Masonry Inspection Checklist: A Brick Facade Self-Inspection for Chicago Owners

Walls: faces of the brick

• Any brick with its face popped off, flaking or peeling in layers (spalling)
• Brick that feels powdery or sandy when you rub it with a dry hand
• Bricks that stick out past their neighbors or sit crooked
• A section of wall that bows, bulges or leans when you sight along it from the corner
• Diagonal or stair-step cracks running through mortar joints, especially over or under windows and at corners
• Patches of sealer, paint or coating peeling off brick that you did not put there

Spalling is common on older brick. Freeze-thaw and salt crystallizing inside the brick can both push the outer surface off the unit, and old soft brick is more likely to be damaged by hard repair mortar.

Joints: the mortar

• Mortar you can scrape out with a house key
• Joints that are recessed deep, so you can see shadows between every brick
• Gaps, holes or open joints you can slide a fingernail into
• Mortar that is much lighter, harder or grayer than the original, a sign of an earlier patch
• Missing mortar along the top of the wall or around chimneys and parapets

The code names masonry joints that are not weather resistant or water tight as an unsafe exterior condition. Open joints let water in, and water is what damages brick over winter. If you find bad joints, the repointing mortar needs to be softer than the brick, which is a mason decision, not a hardware store one.

Openings: lintels, sills and windows

• Rust stains or flaking rust on the brick under or beside a window or door
• Cracks that start at the corner of an opening and run upward or sideways
• A visible sag in the line of brick above a window or door
• Sills that are cracked, crumbling, loose or sloped toward the wall instead of away
• Gaps between the window frame and the brick
• Brick above a lintel that has dropped or shifted

Steel lintels carry the brick over openings. They need flashing and weepholes, and periodic maintenance to prevent corrosion. Rust on brick near a lintel is a warning sign, and replacing a lintel is permitted work: the City's masonry permit rules allow replacement up to 6 feet through the Express Permit, and longer spans need drawings from an architect or structural engineer.

Top of the wall: parapets, caps, cornices, chimneys

• Coping or cap stones that are cracked, loose, missing or shifted
• Mortar joints in the cap that are open or washed out
• Brick at the roofline that wobbles or moves when lightly pressed from a ladder (do not do this yourself, photograph and call a pro)
• A parapet that leans outward or has a visible gap at the roof
• Cornice, belt course or decorative brick trim that has pulled away from the wall
• Chimney that leans, has open joints, a cracked crown, or loose brick at the top
• Staining or streaks running down the wall from the roofline

Caps and copings sit at the most exposed spot on the building, and their main job is to shed water away from the wall. The code lists cornices, belt courses, corbels, trim and facings that are not properly anchored as unsafe.

Water signs: where it gets in

• White, chalky deposits on brick (efflorescence)
• Dark or green staining along the base of the wall or under downspouts
• Damp patches inside along an exterior brick wall, or peeling paint on interior walls below windows
• Downspouts that dump water against the wall instead of away from it
• Soil or paving sloped toward the building

White crust is usually harmless on its own, but when it appears after the first year it often points to too much water getting into the wall. The fix is to find and stop the water, because coatings alone are not recommended for efflorescence.

Ground level: sidewalk, gangway and what is below the wall

• Fallen brick, mortar chunks or brick dust on the sidewalk, gangway or window wells
• Missing or loose brick at corners where cars, snow plows or bikes bump the wall
• Vegetation, ivy or tree roots growing into joints
• Cracks in the foundation wall where brick meets concrete or stone

What to do with what you find

Call a mason now (do not wait for spring) if you find any of these:

• Loose, shifted or falling brick above a sidewalk, entry, gangway or neighboring property
• A wall that bows, leans or has a wide crack you can see from the ground
• A chimney or parapet that moves, leans or has loose top brick
• Rust stains and a sagging line over a window or door

Falling masonry has hurt people in Chicago, including an incident in 2016 when bricks fell from a two-family home and injured two passersby. Cordon off the area below until a pro looks at it.

Plan repairs this season if you find: open or crumbling joints, light spalling, white efflorescence, cracked sills, open cap joints. These are the simplest problems to fix, and they get harder when water and freezing weather work on them for another winter.

Photograph and watch if you find: hairline cracks that do not look new, a single isolated spalled brick. Take a dated photo, mark the crack ends with a pencil, and check again after the next freeze-thaw cycle.

About permits: In-kind replacement of up to 50 square feet of masonry on a residential building up to four stories is on the City's no-permit list. Tuckpointing is listed as work under the Express Permit masonry category, so it is not exempt. Check with the Department of Buildings before any work, and read our guide on brick repair permits.

For more on what each sign means, see are spalling bricks dangerous, bricks falling from a Chicago building, and how to tell if your brick needs tuckpointing. The full picture is in our Chicago brick and masonry repair guide. When you want a mason to walk it with you, our masonry crew will look at it and tell you straight what needs to be fixed.