Brick Replacement · La Grange, IL
Brick Replacement in La Grange, IL — Matching a Wall That Has Been Weathering Since 1910
Anyone can take a bad brick out. Putting one back that nobody notices — in a wall that has been weathering for a century — is the whole craft.
Quick Answer
Brick replacement in La Grange, IL is the cutting out and replacing of spalled, cracked or loose brick with matched units, toothed into the surrounding coursing and repointed with matched mortar. Paul Lally's Masonry has matched and replaced Chicagoland brick since 1988 — family-owned, insured, free on-site estimates, (708) 448-8866.
Taking a bad brick out of a wall is not the difficult part.
Putting one back that nobody notices — in a wall laid around 1910, in mortar mixed by hand on site, in a colour altered by a hundred Chicagoland winters — is the entire craft.
Brick replacement in La Grange, IL is a matching problem before it is a masonry problem, and in a village with this much intact original housing stock, the matching is the job.
Paul Lally's Masonry Inc. is a family-owned, insured masonry contractor serving Chicago and the Chicagoland suburbs since 1988 — tuckpointing, brick repair and replacement, chimney repair and rebuilds, lintel replacement, masonry restoration, and waterproofing for residential and commercial properties. Built on Craftsmanship. Backed by Experience. Free on-site estimates — call (708) 448-8866.
When a brick actually has to come out
Not every damaged unit needs replacing. These do.
Spalled through the face. The hard fired outer skin has popped off and the soft interior is exposed and absorbing water. That skin does not grow back, and the unit deteriorates quickly once it is gone.
Cracked through the unit. A crack running the depth of the brick, particularly where it lines up with its neighbours — that pattern usually points to movement, or to a lintel below.
Loose or displaced. The bond has failed. On an upper elevation above a walkway, that is not a maintenance item.
Severely eroded or sugared from long weathering or, frequently, from having been sandblasted at some point.
Fire-damaged units after a chimney or structure fire.
See brick repair versus replacement for where the line falls.
The matching problem, in the right order
Homeowners judge a repair on colour. Masons judge it on size and coursing, and that difference explains nearly every repair anyone has been unhappy with.
Size first. Brick dimensions changed across the decades, and a La Grange wall from 1910 is not built from what a modern yard stocks. A unit that is a shade off in colour disappears; a unit that is the wrong height forces the joints around it to thicken or thin, and that break in the joint line is permanent.
Texture second. Wire-cut, sand-struck, pressed — the surface catches light differently, and that reads from the sidewalk.
Colour third. And colour is the one that cannot be fully solved, because what you are matching is not a brick — it is a brick plus a century of weather and soot. A new unit reads newer for a while, then weathers in.
Three sourcing routes:
| Source | Best for | |---|---| | Salvage yards | Older and historic walls — closest match for size and era | | Current production | Mid-century and later stock, matched on size and texture | | Harvested from your own house | Prominent elevations — take units from a hidden face, put new brick there |
That third route is the one most contractors never raise, and on a visible La Grange front elevation it is frequently the right answer.
La Grange, specifically
La Grange has an unusually well-preserved building stock for a suburb this close to the city, which makes it demanding work.
The historic district and the older residential streets. Late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century homes — Victorians, foursquares, and substantial masonry houses on the streets around the village centre and the BNSF line. Soft, hand-made or early machine-made brick in lime-rich mortar. This masonry is not fragile; it has stood for well over a century. It is, however, intolerant of hard modern mortar and aggressive cleaning, and historic review may apply.
The 1920s bungalow and two-flat layer. Pressed face brick on the street elevation, softer Chicago common brick on the sides and rear. The common brick spalls readily and is the material most damaged by hard mortar and pressure washing.
The post-war and later infill, where brick is harder and more uniform and the matching problem is mostly size and texture.
Downtown commercial masonry along La Grange Road and the blocks around the station, where storefront and upper-floor units sit above a walkable street.
Mature canopy across most of the village keeps north and east elevations damp for days after rain, which is why those walls almost always show more spalling than the sunny side of the same house.
