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Serving Hammond, IN and surrounding areas. (219) 666-0906
Crumbling mortar joints let water into your walls every time it rains or snows. We replace worn mortar with the right mix for your home's age, stopping freeze-thaw damage before it spreads to the bricks themselves.
Brick pointing in Hammond is the process of removing old, crumbling mortar from the joints between your bricks and packing in fresh mortar - most jobs on a single wall section or chimney take one to two days, and a full-house repoint typically takes one week or more depending on the size of the home.
If your Hammond home was built before 1970 - which describes a large portion of the city's brick housing stock - there is a good chance some of the original mortar is at or near the end of its useful life. Mortar is designed to be softer than brick so that it absorbs stress instead of the bricks cracking. But once it wears away, water moves through those open joints with every rain, and Hammond winters freeze and expand it. The result is progressive damage that gets more expensive each season it goes unaddressed.
Brick pointing is closely related to foundation repair - failing mortar on an exterior wall often goes hand in hand with moisture pressure on the foundation below it. If you are seeing damp spots in your basement, it is worth having both the joints and the foundation evaluated at the same time.
Stand back and look at your brick wall from a few feet away. If the lines between the bricks look sunken, crumbly, or like they have chunks missing, the mortar has broken down enough to let water in. In Hammond's climate, surface deterioration like this tends to get worse quickly - especially heading into winter, when freeze-thaw cycles widen every opening further.
That white powdery residue - called efflorescence - is a sign that water is moving through the wall and depositing mineral salts on the surface as it evaporates. Hammond's lake-influenced humidity makes this especially common here. It is a reliable indicator that moisture is entering through the joints, and the mortar is the most likely point of failure.
Run your finger or a thin card along the mortar joints. If you can feel gaps, soft spots, or places where the mortar crumbles away at your touch, those joints are no longer doing their job. A gap wide enough for a credit card is a gap letting in water, insects, and cold air with every storm.
If you notice water stains, peeling paint, or damp patches on an interior wall that backs up to an exterior brick surface, failing mortar joints are a common cause. Hammond's wet springs and lake-effect precipitation give water plenty of opportunity to find those weak spots - do not assume it is a plumbing issue until the exterior masonry has been checked.
We handle brick pointing on everything from single chimney sections and parapet walls to full exterior repoints on Hammond's pre-war brick homes. The process is the same regardless of scale: grind or chisel out the old mortar to a depth that gives fresh material something to grip, clean the joints, pack in new mortar by hand, and tool it to match the original profile. For homeowners with older homes in Hessville or Robertsdale who also need broader masonry restoration work beyond the joints, we scope both together so the result is consistent across the wall.
Mortar matching is where a lot of contractors cut corners - especially on Hammond's older homes. Using a modern high-strength mix on a pre-war wall transfers stress from the joints into the brick face, causing cracking that costs far more than the original pointing job. We assess the existing mortar and match the new mix to it. If structural brick replacement is needed alongside the pointing work, that falls under our foundation repair and masonry services, and we can scope that at the same visit.
Best for homeowners with isolated problem areas - a chimney, a section near a window, or a stretch of wall that has taken more weather damage than the rest.
A good fit for pre-war Hammond homes where the mortar across the entire exterior has reached or passed its useful life and needs comprehensive replacement.
Suited for homeowners whose chimney mortar has deteriorated - a common issue on Hammond homes built between the 1910s and 1950s that still have the original masonry.
For owners of older Hammond homes who need mortar that is properly matched to the original lime-based mix so the repair does not cause damage to the brick itself.
Hammond sits in Lake Michigan's climate zone, where winters deliver repeated freeze-thaw cycles - sometimes multiple times in a single week. Every time water trapped in a cracked mortar joint freezes, it expands and pushes the joint a little wider. Over years, a hairline crack becomes a crumbling gap. For Hammond homeowners, this means mortar deteriorates faster than it would in a milder climate, and waiting another season to address visible cracks usually means a larger and more expensive repair. Hammond's neighborhoods - including the older blocks of Hessville and Robertsdale - are filled with brick homes built between the 1910s and 1950s that were constructed with lime-based mortar, which requires a different approach than newer construction. Homeowners in East Chicago and Calumet City face the same climate pressures and the same older housing stock, and we bring the same mortar-matching discipline to every job across the region.
Indiana does not require a state masonry license, which means any contractor can call themselves a pointing specialist without formal credentialing. The Mason Contractors Association of America publishes standards for mortar matching and historic masonry that we follow on every Hammond project. For older homes, the National Park Service Preservation Brief on repointing is the federal standard for handling pre-war brick - and it is the reference that guides our mortar selection and joint preparation on homes from that era.
We reply within one business day. We will ask how old the home is, which areas concern you, and whether you have photos. We schedule an in-person visit before giving any numbers - brick pointing is hard to quote accurately from a description alone.
We walk the wall with you, check the depth of mortar deterioration, and look for any bricks that need replacement alongside the pointing work. You receive a written estimate breaking down scope and total cost - including whether a permit is required - within a few days.
The crew grinds or chisels out the old mortar to the correct depth - about three-quarters of an inch - cleans the joints, and packs in fresh mortar by hand section by section. Expect noise from grinding equipment; keep windows on the work side closed to limit dust.
We sweep mortar debris, remove any protective sheeting, and walk the finished wall with you before leaving. Fresh mortar needs to stay dry for at least 24 to 48 hours - we tell you exactly what to avoid during the curing period, which can last up to a month for full strength.
Free estimate. No pressure. We reply within one business day.
(219) 666-0906Pre-war Hammond homes were built with softer, lime-based mortar. Using modern high-strength Portland cement on an older wall transfers stress into the brick faces, causing cracking that costs far more to fix than the original mortar problem. We assess the original mix and match the new mortar to it - every time.
Shallow removal - leaving old mortar behind rather than grinding it out to three-quarters of an inch - is the most common reason repointing fails within a few years. We remove the old material fully on every joint so the fresh mortar has enough depth to bond and hold through Hammond's freeze-thaw cycles.
Chimney rebuilds and structural masonry repairs in Hammond require a permit from the Building Department. We handle that process for you so the work is on record and will not raise questions at your next home sale. Standard repointing of non-structural joints typically does not require a permit, and we will tell you which category your project falls into at the first visit.
Every pointing job starts with a written, itemized estimate. You know what is being done, which sections of wall are included, and what the total is before any work begins. If we find something unexpected once we open up the joints - a brick that needs replacing, for example - we discuss it with you before proceeding.
Brick pointing done right in Hammond means your walls are sealed against the next winter before it arrives, and the repair will last 20 to 30 years rather than a few seasons. That is the standard every Hammond homeowner should expect from a pointing job.
Failing mortar at the wall level often signals moisture pressure below - foundation repair addresses the structural issues that brick pointing alone cannot fix.
Learn MoreWhen a Hammond home needs more than new mortar - brick replacement, surface cleaning, and full masonry restoration bring the whole wall back to solid condition.
Learn MoreWith Hammond winters arriving fast, now is the right time to seal those joints before freeze-thaw damage makes the repair bigger and more expensive.