Failed mortar joints are the leading cause of preventable water damage in Chicagoland brick homes. Here is how to recognize the signs and why timing the repair correctly matters.
Mortar joints in a Chicago brick home typically need repointing every 20 to 25 years. This is not a design flaw — it is a maintenance reality driven by the thermal cycling and freeze-thaw conditions that mortar endures in Illinois's climate. The mortar in a joint expands and contracts with temperature changes, eventually developing micro-cracks that allow water infiltration. When that water freezes, the crack widens. Left unaddressed, what starts as a $1,500 tuckpointing project becomes a $8,000 structural repair.
The correct approach to tuckpointing begins with joint inspection, not joint removal. We probe mortar joints to measure depth, assess hardness relative to the brick, and identify all failure points before any grinder is turned on. A proper inspection also identifies whether the existing mortar is too hard for the brick it is installed in — a common problem in older Chicago homes where Portland cement-heavy mortars were used in subsequent repairs. Mortar that is harder than the brick eventually causes brick spalling, which is far more expensive to address than mortar replacement.
The tuckpointing process itself requires removing existing mortar to a minimum 3/4-inch depth — not grinding the surface — and packing Type S mortar in multiple layers. One-pass mortar applications shrink, crack, and fail within a few years. The final joint profile must match the original tooling to prevent water pooling at the joint face. These are craft details that only experience teaches, and they are the reason tuckpointing quality varies so dramatically between contractors in this market.
AMS has been color-matching mortar on Chicagoland brick homes since 2007, working across every architectural era from 1890s Evanston greystones to 1960s Northbrook ranches to 2010s Naperville colonials. Every tuckpointing project includes a full inspection report, before and after documentation, and a 5-year labor warranty. If your home is more than 15 years old and has not had mortar joints evaluated, contact us for a free inspection this season.
