Mortar crumbling out of the joints or a brick cracked through? We find out why, fix what's failing and leave the good wall standing.
Brick repair in Brownsville usually means repointing, where we cut the worn mortar out of the joints and pack in new, plus replacing any bricks that are cracked through so your wall sheds water again.
Most calls start with sand piling up under a wall, a joint you can push a key into or a crack running up through the mortar. Some people call the fix pointing or tuckpointing, and it's the same job. A bad joint is a bad joint, and it doesn't get better on its own.
The price turns on how many joints are failing, how many bricks need replacing, how high the work sits and how hard it is to reach, and how closely the new mortar has to match the old. The schedule turns on rain, since we don't pack joints into a soaked wall, and on whatever your city's office wants first. I'll put your figure in writing once I've seen the wall.
You deal with me from the first look to the last walk-through, and our own crew does the work in between.
When you call or message, I come out, look the wall over and ask what you've been seeing, like sand at the base or a crack that keeps growing. I've run this business in Brownsville since 2023, after years laying brick for a mason who made me tear out any joint that wasn't right, and you get a written price for the work we talked about.
If you go ahead, we sort out what your city or county office wants on that job first, so nothing stalls once the wall's open. We're licensed and fully insured.
Our crew does the work and I'm on site running it, not stopping by at the end to look. When it's done I walk the finished wall with you. Satisfaction guaranteed.
Before we touch a wall we find out why the mortar's going, because fresh joints over an ongoing problem just wear out again. Then we fix what's failing and leave the sound brick alone. That means cutting out the bad joints, swapping bricks that are cracked through, repacking the joints to match the color and shape of what's already there, and cleaning up when we're done.
Brick trouble along the house often comes with trouble in the yard. If the drive beside the house is cracked up or a slope needs holding back, we also lay driveway pavers and handle retaining wall construction, and I can price those on the same visit.
Same order on every job, because skipping a step is how a repair ends up getting done twice.
Open joints, a downspout dumping on the wall or a cap that's let go can all feed the same problem, so we track it down and tell you what it takes to stop it. New mortar over a leak just washes out again.
We take out joints that are loose, cracked or missing, back to solid mortar, so the new joint has something firm to bond to. Sound joints stay, because cutting them out only puts the brick edges at risk.
Cracked bricks come out and the closest match we can find goes in, then the joints get packed in layers and tooled to the old profile. Packing in layers fills the joint solid all the way back instead of skinning over a hollow.
Mortar that dries too fast in Brownsville heat comes out weak, so we keep it from baking out while it sets. Then we clean the brick face and haul off the debris.
Send a few photos of the worn joints and tell me if your home is a historic property, and we'll get back to you within one business day. I'll come out, look at the wall and give you a free estimate on site, with no obligation.
(956) 505-5518Mortar needs repointing when it's crumbling, has gaps or hairline cracks, or has worn back more than 1/4 inch from the brick face, going by the brick industry's repointing guide. A later industry note says minor cracks may be able to wait, since veneer walls can handle the bit of extra moisture they let in. Efflorescence, a white bloom on the brick, that keeps coming back after a new wall's first drying out likely means water's getting in and staying, and that's worth having me look at.
No, repointing mortar should be no stronger than the original mortar. Harder mortar can make the face of the brick flake off, so a tougher mix ends up hurting the wall it was meant to fix. Ask any mason how the new mix compares with the old before they start, and I'll tell you what we plan to use and why.
Mortar joints typically last more than 25 years, while the bricks themselves can go past 100. So plan on the joints being the part of the wall that gets renewed now and then, while the brick stays.
Across the US, brick repair usually costs about $210 to $260 per brick. That's a national figure, not our price. Your own number comes in writing after I've seen the wall and know how much of it actually needs work.
Brick walls on the Gulf Coast take a beating, with rains that can last for hours and come with high winds, so an open joint here lets water straight into the wall. Before work starts we check what the city or county office for your property asks for on the job. In Brownsville that's the city's Building Permits and Inspections Division, which handles permits and plan review for remodeling and new construction, and when a permit's needed we pull it and call for the inspections.
Historic homes get one more layer. For those properties, the city's design guidelines say to repoint only where mortar is missing, loose or failing and to match the historic mortar, and they don't allow ready-made gray cement mortars, which are typically a poor match. The Heritage Council reads those guidelines in its review rather than as black-and-white rules, so tell me up front if your house is historic. We're based in Brownsville and work across the Rio Grande Valley cities around it, including San Benito, Harlingen, Los Fresnos and Port Isabel, along with others nearby.
Call (956) 505-5518 or use the form, and a few photos plus a word on whether your house is historic let me show up already knowing which mortar questions to ask.
If a wall has you wondering whether it can wait, get in touch and I'll tell you straight.
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