Parapet Wall Repair in Chicago Ridge, IL

Paul Lally's Masonry provides parapet wall repair in Chicago Ridge, IL: tuckpointing roof-edge brick, resetting and replacing stone and metal coping, installing through-wall flashing, and rebuilding leaning or crumbling parapets on storefront, mixed-use, office and light-industrial buildings. We're family-owned, insured and have served Chicagoland since 1988, from a home base just down the road in Palos Heights. Call (708) 448-8866 for a free on-site estimate.

Chicago Ridge is a commercial village. Its strip retail and freestanding storefronts line Ridgeland Avenue and 111th Street, there's commercial frontage on Harlem Avenue, and light-industrial buildings sit along the rail lines. Nearly all of it has flat roofs with a parapet at the front, and often around all four sides. That parapet is the part of the building owners look at least, and the part customers walk under every day.

A parapet fails first because it's the only part of the wall that weathers on three sides. Parapet wall repair in Chicago Ridge starts on the roof, not the sidewalk, because the roof side and the coping tell you what's really happening.

How a parapet wall is built and why it fails

A parapet is the short wall that rises above the roof line. On Chicago Ridge storefronts it usually carries the sign band and is capped with stone, precast or metal coping. Behind the face brick there's often concrete block, and where it meets the roof the membrane turns up the inside face.

Because it sticks up into the weather with no heat behind it, the parapet gets:

• Rain from three sides: street face, roof face and top.
• More freeze-thaw cycles than the wall below, since nothing warms it.
• Snow piled against the roof side all winter when the roof is plowed or drifts.
• Movement at the corners and long runs, which cracks the joints.

| What you see | What's usually happening | |---|---| | Open or sandy joints just below the coping | Water getting under the cap and washing out the mortar | | Cracked or tilted coping stones | Failed coping joints, rusted anchors or a heaving top course | | White staining on the brick under the roofline | Water travelling down through the parapet from above | | Parapet leaning out toward the sidewalk | Saturated wall, broken ties or freeze-thaw jacking at the roof line | | Leaks at the front wall inside the store | Missing through-wall flashing or water bypassing the roof membrane | | Loose brick at the corners | Thermal movement with no control joint, made worse by water |

Signs your Chicago Ridge building needs parapet wall repair

• Crumbling or missing mortar in the top few courses.
• Loose, cracked or shifted coping, or caulk smeared over coping joints.
• A visible lean or bow when you sight down the roof edge from the corner.
• Spalling brick, where the face pops off near the top of the wall.
• Staining or efflorescence under the coping or sign band.
• Ceiling or wall leaks along the front of the unit that roof repairs haven't fixed.
• Brick or mortar fragments on the sidewalk or in the planting strip.

Why parapet repair shouldn't wait

Parapets are where small masonry problems turn into falling-masonry problems. On a storefront, that's directly over your customers. A parapet that loses its joints soaks up water, and every winter the freeze-thaw cycle pushes the top courses further apart. Water that gets past the coping also runs down into the wall below and the lintel over the storefront, and starts rusting the steel. A parapet that's repointed and recapped today often has to be rebuilt in a few years if it's left alone.

Repair or rebuild: how we decide

| Condition | Usual answer | |---|---| | Joints failing, brick sound, wall straight | Tuckpoint and reset or reseal the coping | | Coping cracked or loose, wall sound | Reset or replace the coping, add flashing beneath | | Some cracked or spalled brick, wall straight | Spot brick replacement plus repointing | | Wall leaning, bowed or loose at the roof line | Rebuild the parapet from a sound course | | No through-wall flashing and recurring leaks | Take down the top courses to install flashing, then rebuild |

We'll tell you which it is, show you photos from the roof and put it in writing.

Our parapet wall repair process in Chicago Ridge

1. Inspect from the roof: both faces, the coping, the roof tie-in and the corners, with photos.
2. Sort masonry from roofing, so you know what's ours and what's your roofer's.
3. Protect the sidewalk and entrance where work is overhead.
4. Remove coping and failed courses as needed, down to sound masonry.
5. Install through-wall flashing under the coping with proper end laps.
6. Repoint or rebuild with brick and mortar matched to the building.
7. Reset or replace the coping, sloped toward the roof with sealed joints.
8. Walk it with you. We stand behind our work, because our name is on every job.

Materials we use

Face brick and block matched to the existing wall; Type N or Type S mortar chosen for the exposure and the brick; stone, precast or prefinished metal coping matched to the building; through-wall flashing with drip edges; stainless or galvanized anchors; and sealant at coping joints. We don't bury a parapet under roof coating.

What drives the cost of parapet wall repair

We don't publish prices, because parapets vary too much. What changes the number:

• Linear footage of parapet involved.
• Repointing versus rebuilding, and how many courses come down.
• Coping: reset, reseal or replace, and the material.
• Roof access and working around HVAC units, drains and signs.
• Sidewalk and entrance protection and scheduling around business hours.

Call (708) 448-8866 for a free on-site estimate and a written scope.

Parapet wall repair in Chicago Ridge and next door

Chicago Ridge is boxed in by Oak Lawn, Worth and Bridgeview, so its commercial buildings face the same open exposure and the same aging flat-roof stock. We also repair parapets in Oak Lawn, Evergreen Park and Burbank, and handle tuckpointing in Chicago Ridge and commercial masonry restoration in Bridgeview. For more depth, read our guide to parapet wall repair for Chicago buildings.

Why Chicago Ridge owners call Paul Lally's Masonry

Paul Lally's Masonry Inc. is a family-owned, insured masonry contractor serving Chicago and the Chicagoland suburbs since 1988. We handle tuckpointing, brick repair and replacement, chimney repair and rebuilds, lintel replacement, parapet repair, masonry restoration and waterproofing for residential and commercial properties. Built on Craftsmanship. Backed by Experience. Free on-site estimates — call (708) 448-8866.

• Since 1988, on commercial and residential buildings across Chicagoland.
• Local: based in Palos Heights, minutes from Chicago Ridge.
• Insured, with a certificate of insurance on request.
• Family-owned: we stand behind our work.

Related services: parapet wall repair, commercial masonry restoration, tuckpointing, lintel replacement and brick replacement.

Get your parapet checked

Request a free on-site estimate or call (708) 448-8866. Built on Craftsmanship. Backed by Experience.