Masonry repair in Syracuse and Onondaga County
The mortar is crumbling, or a crack runs up from your window
Your joints are sandy, a crack climbs from a window corner, or a mason says to grind the whole wall out. Pause before you say yes. In an old Syracuse wall the mortar is meant to be the soft part, and the wrong mix turns a joint job into a brick job. Send us what you see.
Tell us what you see on the wall
We help you get the repair priced by separate local masonry contractors, and tell you what to ask them first.
Three things to say before you hear a price
Say them on the phone or at the wall. The answers show how a mason works.
Which mortar type goes in, and why?
A good answer names a mix softer than your brick.
How deep will you cut the old joints?
Too shallow, and the new mortar pops out.
What is the lintel made of, and is it flashed?
Rusting steel lifts brick; flashing keeps water off it.
$100 off your first job
Book your first repair through us and take $100 off.
The $100 comes out of our fee; the mason's price stays the same.
Each customer gets one credit per property.
Book the first repair by December 31, 2026, to use it.
Say you hold the credit as you book; we confirm it before work starts.
The Soft Joint promise
- Asking us is free, and asking never ties you to anything.
- We never charge you for the introduction.
- Your $100 credit is honored exactly as our Terms say.
- If an introduction goes wrong, we help you sort it out.
The masonry work is between you and the mason you hire.
Masonry Contractors Syracuse, (315) 640-3590
Start here
Start with what you can see from the lawn
Walk the outside of the house and look at four places: the joints, the corners of every window and door, the brick faces and the chimney top.
Masonry trouble shows itself in one of those places. Pick the tile above that looks like yours, then send us a photo. You do not need the right word for it.
A joint that scrapes out like sand is one story. A crack that climbs from a window corner is another. Tell us which one you have and where it sits on the house, and the questions you should ask change to fit.
Crumbling joints
The mortar is sandy, hollow or missing, and you can scrape it out with a key.
Joints that give way often did the job they were made for and now need refilling. Ask which mortar type goes in and why it is softer than your brick.
See the repair
Crack from a corner
A stair-step crack climbs from the corner of a window, door or garage door.
Rusting steel over the opening can lift the brick above it. Ask what the lintel is made of before anyone fills the crack.
See the repair
Flaking brick faces
The brick faces flake or pop off while the joints around them look hard.
A joint harder than the brick can push moisture out through the brick face instead. Ask what mortar the wall has now and what will go in.
See the repair
Loose chimney top
The chimney top is cracked or leaning, or the joints above the roof are open.
The top of a chimney takes a lot of rain and frost. Ask about the crown, the joints and the flashing where it meets the roof.
See the repair
Bowing or wet wall
A basement or retaining wall bows, cracks, weeps or loses its parging.
Block, stone and brick walls below grade deal with water and frost together. Ask where the water goes before anyone patches the face.
See the repair
The idea
The joint is meant to give
In an old brick wall the mortar is the soft part on purpose. Ask any mason how they know the new mix is softer than your brick.
In a wall of old, soft brick the joint is meant to take the punishment. Frost, water and the swing of the seasons wear on the mortar, and a mason can rake that out and refill it. The brick stays put.
A hard, cement-heavy mix flips the arrangement. The joint grips the brick, and the water that once left through the joint is pushed out through the brick face instead. The face flakes off, and brick is far harder to replace than mortar.
So the first question is which mortar type goes in, and what tells the mason it is softer than your brick. A mason who answers in one plain sentence has probably done this before. One who talks only about color has not yet told you what you need.
Write the answer down. If the quote names no mix, ask for one before you say yes.
You can test your own wall first. Press a house key into a joint hidden behind a shrub. Soft mortar gives up grit, and hard mortar barely marks. Tell the mason what you found, and ask whether they agree.
- The brick
Old city brick can be soft, so a mortar harder than the brick can damage it. Ask the mason to check yours.
- The joint
The mortar should be softer than the brick and let vapor pass more easily.
- The face
When a hard joint traps water, the brick face flakes off first.
- The moisture
Water should leave through the joint, not through the face of the brick.
- The frost
At the Syracuse airport, about 84 days a year a freezing night is followed by a thaw, and each swing pushes on the wall.
Basis: NPS Technical Preservation Services, Preservation Brief 2 U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024 5-year, B25034 and B25035, Syracuse city
Questions to settle before you call a mason
Can a crack over my window wait?
Mark both ends of a hairline crack with a dated pencil line and watch it. A stair-step crack from the corner, with a rust stain or a row of brick out of level, can point to rusting steel, which keeps pushing. Have a mason look at it soon. Take a photo today and another next month to see if it moves.
Does crumbling mortar mean the whole wall needs work?
Not always. Preservation guidance favors fixing only the areas that need it, and says the whole wall can make sense once a quarter to a half of it needs work. Ask the mason to mark what they would redo and why.
Is tuckpointing the same as repointing?
People use both words for closely related work: cutting out old mortar and packing in new. Whatever the quote calls it, ask for the work to be described joint by joint, with the mortar type named.
Which mortar type should I ask about?
Types run from M, the hardest, down to K, the softest. If your brick is old and soft, ask for a softer type, and ask which one goes in and why. Ask what is in the bag, too, since bagged masonry cement holds a lot of portland cement and makes a hard mix.
Do you do the masonry work yourselves?
No. We help you get your repair priced by separate local masonry contractors, and we tell you what to ask first. The work, the price and the contract are between you and the mason you hire.
