Level 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
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Before
AfterMortar Repointing in Arlington Heights, IL
Mortar repointing in Arlington Heights typically costs between $400 and $1,200 for a standard chimney, depending on how many joints need attention and how far the deterioration has progressed. Most jobs are completed in a single visit. If the joints are cracked, recessed, or crumbling – and you can see it from the ground – repointing now is almost always cheaper than the masonry repair that follows if you wait.
At Emberly Chimney Cleaners Arlington Heights, repointing starts with a camera-scan inspection under NFPA 211 Level 2 standards – not a flashlight look from the roof edge. We photograph what we find, write the price before anyone picks up a trowel, and back the finished work with the 365-Day Done Right Promise. If you want to talk through what you’re seeing on your chimney right now, call us at (331) 202-2419. A live person answers, every hour of every day.
Repointing is one of the most common repairs that comes out of our inspections across Arlington Heights. It sits under our broader Chimney Repair in Arlington Heights work, which covers everything from crown rebuilds to liner replacement – but repointing on its own is often the single repair that stops a minor issue from becoming a structural one.
When You Need Mortar Repointing
Mortar joints don’t fail all at once. They wear gradually – freeze cycles in January, moisture in March and April, heat cycling every time the fireplace runs. In Arlington Heights, where a hard winter can deliver 30-plus freeze-thaw events between November and February, that wear happens faster than homeowners expect. Here’s what to look for:
- Joints that are visibly recessed or hollow-sounding. If a joint has pulled back more than a quarter inch from the face of the brick, water is already getting behind the surface on rainy days. Tap with a key – a dull sound instead of a solid one means the mortar has lost its bond.
- Mortar dust or small chunks on your roof or patio. This is common in Arlington Heights homes after a wet spring followed by a dry summer. The repeated expansion and contraction shakes loose material free. What you see on the ground is a trailing indicator – the joint itself is further gone than the debris suggests.
- White staining (efflorescence) on the brick face. Efflorescence is the salt residue left when water moves through masonry and evaporates. It’s a sign that moisture is traveling through the joint rather than being blocked by it.
- Cracks running along the mortar line rather than through the brick. Cracks that follow the joint are a repointing problem. Cracks that cut through the brick itself signal something structurally deeper – but in most of the mid-century and older homes we inspect in neighborhoods like Scarsdale and Ivy Hill, it’s the joint that goes first.
- A chimney that smells musty even when it hasn’t been used. Failed mortar joints allow moisture into the flue chase. That moisture sits, grows mildew, and produces the damp smell that homeowners often mistake for a liner problem. A camera scan tells us which it is.
- A previous inspection that flagged “pointing deterioration” without a written repair scope. If another company told you repointing was needed but didn’t put a price or scope in writing, bring that report to us. Our Free Second Opinion on any written estimate means we’ll review what you were told and give you a documented comparison – no charge.
Our Mortar Repointing Process
We don’t start with a chisel. We start with a camera. Every repointing visit at Emberly Chimney Cleaners Arlington Heights follows the same documented sequence, which is why the 365-Day Done Right Promise is something we can actually stand behind – the record exists to prove the work was done correctly.
- Level 2 camera-scan inspection before any work begins. We run a camera down the flue and photograph the crown, the joints at the exterior, and the smoke chamber above the firebox. This tells us whether repointing is the right repair or whether there’s something behind the deterioration – a failed crown, a cracked liner – that needs to be addressed first. You get the photos. They’re yours, archived under Haven Standard Clause 4.
- Written price, written scope, written warranty – before we start. Haven Standard Clause 1 (H.A.V.E.N. “Have it in writing”) means you see the exact dollar figure, the exact joints to be addressed, and the warranty terms before a single tool comes off the truck. No estimates that turn into something else once we’re on the roof.
- Joint preparation – removing the deteriorated mortar to the correct depth. We grind or hand-chisel the failed mortar to a minimum depth of three-quarters of an inch – enough for the new mortar to key in properly. Going shallower than that produces a surface patch that fails within a season or two. This step takes longer than the pointing itself on most jobs, and that’s appropriate.
- Mortar matching and application. We match the mortar mix to what’s already on the chimney – type S for most exterior masonry in this climate, adjusted for the original brick hardness. Applying a mortar that’s harder than the surrounding brick forces the freeze-thaw movement into the brick face itself, which causes spalling. Getting the mix right is the detail that separates a repair that lasts from one that looks fine for two winters and then opens up again.
- Tooling and finishing. Once the mortar has begun to set, we tool the joints to match the existing profile – typically a concave or weathered joint for the Chicago-area climate, which sheds water rather than collecting it. Flat or flush joints look clean but hold water against the brick in a freeze event.
- Final photo documentation and written record. We photograph every section of completed work. You receive a written record of what was found, what was done, and the warranty period. If something isn’t right within 365 days, we come back and make it right. That’s the Done Right Promise, and it’s written down – not a verbal reassurance.
