Tuckpointing in Berwyn, IL

Why Berwyn Homeowners Choose Expert Tuckpointing

Berwyn is one of the defining communities of Chicago's bungalow belt. Its streets are lined with brick bungalows and two-flats built largely in the 1910s–1930s, solid masonry homes that have anchored the neighborhood for generations. Keeping them sound is a matter of mortar maintenance. Tuckpointing replaces the eroded joints that let water into the wall before that water can cause real damage.

Berwyn's older homes were typically built with soft Chicago common brick and lime-based mortars designed to be sacrificial, softer than the brick, so the joint wears out instead of the brick wearing out. After nearly a century of Cook County freeze-thaw cycling, those joints have reached end-of-life across much of the city's housing stock. Replacing them with the wrong mortar, particularly hard Portland cement, traps moisture and can crack the surrounding historic brick.