The masonry that keeps water out
Chimney repair and rebuilds, step and stoop reconstruction, repointing, walkways, patios and retaining walls, with the drainage fault corrected too.
A chimney is a water collector bolted to your roof
It is the one part of the house that sticks straight up into the weather with an opening at the top, penetrates the roof plane, and is built from a material that absorbs water. When something leaks around a chimney, the chimney is usually the reason.
- Crown repair and replacement, the cast cap on top that cracks and lets water into the stack
- Flashing and counterflashing where the chimney meets the roof, the single most common leak point
- Repointing failed mortar joints, ground out and repacked to match
- Rebuilds above and below the roofline where the brick itself has spalled and failed
- Caps and dampers so rain, snow and animals stop entering the flue
- Waterproof sealing with a breathable masonry repellent that does not trap moisture inside the brick
Rebuilt so they stop moving
Front steps fail from underneath. Either they were never properly footed and frost is lifting them, or water is being delivered right into the assembly and breaking it apart in freeze-thaw cycles. Resurfacing the top of a step that is still moving is cosmetic work with an expiry date.
- Full rebuilds with a proper frost-depth footing underneath
- Resurfacing where the structure is sound and only the finish has spalled
- Treads, risers and landings in concrete, brick, bluestone and granite
- Pitch corrected so the landing sheds water away from the door instead of toward it
- Railing posts re-set and properly flashed where they penetrate the masonry
- Drainage fixed at the same time, because the downspout beside the steps is usually the culprit
Hardscape, walls and repointing
Walkways, patios and pavers
Settled, heaved and sunken hardscape lifted, re-based and reset, with pitch re-established away from the house rather than into it.
Retaining walls
New and rebuilt retaining walls with the thing most failed walls are missing: real drainage behind the wall. A retaining wall without drainage is holding back water as well as soil.
Brick and block repointing
Failed joints ground out to depth and repointed with a mortar matched for colour, profile and, on older buildings, hardness.
Foundation parging
Resurfacing the exposed foundation face above grade so it stops shedding material and presents a clean, sealed surface.
Areaway and cellar entrance repair
Rebuilt basement entrance walls and stairs with a trench drain, which is one of the most common flood paths on attached and semi-attached homes in Queens.
Masonry waterproofing
Breathable water repellents on brick, block and stone that shed liquid water while still letting the assembly dry out.
Masonry and chimney questions
My chimney leaks. Is that a roof problem?
Usually not. The most common sources are the crown (the concrete cap on top), the flashing where the chimney passes through the roof, and the brick and mortar themselves absorbing water. Roofers often blame the chimney and masons often blame the roof. We offer both chimney repair and roof repair, so either can be addressed.
Why do my front steps keep cracking?
Almost always water and frost. Water gets into the step assembly, freezes, expands and breaks it apart from the inside. That water usually comes from a downspout emptying beside the steps, a landing pitched back toward the house, or a missing footing that let the whole assembly settle. Rebuild the steps without fixing that and you will rebuild them again.
Can you match the existing brick or stone?
Matching depends on what is still available. Mortar colour and joint profile matter as much as the brick itself for making a repair blend in. On older homes an exact brick match is sometimes impossible because the original brick is no longer produced.
Do you use the right mortar on old buildings?
Yes, and it matters. Repointing soft historic brick with modern hard portland mortar traps moisture and destroys the brick faces over time. Older masonry generally needs a softer lime-based mix. On the older housing stock in Westchester and Fairfield County this comes up regularly.
One company for the chimney, the roof and the foundation
Which means no one gets to tell you it is the other trade's fault. Free on-site estimate across all five counties.