Brickwork in Hillsville, VA

What does a brick mason in Hillsville actually do for you?

Brickwork covers a lot of ground, and we do most of it. On the new-construction side that means brick veneer on additions and new builds, free-standing garden and retaining walls, brick steps and stoops, porch and mailbox columns, pier foundations, fireplace surrounds, and brick patios and walkways. On the repair side it means repointing (raking out failed mortar and packing in fresh), rebuilding a leaning or bowed wall, resetting loose steps, and chimney work from a single course up to a full crown and cap.

The thing most folks don't see is that brick is a system, not just a stack of red blocks. A wall is only as good as the footing under it, the mortar between the units, the flashing and weep holes that let trapped water escape, and the joints that shed rain instead of soaking it in. We build all of that, because skipping any one piece is what turns a five-year wall into a fifty-year wall or the other way around.

• Brick veneer, walls, and retaining walls
• Steps, stoops, columns, and piers
• Chimneys, crowns, and caps
• Patios, walkways, and brick edging
• Repointing, tuckpointing, and crack repair
• Rebuilds of leaning, bowed, or storm-damaged brick

How we build it, and why footings matter so much here

Every job starts with what's underground. Up here in the foothills our frost line runs deeper than down in the flat country, and a footing that's too shallow will heave every winter when the ground freezes and lifts. So for anything load-bearing we dig below the frost line, set the footing on undisturbed or compacted soil, and pour a footing wide enough to spread the load. Get that wrong and no amount of pretty brickwork on top will save you, the cracks just come back.

From there it's careful, unglamorous work. We mix mortar to the right consistency for the weather that day, lay a story pole or run lines so every course is dead level, butter the joints full so there are no voids for water to sit in, and check plumb and level constantly. On veneer we build in weep holes and flashing at the base and over openings so any water that gets behind the brick has a way back out. Then we tool the joints, usually a concave or 'struck' joint that compresses the mortar and sheds rain. Last comes a clean-down so you're left with crisp brick and clean joints, not a haze of dried mortar.

We don't rush curing in cold weather either. Mortar that freezes before it sets is mortar that fails, so in late fall and winter we plan around the temperature instead of fighting it.

Brick, mortar, and the choices that affect how it ages

Not all brick is the same and the right pick depends on the job. For anything that touches the ground or takes weather and traffic, like steps, walkways, and the bottom of walls, you want a hard-fired Severe Weather (SW) grade brick rated to take freeze-thaw without spalling. Softer salvaged or interior brick looks great but flakes apart fast outdoors here, so we steer you toward brick that'll last where you're putting it.

Mortar matters just as much and it's where a lot of bad repair work goes wrong. Modern Type N or Type S mortar is fine for new work, but on an old solid-brick home laid in soft lime mortar, repointing with hard modern mortar is a mistake, the joints become harder than the brick and the brick faces start popping off instead of the mortar wearing. On older homes we match a softer mortar so the joints stay sacrificial, the way they were designed to be. The joint profile and color get matched too, so a repair reads as part of the wall.

• Severe Weather (SW) brick for ground contact and high-traffic surfaces
• Mortar type matched to the brick and the age of the home
• Joint style and color matched on repairs and additions
• Brick color and size matched so patches disappear
• Proper flashing and weep holes built into new veneer

Signs your brick needs attention now

Brick is forgiving until it isn't, and it usually warns you first. The most common thing we get called for is failing mortar joints, where you can rake a joint with a screwdriver and the mortar comes out like sand. Once water gets into open joints and freezes, it pries the wall apart from the inside, so repointing while the brick is still sound is far cheaper than waiting for a rebuild.

Watch for these and call sooner rather than later:

• Stair-step cracks running diagonally through the mortar joints, a sign of settlement or footing movement.
• Crumbling or missing mortar you can dig out with a key or a finger.
• White, chalky staining (efflorescence) or green moss, which means water is moving through the masonry.
• Spalling, where brick faces flake, pop, or crumble off, almost always freeze-thaw damage or the wrong mortar.
• A leaning, bowing, or bulging wall, which needs to be looked at before it becomes a safety problem.
• Chimney pieces on the roof or a cracked crown letting water down into the flue.

If you're not sure whether it's cosmetic or serious, that's exactly the kind of thing worth a phone call. We'll tell you straight whether it can wait, whether it needs repointing, or whether a section has to come down and go back up.