What we do, and how we describe it.

Repointing.

Replacing failed mortar at three-quarter inch depth, in a mortar matched to your original wall. Tested on a sample patch first.

Mortar is the part of the wall that fails. Brick, properly fired, lasts centuries. The mortar around it does not. When the joint recedes past about three-eighths of an inch from the brick face, water finds its way in. From there it spalls the brick face, freezes behind it, and quietly takes the wall apart from the inside.

Repointing removes the failed mortar to a depth of three-quarter inch — twice the joint width, the architectural standard — and replaces it with a mortar matched to your original in colour, hardness, and aggregate. We test the match on a small sample patch and confirm your approval before working the rest of the wall. Hand-tooled to the original profile. Warrantied for five years.

Depth	Minimum three-quarter inch, or twice joint width
Mortar	Matched to original in colour, profile, hardness. NHL 3.5 lime where soft brick requires it.
Sample patch	1' × 1' minimum, photographed and approved before main work
Dust control	Hilti shroud, HEPA M-class extraction, PAPR respirators
Warranty	Five years, written

Spot pointing.

Targeted repair of failed joints on a single elevation. Up to eighty square feet. The right answer when one face has gone and the rest is sound.

Not every wall needs full repointing. Often a southern exposure, a chimney shoulder, or a reveal beside a door has weathered ahead of the rest of the building. We document what is failing, repair only what is failing, and write the rest up so you know what to watch in the next five years. Same depth, same mortar match, same hand-tooling as a full repoint.

Scope	Single elevation, up to 80 sq ft of joint surface
Approach	Photo-documented baseline, repair only what fails the test, written assessment of the rest
Warranty	Five years on the work performed

Brick replacement.

Spalled, cracked, or missing brick replaced one unit at a time, with a brick matched to the surrounding wall.

Toronto's building stock used a small number of identifiable brick faces — Don Valley red, Milton buff, the harder yellow Ohio sandstone trim. We carry common reclaimed faces in stock and source the rarer ones from architectural salvage when the colour and texture matter. New brick is used only where reclaimed cannot be sourced and only where the new face will weather convincingly into the wall.

Range	5 to 25 individual units per visit
Sourcing	Reclaimed where possible. Salvaged from local demolition. New brick where colour and weathering will integrate.
Mortar	Matched to surrounding joints

Chimney repointing.

Above-roofline mortar restoration. Crowns rebuilt. Cap and flashing checked on the same visit. The chimney is usually the first thing to fail and the easiest to forget.

Chimneys take weather from every direction and shed water down a vertical stack into your roof. Most of the leaks blamed on roofing are actually chimney faults. We work above the roofline only — flue work and lining is a separate trade — and document any flashing or cap deficiency we find on the same visit so you can take it to your roofer with photographs.

Scope	Above-roofline pointing, crown rebuild, cap inspection
Access	Roof anchors and Working at Heights certified crew
Documentation	Pre- and post-repair photos, flashing condition report

Lintel replacement.

Single-piece replacement of failed steel angle lintels above doors and windows, with the brickwork above shored, removed, replaced, and rebuilt.

Steel lintels installed before the 1970s were rarely galvanised. Sixty or eighty years of moisture later they swell with rust, lift the brick coursing above them, and crack the wall in a stair-step pattern. The fix is mechanical — shore the wall, cut out the old steel, set a new galvanised lintel with proper bearing, then rebuild the brick courses above. Done correctly it disappears into the wall.

Lintel	Hot-dipped galvanised steel angle, sized to opening and bearing condition
Brickwork	Affected courses removed, salvaged where possible, rebuilt with matched mortar
Engineering	Engineer's stamp obtained for non-standard openings on request

Parging.

Foundation parging spot-repaired or fully resurfaced. Lime-based where the substrate is heritage. Cementitious where modern materials are appropriate.

Parging is the protective skim on a foundation wall. When it cracks or sheets off, the brick or stone behind it is exposed to ground-level salt and moisture. We remove only what has delaminated, prep the substrate properly, and rebuild in the appropriate mix — not always cement, not always lime, but always the right one for what is behind it.

Scope	Patch repair to full elevation resurfacing
Materials	Cementitious or lime-based depending on substrate
Finish	Wood-floated to match adjacent foundation texture

Step rebuild.

Front step rebuilds in original brick or stone. Treads matched to the existing flight. Drainage corrected. Salvaged units reused.

Front steps are the part of the building that takes the most water and the most foot traffic. When they go, they go quickly. Rebuilding a small flight properly means lifting and salvaging what is sound, restoring the substrate beneath, and resetting with corrected drainage so water leaves the step instead of soaking the foundation behind it.

Scope	Small flights, three to six risers
Materials	Salvaged brick or stone where possible
Drainage	Slope and substrate corrected, not cosmetically patched

Masonry inspection report.

A walk-around assessment of your building's masonry. Written report, photographed evidence, scope and budget bands. Issued as PDF within two business days.

Useful before a sale, after a purchase, or simply to know what you own. A trained set of eyes on every elevation, the chimney, and the foundation. We document what is sound, what should be watched, and what needs attention this season — with cost ranges, not estimates designed to lead anywhere. Paid service. Credited toward work if you proceed within ninety days.

Duration	30 to 60 minutes on site
Deliverable	PDF report with elevation photos, flagged items, ranges of cost
Turnaround	Two business days
Credit	Fee credited toward work commissioned within 90 days

How we price.

Every project is quoted in person. We visit, walk the wall, take photographs, and send a written quote within twenty-four hours. Ranges, not invented numbers.

We do not list per-square-foot prices on this site for the same reason a tailor does not list shirt prices in the window: there is no honest answer without seeing what is actually there. We price by scope, by material, by access. The quote is itemised. The contract is the quote. There are no surprises on invoice day.

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