We're a masonry contractor based in South Bend, IN, and on Elkhart homes we repair older brick, chimneys and block foundations, and build new walls and walkways when a yard needs them.
(574) 213-0235
Most of what I'm asked to look at in Elkhart is older brick that's starting to let go: mortar joints worn back and sandy, a chimney top with loose brick, a block foundation with a crack stepping down it. Old brick is usually softer than what's made today, so the repair mortar has to suit it, because a joint harder than the brick around it pushes the wear into the brick itself and starts the next problem.
Where the St. Joseph and Elkhart rivers meet, the Beardsley neighborhood around Ruthmere is on the National Register of Historic Places, and the older blocks near it hold the same kind of brick I learned on around South Bend. If your house is in a historic district, we help you reach the commission before any work starts, so nothing we do to your brick has to be undone later.
We reply to every call and form within one business day, and there's no pressure and no obligation. Once you send your Elkhart address and what you're seeing, I come out, walk the job with you and write the estimate up in plain words.
(574) 213-0235On Elkhart houses most of our time goes to repair: tuckpointing worn joints, rebuilding loose chimney tops, replacing brick with the face flaking off and fixing cracked block foundations. Where a yard slopes or a drive has heaved, we build new too, from walkways and driveway pavers to retaining walls that hold the grade, and every service we offer is listed below.
In Elkhart the city's Building Commissioner issues building permits, and the city code wants one before anyone builds, alters, repairs or tears down a building or structure it covers, so on many masonry jobs the permit comes before the first brick and its review becomes part of the schedule. We check with the office that covers your address before work starts, and when the job calls for a permit we pull it as part of the job. If you'd like to ask the city yourself, its office answers at (574)294-5474. When work means digging in the public right-of-way, like a walkway or driveway apron out at the street, the contractor has to be registered with the city, and since that registration lasts a year at most, it's fair to ask whether it's current.
We're based in South Bend, so Elkhart is close to home, and we work across the cities around it, from Goshen next door down to Plymouth. On any Elkhart job the price moves with how much brick or block needs work, how high or hard to reach it is, how closely old brick has to be matched and what we find behind the face once it's open, which nobody can know from the yard. The schedule turns mostly on the permit review, when there is one, and on getting the right brick and mortar in hand, and I write all of that into your estimate so you can see it.
I come out to your house myself, look at the brick with you and write the estimate up in plain words, so you know what we're fixing and why. Then I'm on the crew with our masons and laborers, so the person who wrote it up is there doing it.
I grew up fixing fences, barn walls and old foundations on a family farm, where a patch done wrong costs more than doing it right once. On older brick that means finding why it failed before we repoint or rebuild, so the fix doesn't start the next problem.
We're fully licensed and insured, and I started this business in 2023 after learning the trade under an experienced mason around South Bend. Your satisfaction, guaranteed. When you're ready, call (574) 213-0235 or send the form with your Elkhart address and what you're seeing.
It comes down to how much of the wall needs work and what we find once it's opened, so I'd rather look at your brick than guess at a number. Repointing a few soft joints on a low wall is a small job, while rebuilding a chimney top or digging out along a cracked foundation takes more labor, more material and sometimes a permit. Matching old brick can add to it too, because salvaged or special-order brick costs more than what's on the shelf.
Start with a walk-through before you buy materials or settle on a fix, because the right repair depends on why the brick failed. From there we sort out the permit and any historic district review, line up brick and mortar that suit your house, and set the work once those are in hand. Call (574) 213-0235 or send the form when you're ready to start.
Most cracks in block foundations come from soil settling under the wall or water pushing against it from outside, often where gutters or a low grade send water right next to the house. A crack that steps along the mortar joints, or a wall that's started to bow in, tells us more than a hairline crack does, and how far it runs behind the block is something we only know once we dig. We fix the cause along with the crack, because filling it while the water still collects there just starts it over.
Your brick is due when the mortar joints have worn back from the face, crumble when you scratch them with a key, or have opened into gaps. Catching it then keeps the job small, because once water gets into the wall it starts working on the brick itself and the repair grows into replacing brick.
Not if it's a residential shed, gazebo, deck or other accessory structure of 120 square feet or less and no more than 30 inches above grade, under the city's building permit rule. Anything bigger or higher falls under the same rule that asks for a permit before building, altering or repairing a structure. When we build something freestanding in your yard, we check its size and height against that rule before we start.
The code in effect for houses across Indiana is the Indiana Residential Code, built on the national model code for one- and two-family homes with the state's own amendments added. Because it's a state code, the same one applies in Elkhart as in South Bend, and it's the code we work to on houses here.
