Chimney mortar repair for homes in Northside

Mortar repair for Northside chimneys by a local crew that protects your roof and cleans up every crumb.

Fully licensed and insured
Locally owned
Family owned and operated
Same-day service

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Get a quote for chimney and fireplace repair and installation in Jacksonville.

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(904) 920-5495 Free Inspection

Masons who survey every face first

Locally owned in Jacksonville
Family owned and operated
100% satisfaction guaranteed
Free inspection and estimate
Same-day service available
10% off any service

Fresh mortar is shaded and covered, so weather does not undo the work.

Free inspection and estimateEvery face of your Northside chimney is scratch-tested and sketched at no charge.
100% satisfaction guaranteedIf the new joints are not sound, full and matched as agreed, we come back and fix them.
Family owned and operatedA family masonry crew does the survey and the work, so the person who priced a face is the one who repoints it.

Call (904) 920-5495 Free Inspection

A face priced on its own

Our repointing estimates price each face of the chimney separately. The sketch shows which courses on each side need raking, how deep, and whether any brick needs replacing before the joints around it can be done. Fresh joints also need a short rest before the next fire, and that date is on the estimate.

That lets you decide what to do now and what can wait, with a clear picture of each side's condition. No face is bundled into another's price. Want a face-by-face repointing quote for your chimney in Northside? Phone (904) 920-5495; the survey costs nothing.

Northside is an inland community. Northside is one of the named neighborhoods of Jacksonville.

Repointing work we do in Northside

Worn joints raked to sound depth
Color matched from a cured sample
Old caulk and skim patches cut out
Fresh work shaded, misted and covered from rain

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How chimney tuckpointing runs

Every face surveyed
Joints are scratch-tested at several heights and the failed courses marked on a sketch.
Joints raked and cleaned
Old mortar comes out to sound depth, head joints by hand, then joints are cleaned and dampened.
Filled in layers and tooled
Matched mortar goes in stage by stage, then is tooled to the original profile.
Cured and cleaned up
Fresh joints are protected while they cure, the faces brushed and the roof cleared.

Storm season and joints in Northside

Hurricane season, June 1 to November 30, brings heavy rain inland too, and weak joints can wash out in a single storm.

If you see mortar crumbs below your Northside chimney after a storm, have the joints checked.

10% off any service booked within 72 hours of inspection

Our masons take 10% off repointing booked in the three days after they survey the joints.

Call (904) 920-5495 Free Inspection

Why head joints are cut by hand

The short vertical joints between bricks in a course are the head joints. They are narrow and short, and a grinder blade that slips there cuts into the brick on either side, leaving a scar that shows long after the job.

Preservation Brief 2 advises against power tools on head joints for that reason. We cut them by hand with a plugging chisel, which is slower but leaves the brick edges intact. The time that takes is part of why a repointing quote is priced by the joint, not by the square foot of wall.

Fixing the water before the joints

Water from above is the main reason chimney mortar breaks down. A cracked chimney top, a missing cap or failed metal at the roof line lets water into the masonry, and new joints below a leak get soaked just like the old ones.

So the survey includes the top of the chimney and where it meets the roof. Anything letting water in is priced alongside the repointing, and we recommend doing those repairs in the same visit or before. That way the new mortar starts its life dry. New joints under a dry top can be expected to wear slowly, the way sound mortar should.

Lime-rich mortar in older chimneys

Chimneys built generations ago often used mortar with much more lime and less cement than modern mixes. Lime mortar is softer and more vapor permeable, and the soft old brick around it was built to work with it.

Preservation Brief 2 advises matching the old mortar's properties when repointing historic masonry. On an older chimney we look at the existing mortar before choosing a mix, and where it is lime-rich, the new mortar follows suit rather than jumping to a strong cement mix. The estimate names the mix chosen. A lime-rich mix also cures more slowly, and the schedule on the estimate allows for that.

What goes on a repointing sketch in Northside

Color matched from a cured test batch shown to you first
Spalled or cracked bricks to replace before their joints
Interior or attic joints, with their own access and cleanup
Days on site and the wait before the next fire

Before the joints are raked

Can you repoint just part of the chimney?

Yes, when the rest is sound. We scratch-test every face, and the quote covers only the courses and faces that need it, with the others noted as tested and sound.

Is a fire safe while the chimney is being repointed?

Best not on the days we work on the top, and not until the new mortar has had its curing time. The estimate gives the wait based on the mortar and the weather.