New brick, matched repairs, chimneys and repointing across Oshawa, Whitby, Bowmanville and the rest of Durham Region. We source brick that reads with what is already on the building instead of patching it with whatever is in stock.
Brickwork covers everything we build or repair in brick: new brick on additions and whole houses, filling in old openings and cutting new ones, rebuilding chimneys and piers, replacing damaged brick, and repointing the mortar joints that hold it all together.
It is for homeowners with a wall that is starting to show its age, and for anyone adding on who wants the new part to sit with the old. The most common calls we get are for joints that have worn back, brick that is flaking in the winter, a chimney that has started to lean or drop bricks, and repairs from years ago that never matched.
A good brick repair is one you cannot find afterwards. That comes down to the brick, the mortar colour, the joint style and how the new work is tied into the old. We take the time to get all four right, because a patch that stands out is a patch you will look at every day.
Matching is decided before any brick comes down.
We check the joints, the brick and what is above and behind the wall. Water is behind most brick problems, so we find where it is coming from before we price the repair.
We source brick and mortar to suit, and lay samples against your wall in daylight. You see the match before anything is ordered.
Damaged brick and failed mortar come out. New brick is toothed into the old, so there is no straight seam where the repair starts and stops.
Joints are finished to match the existing profile and the wall is cleaned. We walk the work with you and back it with a written warranty.
Four decisions shape how a brick job looks and how long it lasts.
Repointing renews the mortar in a sound wall. Replacing takes out brick that has cracked or spalled.
Most repairs should disappear. Some additions look better with a deliberate change, like a different brick at a new wing.
The mortar is a big part of what you see. Its colour and the shape of the joint change how the whole wall reads.
Full brick is a structural veneer on a ledge or footing. Thin brick is a slice of brick adhered to a prepared wall.
Brick work is priced after a site visit and written down before we start. Small jobs get a free visit. Larger ones carry a small consultation fee that comes off the final bill.
A full re-clad in Clarington, plus infill and additions in Toronto and Whitby.
Tap any photo to view it full size.
We are based in Oshawa and work across Durham Region.
In Whitby we have laid brick around the base of a new addition so it ties into the house, and filled in around a window opening with brick toothed into the existing wall so the repair does not show a seam. A lot of Whitby homes are brick, and additions and window changes on them work best when the new brick is chosen and tied in to read as part of the original house.
Masonry contractor in Whitby
Near Enniskillen in rural Clarington we re-clad a two-storey house in red brick, with buff brick quoins at the corners and buff surrounds at the doors and windows, and built a matching brick pier for its new carport. Near Solina we opened up and rebuilt the brick around the windows of another home. Rural Clarington homes sit exposed to wind and weather, so we pay close attention to flashing and weeps behind the brick.
Bowmanville has everything from 19th-century brick around the downtown to brick-fronted homes in the newer subdivisions. Each needs a different hand. Older soft brick wants a softer mortar and careful matching, while newer homes usually need repairs, repointing or additions done in brick that matches the builder's original. We drive out from Oshawa for Bowmanville brick work of every size.
Masonry contractor in BowmanvilleAlso serving:Oshawa, Toronto, Pickering, Ajax, Courtice, Scarborough, Newcastle and Newtonville.
Look at the joints, not the bricks. If the mortar has worn back from the face of the brick, crumbles when you scrape it with a key, or has gaps and cracks you can see daylight or water through, it is due. Left too long, water gets in behind the joints, freezes, and starts to push the bricks themselves apart.
That is called spalling, and it is almost always water and frost. Water soaks into the brick, freezes, expands and pops the face off. The usual causes are a leak above the wall, a hard cement mortar that is stronger than the brick, or a sealer that traps moisture inside. We fix the cause first, then replace the damaged brick.
We get as close as the market allows. We take a sample to suppliers, look at size, colour and texture, and lay test bricks against your wall before ordering. Where the original brick is no longer made, reclaimed brick or a blend of two colours usually gets closer than a single new brick. We will show you the options before we start.
Repointing means grinding out old, failing mortar and packing new mortar into the joints. Tuckpointing is strictly an older technique that adds a thin contrasting line to make joints look finer, but most people in Ontario use the two words for the same job. Either way, what matters is that the old mortar comes out deep enough and the new mortar suits the brick.
If the bricks near the top are loose, cracked or flaking, the chimney is leaning, or the crown on top has failed, repointing will not hold. In that case we take the chimney down to sound brick, usually above the roofline, and rebuild it with a new crown. If the brick is solid and only the joints have worn, repointing is enough.
Tell us what you are seeing. We will come out, find the cause, and give you a straight answer and a written price.
