Crumbling mortar, loose brick or white stains on your wall? We repoint and repair it so moisture leaves through the joints, not your brick.
Masonry restoration in Rialto is mostly repointing, where we rake out the worn mortar between your bricks or stones and pack in fresh mortar so the wall sheds water and holds together again.
Most calls I get start with mortar you can scratch out with a key, sand piling up at the base of a wall, gaps in a chimney's joints or white powder on the brick. Usually the mortar gives out first, and that's the part we fix before water gets into the brick or stone itself.
The price turns on how many square feet need work, how tall the wall is, since anything past ladder height needs scaffolding and costs more per foot, and how many bricks or stones are cracked and need replacing. The schedule turns on the weather, because fresh mortar needs mild days to cure, and on what we find once the old joints are open, and your written estimate spells out what we'll do and why. We're licensed and insured, which matters here because California requires a license even on a job under $1,000 when the work needs a permit or the worker hires help.
I'm the one who comes out, walks the wall with you and tells you plainly whether it needs repointing, a few new bricks or more than mortar can fix.
Our crew does the work and I'm there running it, so the person who wrote your estimate is the same one checking the joints as we fill them.
A wall that has to be redone costs a family twice, so we take the bad mortar out instead of smearing fresh mortar over joints that are already failing.
We pick a mortar that lets the wall breathe, so moisture leaves through the joints and not through your brick or stone. On older masonry, high-lime mortars let moisture pass more easily than dense cement mortars, and a mortar that traps water ends up damaging the brick or stone around it, so it's fair to ask any contractor which mortar they plan to use. I'll name mine on your estimate.
Our crew rakes out the worn mortar, packs the joints with fresh mortar and finishes them to match the rest of the wall, replacing cracked brick or stone as we go. The joints come first because any water cleaning should wait until they're sound and the wall is watertight, or water seeps in and can rust metal anchors and stain plaster inside. Grit blasting, grinders and sanding discs strip dirt and paint but usually take some of the masonry face with them, which is worth knowing before anyone aims one at your house.
Sometimes restoring isn't the best spend. When an old fireplace surround is past patching, I'll talk with you about fireplace installation, and if a sound wall just looks tired, stone veneer installation can give it a new face. I'll tell you which one makes sense for your wall.
San Bernardino County teams found damaged brick chimneys on wood-frame homes after the 2019 Trona earthquakes. Older chimneys with no steel inside and worn mortar are most at risk, though even modern ones can be badly damaged.
When a few have cracked or worked loose, we cut them out, set matching replacements and repoint around them, so the repair reads as part of the wall instead of a patch.
Yard walls and planters take sprinkler water and full sun, and the joints near the base and cap usually wear first. Catching them early keeps the job to mortar instead of a rebuild.
Stone joints run wide and uneven, so the color and texture of new mortar show more than they do on brick. We mix to blend with what's there so the repair doesn't stand out.
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day. I come out, walk the wall with you, take measurements and photos, and give you a free written estimate with no obligation.
A couple of phone photos of the cracked joints or the chimney help me see what we're dealing with before I come out, so the visit goes straight to the details.
A guess at the wall's length and height is all I need for now. I take exact measurements on site, and they go straight into your written estimate.
The estimate is yours to keep and compare with no pressure to book. If the wall needs less than you feared, or isn't worth restoring, I'll tell you that too.
These photos show joint styles, mortar colors and brick and stone finishes you can point to when we talk about your wall.
Here are straight answers to what people ask me most about worn mortar, chimneys, cost and permits before they book a repair.
Repointing brick across the US usually costs about $3 to $25 per square foot, and that's national data, not a Rialto price list. Where your wall lands in that range comes clear on the estimate, which is free and written on site, and the job is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
One cost guide says brick and stone mortar needs repointing every 25 to 30 years, so it's a long-cycle job most owners face once or twice. That makes it worth setting money aside ahead of time. If your joints are crumbling much sooner, water getting into the wall is usually speeding it up.
Not by much. The county encourages repointing and patching isolated cracks as regular chimney upkeep, but says those steps do little to reduce future earthquake damage and aren't enough on their own. I'll be straight with you about that. Fresh mortar is upkeep, not strengthening, so if quake risk is your worry, plan for more than surface mortar work.
The City of Rialto Building Department handles plan check, permits and inspections for work inside the city. When a job needs a permit, we handle the application with the office that covers your address and we're there for the inspections. If I'm not sure whether yours needs one, I check with that office before we start.
That white powder is usually efflorescence, salt left on the surface as moisture in the wall dries out. The fix is to find and correct where the moisture comes from first and remove the deposits after, since washing it off without fixing the cause usually means it comes back. On the estimate visit I'll look for where the water's getting in.
Call (909) 546-5001 any day of the week, or send the form with a photo of the wall, and get a straight answer.
