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Serving Hammond, IN and surrounding areas. (219) 666-0906
Hammond Masonry & Concrete is a masonry contractor serving Highland, IN homeowners with retaining walls, tuckpointing, brick repair, and chimney work. We have served Lake County properties since 2017 and respond to every new inquiry within one business day.
Highland's clay soil holds water and shifts with the seasons, putting pressure on any wall that is trying to hold back a grade change in the backyard or along a property line. A properly built retaining wall includes drainage behind it to relieve hydrostatic pressure - without that, even a well-built wall will begin to lean within a few years on Highland soil.
A large share of Highland's postwar homes were built with full or partial brick exteriors. After 60 or more winters, the original mortar on many of these homes is recessed, soft, or crumbling - often more visibly on the chimney than on the main walls, but both need attention. Tuckpointing before water gets into the wall cavity is the most cost-effective way to protect brick construction in this climate.
Nearly every Highland home from the 1950s and 1960s has a masonry chimney that has not been professionally inspected or repointed since original construction. Chimney mortar deteriorates faster than wall mortar because it is exposed on all sides and goes through temperature extremes from the flue. Cracks in chimney joints channel water straight into the home's interior masonry - often without any visible ceiling stain until significant damage has already occurred.
Spalling or face-cracked bricks on Highland ranch homes are almost always caused by water cycling in and out of the brick face over many freeze-thaw winters. North-facing walls and the brick near ground level are most commonly affected. Replacing damaged bricks before the problem spreads is far less expensive than letting freeze-thaw damage migrate into the surrounding wall section.
Homes in Highland were commonly built on poured concrete slabs or shallow basements - both of which are vulnerable to the clay-soil movement found throughout Lake County. Cracks that open slowly over a few seasons tend to accelerate as water enters and freeze-thaw cycles widen them. Catching foundation cracks early is far less expensive than waiting for structural movement to progress.
Most driveways in Highland were poured as concrete slabs when the home was built - which means many are now 50 to 70 years old and cracked, heaved, or stained beyond repair. Paver driveways handle the freeze-thaw cycle better than monolithic slabs because individual units can flex and are repairable section by section if damage occurs, rather than requiring a full pour to fix.
Highland is a fully built-out town - there is almost no open land left for new construction. The overwhelming majority of homes were built between 1945 and 1975, making the town's housing stock 50 to 80 years old. Ranch-style homes and Cape Cods built quickly and affordably for working families make up the bulk of the inventory, and many have had only basic updates since original construction. That age means original masonry - concrete driveways, brick exteriors, chimneys, and retaining walls - is either at or past the end of its service life. Add hard Indiana winters with freeze-thaw cycles that repeat many times each season, and the cumulative stress on brick and mortar is significant.
Highland sits on the southern edge of the old Lake Michigan lakebed, and the soil is heavy clay throughout. That clay holds water and drains slowly. After a hard rain or the spring thaw, water pools around foundations and saturates the soil next to basement walls. The clay then swells, puts lateral pressure on the foundation, and gradually opens cracks that were not there the year before. Every spring in Highland, homeowners discover the previous winter's damage - cracked driveways, wet basements, shifted retaining walls, and mortar joints that have opened further than they were in the fall. A masonry contractor who knows Highland's soil and building stock can tell you what is structural and what is cosmetic, and which repairs need to happen before the next winter.
Our crew works in Highland regularly, and the housing stock here is something we encounter every week. Highland is unique among the towns we serve because it borders Illinois directly to the west - most of its residents have shopped, worked, or visited family in Lansing, IL just across the line. We serve homeowners on both sides, so if you know a neighbor across the border who needs masonry work done, we cover that area too. Building permits for structural masonry work in Highland are handled through the Town of Highland, and we pull those permits on behalf of homeowners when the scope requires it.
Ridge Road runs east-west through Highland and is the main commercial artery most residents use as a reference point for neighborhoods. Wicker Memorial Park - one of the largest Lake County parks - sits in the northwest corner of Highland near the Munster border and is a landmark that locals know well. Residential neighborhoods spread out in all directions from Ridge Road, with lots that are modest in size but almost all owner-occupied. We have worked on homes from the blocks near Wicker Park to the quieter streets on the south side of town near the Griffith border.
We also serve Griffith, IN, which sits just east of Highland and has a similar housing stock from the same era. If you are near the Griffith border, we frequently schedule visits to both towns on the same day.
Call us directly or fill out the contact form on this site. We reply to every inquiry within one business day and can usually schedule an on-site visit within the week.
We visit your property, assess the masonry, and give you a written estimate at no charge. We walk through what we found and what we recommend before any work is discussed. You are not obligated to commit on the spot.
Once you approve the estimate, we set a start date that works for your schedule. Most Highland masonry jobs - tuckpointing, retaining walls, brick repair - do not require you to be home the entire time. We coordinate access and keep you updated throughout.
When the work is done, we clean up the site completely and walk you through what was completed. If we noticed something else during the job that should be addressed before next winter, we will point it out - no pressure, just the information you need to make a decision.
We serve Highland homeowners throughout Lake County. No obligation - just an honest assessment of your masonry and a written price before any work begins.
(219) 666-0906Highland is a town of about 22,000 people in Lake County, Indiana, sitting directly on the Illinois state line about 30 miles from downtown Chicago. The town developed almost entirely during the postwar building boom of the 1950s and 1960s, when families moved out of Chicago and Gary looking for quieter residential neighborhoods. Today, Highland is fully built out - there is very little undeveloped land - and the vast majority of properties are owner-occupied single-family homes. Residents tend to stay put for years, which gives the town a stable, community-oriented character. You can read more about the town's history and geography at the Highland, Indiana Wikipedia article.
The dominant home style is the postwar ranch - single-story brick or brick-front homes on modest lots, many with attached garages and full or partial basements. Ridge Road is the town's commercial spine, running east-west and serving as the neighborhood reference most residents use. Wicker Memorial Park in the northwest corner of town is one of the most recognized public spaces in the area. Highland borders Munster, IN to the north, where homes from the same era deal with the same clay-soil and freeze-thaw conditions. To the east, Highland borders Griffith, IN, another postwar suburb we serve regularly. If you are on either side of those borders, we can usually cover both stops on the same visit.
Install block foundations that provide lasting structural support.
Learn MoreFrom retaining walls to tuckpointing and chimney repair, we handle the full range of masonry work for Highland homeowners. Call us for a free estimate.