing an opening up or cutting one in is where demolition and masonry meet. The brick above an opening has to be carried on temporary support before anything is cut. We shore the wall, cut the opening, set the lintel and lay the brick back. On a house being gutted, that goes in with the interior demolition.
We look at the job and give you a price before any work starts, across Pittsburgh, the South Hills, the eastern suburbs and about 40 miles around.
(412) 720-1866From the first call to a clean site at the end, here is how it goes.
Call or text (412) 720-1866, or send the form. Tell us what is coming down and where it sits.
We come out and go over what is being removed, what it is built of and the access. You get a price before any work starts.
We go over what your municipality requires and who handles each step. Utility shutoffs, One Call marking and any asbestos survey happen before demolition starts.
The teardown or the masonry repair gets done. We keep you posted during the job and handle added scope as it comes up.
Construction and demolition debris is loaded out and hauled away. On a teardown the lot can be graded, topsoiled and seeded.
Common questions about brick repair across Pittsburgh, the South Hills, the eastern suburbs and about 40 miles around. If yours is not here, call and ask.
Brick pointing for houses, garages and chimneys around Pittsburgh. We cut the failed mortar out of the joints and repoint them with mortar matched to the wall.
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We do the masonry side of chimney work: repointing, rebuilds from the roofline up, new crowns and chimney removal. Sweeping, liners and flue inspections stay with a certified chimney sweep.
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We repoint, parge and rebuild stone, brick and block foundation walls across Pittsburgh. Exterior waterproofing means digging the wall out, coating it and backfilling with drainage stone.
Learn MoreDemolition is the main line of work at Davis Demolition and Masonry. Houses, garages, sheds, interior gut outs, concrete and commercial interiors are the everyday jobs.
We hold the City of Pittsburgh general contractor license the city requires for demolition permits. We are an EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm and a registered Pennsylvania home improvement contractor.
A building background sits behind the demolition work. On an interior job that decides what comes out and what gets left standing.
A failed wall or chimney can come down and go back up with the same company. Debris leaves with us, and the site is left clean at the end.
Tell us what is coming down, what it is built of and where it sits. Call or text (412) 720-1866, or send the form with what you need taken down.
Tell us about the job. We will call or text you back.
