Brick Replacement · Mokena, IL
Brick Replacement in Mokena, IL — Newer Veneer Fails at the Details, Not the Brick
On a newer Mokena home, brick rarely fails because the brick wore out — it fails because a detail behind it did. Paul Lally's Masonry Inc. replaces the failed brick and fixes what caused it.
Quick Answer
Paul Lally's Masonry Inc. provides brick replacement in Mokena, IL — cutting out cracked, spalled, and displaced brick and rebuilding with matched units and matched mortar on both newer brick veneer and older solid masonry, after correcting the flashing, shelf angle, or water path that caused it. Family-owned since 1988, insured. Call (708) 448-8866.
Mokena homeowners call about brick with a slightly bewildered version of the same question: this house isn't old — why is the brick coming apart?
It is a fair question, and the answer is usually reassuring and annoying in equal measure. The brick did not wear out. Something behind it or above it failed, and the brick has been paying for it ever since.
Paul Lally's Masonry Inc. provides brick replacement in Mokena, IL — cutting out cracked, spalled, and displaced brick and rebuilding with matched units and matched mortar, after correcting whatever caused the failure. Family-owned, serving Chicagoland since 1988, insured. Free on-site estimate: (708) 448-8866.
Newer brick veneer is a drainage wall, and it fails at the details
Most Mokena homes built from the 1990s onward are brick veneer: a single wythe of brick standing an inch or two off the sheathing, tied back to the structure with metal wall ties, with flashing at the base and over openings and weep holes to let water out.
That wall carries no building load. It is a rain screen. And it is designed on the assumption that water will get behind the brick and needs a clear route back out. When that route is blocked or was never built correctly, water sits in the cavity — and then the brick starts failing.
Here is what actually goes wrong on newer homes:
- Blocked weep holes. Mortar droppings in the cavity, caulk applied by a well-meaning contractor, or mulch and soil piled against the base course. The drain is closed and the wall holds water.
- Short, missing, or improperly lapped flashing. At the base, over windows, over garage openings. Water that gets in has nowhere to go but down and in.
- Corroding shelf angles. The steel supporting veneer at floor lines and openings rusts when it stays wet, and rusting steel expands and lifts the brick above it.
- Wall ties that failed or were never right. Corroded, spaced too far apart, or never properly embedded. The veneer starts to separate from the wall behind it.
- Missing or failed control joints. Brick expands. Without joints to absorb it, the wall cracks where it can — usually diagonally, through the mortar, at an opening corner.
- Water management outside the wall. A downspout discharging at a corner, a roof edge with no kickout flashing dumping onto a wall, or grade sloping back toward the house.
Any of those will destroy good brick in twenty years. All of them are fixable — but only if the repair addresses the cause instead of the symptom.
Mokena's two housing eras
The newer subdivisions — the growth out from town from the 1990s through the 2010s, and the neighborhoods along the LincolnWay corridor — are that veneer construction, often with a brick front elevation and siding on the sides and rear. Those transitions are a common trouble spot: where brick meets siding, where the veneer terminates, and where flashing has to hand water from one system to another.
Old Mokena — the village core near Front Street and the older homes around it — is different masonry entirely: older, softer brick, solid multi-wythe walls in places, and stone details. That work needs soft, lime-rich mortar and matching salvage brick, and a hard modern mix on it will spall the faces within a few seasons.
Same town, opposite approaches. Both sit in Will County's freeze-thaw climate, and both get the full weather load on exposed lots, where a west elevation has nothing between it and driving rain.
Repair or replace? The line
- Scattered individual failed bricks in a sound wall → brick repair, unit by unit
- A continuous failed area — spalled, cracked, or displaced → brick replacement, rebuilt as a section
- A wall bulging, separating, or out of plane → rebuild the affected section and correct the ties, shelf angle, or movement causing it
- Cracked, lifted brick in a line above an opening → lintel replacement first, then rebuild the brick above
We will tell you plainly which one your wall is. Selling a rebuild where a repair holds is dishonest; patching a wall that has gone structural is worse.
How we replace brick in Mokena
- Diagnose the cause. Weeps, flashing, shelf angle, ties, control joints, drainage. Everything else depends on this step.