Fix the water first, or do it twice
Brick spalls because water got in and froze. Replacing a spalled unit without finding the source is a repair on a timer.
The usual suspects, in order:
- Open or eroded mortar joints
- A failed sill above the damage that has stopped shedding water
- A corroding lintel driving cracks that admit water
- Coping or a chimney crown feeding the top of the wall
- Gutter and downspout discharge hitting the same corner every storm
- Grade and splash at the bottom courses, with road salt in winter
We look at all six before quoting units. See what causes brick to spall.
How the work is done
- Assess the elevation and identify the water source.
- Cut out the failed units carefully, without chipping the neighbours — slow work, and where damage gets done by people in a hurry.
- Tooth the opening so new brick interlocks with the existing coursing.
- Set the matched units in mortar matched in type, colour, sand and joint profile — and softer than the brick around it, because mortar harder than the unit drives stress into the unit and spalls its face.
- Point and tool to the existing profile.
- Address the water source — sill, lintel, joints, coping, drainage.
- Clean down gently. No sandblasting and no high-pressure washing; both strip the fired skin and guarantee the next round of spalling.
What drives the cost
Number of units and how scattered they are — twenty in one area is a different job from twenty across three elevations. Height and access. Whether matching brick can be sourced, salvaged or harvested. How much repointing goes with the replacement. Whether a sill, lintel or coping has to be addressed as the water source. Whether historic requirements apply. Weather windows, since mortar needs workable temperatures to cure.
Free on-site estimate, in writing — call (708) 448-8866.
Serving La Grange and the surrounding suburbs
We work throughout La Grange and the communities around it — La Grange Park, Western Springs, Brookfield, Countryside, Hinsdale and Indian Head Park. Related services: brick replacement, brick repair, tuckpointing and repointing, limestone and sill repair, and masonry restoration.
For realistic expectations on appearance, read why repairs look different, and for the technical side of fit, brick sizes, bonds and coursing.
Get the match right the first time
Family-owned since 1988, insured, and our name is on every job.
Get a free on-site estimate — or call (708) 448-8866. Built on Craftsmanship. Backed by Experience.
Brick Replacement in La Grange, IL — Frequently Asked Questions
How much does brick replacement cost in La Grange, IL?
It depends on the number of units and how scattered they are across the elevation, height and access, whether matching brick can be sourced or salvaged, and how much repointing goes with it. Paul Lally's Masonry provides a free on-site estimate in writing.
Can you match brick on a house built in 1910?
Closely, in most cases, but never perfectly on day one. A century of Chicagoland weather, coal smoke and freeze-thaw changes a wall in ways no new unit reproduces, so a good match is judged from the street rather than at arm's length.
Where does matching brick come from?
Three sources: salvage yards, current production matched on size and texture, and — often the best answer on a prominent elevation — units harvested from a hidden face of your own house, with the new brick placed where nobody looks.
Why does size matter more than colour?
Because a unit of the wrong height forces the mortar joints around it to thicken or thin so the coursing lines up, and that break in the joint line reads from across the street. A slightly off colour weathers in; wrong coursing does not.
Why is my brick spalling in the first place?
Water in the brick freezing. It gets in through open joints, a failed sill, a corroding lintel or a saturated wall, then expands as it freezes and pushes the hard fired face off. Replacing units without fixing the water source means doing it again.
Should the wall be repointed at the same time?
Usually at least locally, because new units set into old joints read as an island. If the surrounding joints are failing anyway, doing both while the access is set up costs less than doing them separately.
What is toothing?
Cutting the repair area so the new brick interlocks with the existing coursing rather than sitting in a straight-edged rectangle. It ties the new work into the old and makes the repair read as part of the wall.
Do historic district rules apply in La Grange?
They can, depending on the property and its location. Review commonly covers brick and mortar matching, joint profile and cleaning method — all things a proper repair would do anyway. We confirm requirements before work begins rather than after.
Brick Replacement in Nearby Areas
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