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Serving Des Moines, IA and surrounding areas. (515) 724-6905
Crumbling mortar, cracked bricks, and damaged chimneys get worse every Iowa winter. We fix the problem with materials matched to your home so the repair holds for decades.
Brick repair in Des Moines is mostly about the mortar, not the bricks. We remove the crumbling material between your bricks, pack in fresh mortar that bonds tightly, and color-match so the repair blends in. Most jobs wrap up in one to three days with no need for you to be home.
Brick itself is extremely durable - what fails first is almost always the mortar holding it together. Des Moines winters put mortar under stress that homeowners in milder climates never deal with. Catching a small repair now saves you from a much larger bill when shifting bricks or water intrusion reach your framing. If the damage goes beyond the mortar and bricks need to be replaced or the wall rebuilt, we handle that too. Our brick pointing service is a good starting point for smaller surface repairs, while full brick repair covers spalling units, chimney damage, and sections of wall that have shifted.
Run your finger along the mortar joints on your exterior wall. If the material feels soft, crumbles away, or is visibly recessed more than a quarter inch below the brick face, it is past time for repointing. This is what Des Moines homeowners most often notice in spring after a hard winter.
If any bricks stick out further than the ones around them, or a section of wall is bowing outward, that is a more serious problem that needs attention fast. In Des Moines, clay soil movement puts pressure on foundation walls and can loosen entire sections when water has been getting in for several seasons.
Those white stains - called efflorescence - are caused by water moving through the wall and carrying minerals to the surface. In Des Moines, wet springs combined with freeze-thaw winters make this kind of moisture intrusion worse each year if the underlying mortar is not repaired.
Cracks that follow a diagonal stair-step pattern through the mortar joints are a classic sign of foundation or soil movement. Given Des Moines's clay-heavy soil, this pattern is worth taking seriously. A mason can tell you whether it is a surface repair or whether a foundation specialist needs to be involved first.
We handle brick repair on exterior walls, chimneys, foundation courses, and retaining walls throughout Des Moines. Every repair starts with removing the old, damaged material - mortar or brick - and replacing it with something matched to what is already there. For older homes in neighborhoods like Beaverdale and Sherman Hill, we use mortar mixes compatible with the softer lime-based original material so we do not crack the surrounding bricks. Where individual bricks are spalling or cracked, we replace them unit by unit and blend the new material to the existing wall. The brick pointing approach handles smaller surface repairs, while jobs that involve the driveway pavers or surrounding hardscape can be combined into one visit.
Color-matching matters. A repair that looks patchy and obvious for years is not a good outcome for anyone. We test mortar batches before committing so the finished work integrates with your existing wall rather than standing out. The Brick Industry Association provides technical guidance on mortar compatibility and repair methods that inform how we approach every job.
For walls where the mortar has crumbled but the bricks are intact - the most common repair on Des Moines older homes.
For walls where individual bricks have spalled, cracked, or shifted and need to be swapped out alongside mortar repair.
For chimneys where the cap has cracked or lost pieces, allowing water into the chimney structure before you can see the damage from outside.
A large share of Des Moines homes - particularly in neighborhoods like Sherman Hill, Beaverdale, and Drake - were built between the 1900s and 1950s when brick was the dominant exterior material. Mortar from that era was made with lime rather than the harder cement-based mixes used today, and it has a natural lifespan. Many of these homes are now at or past the point where their original mortar needs professional attention. Iowa also has some of the most dramatic freeze-thaw cycles in the country - temperatures swing from below freezing at night to above freezing during the day, sometimes dozens of times in a single winter. Residents across Des Moines and West Des Moines see spring as the busiest season for brick repair, when the full extent of winter damage finally becomes visible.
Clay-heavy soils under much of the Des Moines metro expand when wet and shrink when dry. This seasonal movement puts stress on foundations and brick walls year after year. If you are seeing stair-step cracks or bricks starting to shift, it is worth having a mason look at whether the underlying soil movement is a factor before just patching the surface. The City of Des Moines Building Services handles permit questions for structural masonry work, and your contractor should be the one to handle that process.
We respond within 1 business day. Let us know where the damage is and roughly how large the area is. We schedule a free on-site estimate at your convenience - no charge to look at the work.
We walk the affected area, look closely at the mortar joints and bricks, and check for signs of deeper problems. You get a written estimate before we leave - no surprises after work begins.
The crew removes old mortar and damaged bricks, cleans the joints, and packs in color-matched material. You do not need to be home - brick repair is almost always exterior work.
We clean mortar dust and debris before leaving each day and walk the finished repair with you at the end. Fresh mortar needs 24 to 48 hours before it gets wet - we tell you exactly what to watch for.
We respond within 1 business day. The estimate is free and there is no pressure to commit. Once you submit, someone from our office will call to schedule a time to look at the work in person before we quote a price.
(515) 724-6905Homes built before 1960 have softer lime-based mortar that can be cracked by a harder modern mix. We match the new mortar to your existing material, which is critical for homes in older Des Moines neighborhoods. Getting this wrong damages the bricks - getting it right means the repair lasts.
You receive a written scope and price after the on-site assessment - not after we have already started. There are no line items that appear once work is underway. If the job changes in scope, we talk to you before doing additional work.
Structural chimney work and some masonry repairs in Des Moines require a permit. We handle the permit process when your job requires one. A contractor who asks you to pull your own permit, or says you do not need one without checking, is worth a second opinion.
We walk the completed work with you before the crew packs up. You see exactly what was done and why. If anything looks different from what you expected, that is the right time to raise it - not after everyone has gone home.
Brick repair done right is invisible when it is finished - the new material blends in, the wall is sealed, and you do not have to think about it for 20 years or more. That is the standard we hold every job to.
Targeted mortar replacement on smaller sections of wall where only select joints need attention.
Learn morePaver installation and repair for driveways that need a durable, frost-resistant surface to handle Des Moines winters.
Learn moreEvery Iowa freeze-thaw cycle pushes water deeper into failing mortar - call now for a free estimate and lock in your spring schedule.