- Find the true edge of the failure. Sounding and probing beyond the visible damage, so the rebuild reaches sound masonry.
- Support where needed and remove. Failed brick and mortar out cleanly, without disturbing the brick that stays.
- Correct the detail. New flashing, cleared cavity and weeps, shelf angle treated or replaced, ties addressed, drainage fixed.
- Rebuild with matched brick. Sourced to match and dry-laid against your wall for approval before anything is set.
- Match the mortar. Color, sand, texture, joint profile — and hardness matched to the brick.
- Clean down and blend so the rebuilt area reads as part of the original wall.
What drives the cost of brick replacement in Mokena
- Size of the failed area — a few square feet versus a full elevation
- Veneer versus structural masonry
- Height and access — a grade-level wall versus a second story, chimney, or gable
- Brick-match difficulty — usually easier on newer homes, harder on Old Mokena stock
- Underlying corrections — flashing, weeps, shelf angle, ties, drainage
- Season and curing conditions
We walk it with you and the estimate is free. Call (708) 448-8866.
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.
Serving Mokena and Will County
We rebuild brick throughout Mokena's 60448 — the newer subdivisions, the LincolnWay neighborhoods, and the older streets around Front Street — and across the surrounding Will County towns. Related work often includes brick repair in Mokena, tuckpointing in Mokena, and masonry caulking in Mokena. We do the same work in Frankfort, New Lenox, Tinley Park, and Orland Park.
Why Mokena homeowners call Paul Lally's Masonry Inc.
We find out why the brick failed before we rebuild it, because on a newer home the cause is almost never the brick. We correct the detail, match the units and the mortar, and dry-lay the match against your wall so you approve it first. Family-owned since 1988, insured, and the family name is on every job. Built on Craftsmanship. Backed by Experience.
If brick on your Mokena home is cracking, spalling, or pulling away, request a free on-site estimate or call (708) 448-8866.
Brick Replacement in Mokena, IL — Frequently Asked Questions
How much does brick replacement cost in Mokena, IL?
It is set by scope, not by a rate. The drivers are the size of the failed area, whether it is veneer or structural, height and access, how hard the brick is to match, and whether flashing, a shelf angle, a lintel, or a drainage problem has to be corrected as part of the work. Paul Lally's Masonry Inc. gives free on-site estimates in Mokena — call (708) 448-8866.
My house is only twenty-five years old. Why is the brick failing?
On newer homes the brick itself is usually fine — what failed is a detail behind or around it. Blocked weep holes, short or missing flashing, a corroding shelf angle, wall ties that were never properly embedded, or water dumping off a roof edge will destroy brick decades before the brick would have worn out on its own.
Do I need brick repair or brick replacement?
Scattered individual bricks in a sound wall are a repair. A continuous failed area, a wall that is bulging or displaced, or damage that follows a line along the wall means a section needs to come out and be rebuilt. We tell you which one you have before we price it.
Can you match brick on a 1990s or 2000s Mokena home?
Usually more easily than on a century-old house, because much of that brick is still in production or has close current equivalents. Where a run has been discontinued, we source the nearest match and, if needed, salvage brick from a concealed elevation so the visible wall matches exactly.
What are wall ties and why do they matter?
They are the metal anchors that tie a brick veneer wall back to the structure behind it. Brick veneer carries no building load — it hangs on those ties — so when they corrode or were never properly embedded, the wall can bulge, separate, or shed brick even though the brick looks fine.
What is a shelf angle?
It is the steel angle that supports brick veneer at floor lines and above openings on many newer homes. Like any steel in a wall, it corrodes when it stays wet, and corroding steel expands and lifts the brick above it — the same rust jacking that ruins lintels.
Should I be worried about cracks that step up through the mortar?
Step cracks running diagonally through the joints usually mean movement — settlement, a missing or failed control joint, or something pushing the wall. They should be assessed rather than simply patched, because filling a moving crack just gives it somewhere new to open.
Do you offer free estimates for brick replacement in Mokena?
Yes. Paul Lally's Masonry Inc. provides free on-site estimates throughout Mokena and the surrounding Will County suburbs. We look at the wall, explain what failed and why, and leave a written estimate — call (708) 448-8866.
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