What should I do before I call anyone?
Photograph the problem from far away and up close, note which side of the house it is on, and find out when the house was built. Then send your request. Those details let a mason price the job without guessing.
Why is one mason's quote so much higher?
Hours of handwork and height drive the number. One mason may redo the whole wall while another fixes only the worst joints, and one may price scaffolding where another uses a ladder. Ask each to list what is in and what is out.
My house is in the suburbs. Is this still for me?
Yes. Newer houses may have harder brick, veneer or block, so your question may be the chimney or the foundation wall. Census tables carry no wall types, so ask the mason what your walls are made of. Choose your town on the areas page to see what stands out where you live.
Over the openings
Why a crack over a window should not be filled
A crack over a window or door can be steel at work, not a house settling.
Older brick houses can carry a steel angle over an opening, and in buildings from the early 1900s that steel can hide inside the wall. When water reaches bare steel it rusts, and rust takes up more room than the steel it came from. The brick above is pushed up, and the corners crack in a stair-step line.
Filling that crack hides the sign and seals the water in. Ask the mason what the lintel is made of, whether it shows rust, and whether flashing sits above it. Send us a photo of the corner and any stain, and we help you get it priced by local masons.
Meanwhile, mark both ends of the crack with a pencil and write the date by each mark. Measure it every few weeks. A crack that stays put means something different from one that grows, and a mason will want to hear which yours is.
- The lintel
A steel angle carries the brick across the opening, often hidden behind the face.
- The rust
Rust scale can fill up to 10 times the space of the steel it replaces.
- The course
Look for a row of brick over the opening that no longer sits level.
- The corner
A stair-step crack climbing from an opening's corner can point to the lintel.
- The flashing
Flashing over the steel sends water out through weepholes. Ask whether yours has any.
Basis: Brick Industry Association, Technical Notes on Brick Construction 31B The Construction Specifier, Failures
The five repairs
Pick the repair that matches your wall
Five jobs cover most of what old brick, chimneys and foundation walls ask for.
Pavers, veneer, patios and concrete steps are other companies' work. You will not find them on this site.
Not sure which of the five fits? Send a photo and your address, and tell us what you noticed first. You get the page to read and the questions to ask.
Brick replacement
Flaking or popped faces, replaced one brick at a time.
Foundation and retaining walls
Bowing, cracked or weeping block, stone and brick walls.
Your town
City houses are older than most suburban ones
Age can change how soft the brick is, so the same crack can mean different things in different towns.
The City of Syracuse has a median build year of 1948. Check the strip for your own town, then ask a mason whether your brick is the old soft kind.
Across Onondaga County the median house dates from 1964, so newer streets may have harder brick, brick veneer or block. The Census does not record wall types, so ask the mason to name yours. In a newer house the question may be the foundation wall or the chimney. Open the areas page and read what stands out in your town.
Median year built 1950 or earlier
The median house in the City of Syracuse dates from 1948, so ask the mason whether your brick is the old soft kind.
Median 1951 to 1970
Median after 1970
Newer suburban streets have fewer old walls, so ask which mortar and which lintel your wall actually has.
The steps
From your first message to a booked job
You do the deciding. We handle the introductions.
You tell us what you see. Local masons price it, and each one should answer the same three questions. You choose one and book.
Nothing here binds you. If one quote says redo everything, ask the other masons what they would redo, and compare. If the answers do not satisfy you, walk away. Send your request when you are ready.
Tell us
Tell us what you see and where on the house it is.
Talk to masons
Talk to local masons, with three questions ready to ask.
Choose and book
Choose the mason and book; your $100 comes off then.
The houses
What your walls may be made of
Housing age sorts Syracuse area towns into three groups.
City brick. Neighborhoods such as Strathmore and Westcott have older solid brick houses. Older brick can be soft, and a hard mix can ruin it. Ask for a mix softer than the brick, and ask what your brick is.
Village centers. Fayetteville, Liverpool, Solvay and Baldwinsville have a mix of older and newer houses. Ask whether your house sits in the older part.
Newer streets. Newer houses may have block foundations, brick veneer and a chimney. The Census does not record wall types, so ask the mason to name yours, and tell us whether you see the foundation wall or the chimney top.
Cost
What moves the price of brickwork
Two things decide most quotes: hours of hand labor and how high the mason has to work.
Repointing is slow handwork, and the hours a mason spends are what you pay for. Work high on the house costs more because it needs a ladder, a lift or scaffolding. That is how one wall can draw two very different quotes.
Ask each mason how much of the wall they will redo and how they reach the high parts. Compare those answers before you compare the totals.
Also ask what is not in the price. A quote that leaves out scaffolding, cleanup or the mortar type will cost you more once those lines are added. Put every answer on paper beside the number.
Short guides for the signs above
Crumbling joints
Which mortar to ask for on old Syracuse brick
Mortar letters, soft against hard, and what to ask.
Crack from a corner
The crack above your window
How rusting steel lifts brick, and what to ask.
Crumbling joints
Painted brick and the lead rule
What the EPA lead rule asks of painted brick.
Any sign
Historic brick: district review and the state credit
Review boards, the state tax credit and brick repair.
Any sign
Why repointing costs what it costs
Labor, height and scope: why quotes differ.
Loose chimney top
Repair your chimney or rebuild it
Repair or rebuild: the questions that decide it.
Any sign
What your masonry contract has to say
What a New York home improvement contract must say.
Know the crack before anyone fills it.