BeforeAfterMortar Repointing Pricing in Arlington Heights
Mortar repointing in Arlington Heights runs $400 to $1,200 for most residential chimneys. That range reflects real jobs in this market – not a national average imported from somewhere with different labor costs, material costs, or weather patterns. Here’s how the number lands where it does:
| Scope of Work | Typical Price Range |
|---|---|
| Spot repointing (isolated section, 10-20 joints) | $400 – $550 |
| Partial repointing (one or two elevations) | $550 – $800 |
| Full chimney repointing (all four elevations) | $800 – $1,200 |
| Full repoint with crown repair (combined) | $1,100 – $1,800 |
A few things push a job toward the higher end of its range: a chimney taller than 15 feet above the roofline (additional staging or lift time), brick that has already begun to spall at the face and needs Spalling Brick Repair alongside the joint work, or mortar that has deteriorated into the interior face of the masonry and not just the exterior joints. If the crown is also cracked or missing pieces, combining that work with a repointing visit almost always costs less than two separate trips.
Material sourcing matters more than most homeowners realize. We source mortar and masonry materials through the Haven buying network, which includes suppliers like Olympia Chimney and Gelco. That procurement channel keeps our material costs honest – we’re not marking up commodity mortar to cover overhead.
The written price you receive before work starts is the price you pay. No add-ons discovered mid-job, no scope creep that appears on the invoice. If something is found during the job that genuinely changes the scope – an interior joint failure that wasn’t visible from the exterior, for example – we stop, show you the camera footage, and write a revised price before continuing. You decide.
Call (331) 202-2419 to schedule. We’ll give you a written estimate at the inspection – no charge for the estimate itself, and no obligation to book the work the same day.
FAQs – Mortar Repointing
How long does repointed mortar last in Arlington Heights?
Properly matched and applied mortar in the Arlington Heights climate – where freeze-thaw cycling is significant from November through March – should last 20 to 30 years on a well-maintained chimney. That figure assumes the mortar type is matched to the existing brick hardness, joints are prepared to the correct depth before new mortar is applied, and the crown above is intact and shedding water away from the stack. If the crown is failing or missing, even good repointing work gets undermined by water running directly into the joint line from above – which is why we inspect both in the same visit. Call (331) 202-2419 and we’ll document exactly what condition your crown and joints are in before quoting anything.
Can I repoint chimney mortar myself?
The physical act of mixing and applying mortar isn’t complicated, but getting the mortar mix wrong is one of the most common causes of accelerated chimney failure we see across Arlington Heights. A mortar that’s too hard for the surrounding brick – a Portland cement-heavy mix applied to a soft common brick, for example – causes the brick face to spall rather than allowing normal freeze-thaw movement to release harmlessly through the joint. The joint is designed to be the sacrificial element; when you reverse that, the brick pays the price. If you want to assess the condition of your joints yourself, tap them with a coin or key and look for recession greater than a quarter inch. Calling a professional to do the actual mixing and application is the step that protects the investment in the brick itself.
Is repointing the same as tuckpointing?
Repointing and tuckpointing are often used interchangeably, but they’re technically different. Repointing means removing deteriorated mortar and replacing it with fresh mortar that matches the surrounding material. Tuckpointing, strictly defined, is a decorative technique where two colors of mortar are used to create the visual impression of very fine joints – it was common on historic buildings and some older homes in Arlington Heights but is rarely what a chimney needs for structural repair. When we use the word “repointing” on this page and in our written scopes, we mean removing failed material to depth and replacing it with a correctly matched mortar – the structural repair, not the decorative one.
How do I know if I need repointing or a full chimney rebuild?
Repointing addresses the mortar between the bricks. If the bricks themselves are cracked, spalling severely, or shifting out of alignment, the repair moves into a different category – partial or full rebuild, which is a more involved scope and a higher cost. The camera-scan inspection we run at the start of every visit is what separates the two. We photograph the exterior joint condition, the crown, the interior flue liner, and the smoke chamber. When the report is done, you know exactly what you’re dealing with – not an estimate based on a glance from the ladder. If our Chimney Repair services are needed beyond repointing, that gets its own written scope and price before any work starts. Call (331) 202-2419 and we’ll document what’s there.
What Sets Emberly Apart on Repointing Jobs
Repointing is one of those repairs where the difference between a good job and a poor one isn’t visible for 18 to 24 months. The joint looks filled either way on the day it’s done. The failure shows up the following spring, after the first serious freeze cycle, when the new mortar that wasn’t matched correctly or wasn’t applied to depth starts to open up again.
Since 2009, we’ve completed more than 38,000 chimney inspections and cleanings across the Chicago metro area, and we’ve seen what the cheap repoint looks like two winters later. It’s not that the contractor was dishonest – it’s that the inspection before the work wasn’t thorough enough to catch the underlying cause, and the mortar mix wasn’t matched correctly because nobody tested the original material.
The camera documentation we do under Haven Standard Clause 4 isn’t a sales tool. It’s the record that lets us say, with specificity, what the joint condition was before we started and what it looks like when we’re done. That record is what the 365-Day Done Right Promise is backed by. If you have a complaint within a year of the work, we have the photos that show what was done and how. That’s how disputes get resolved quickly and fairly.
We also carry our technician verification practices all the way to the door. The tech assigned to your job is background-checked, in uniform, and sends a text when they’re on the way. You don’t open the door to a stranger in an unmarked vehicle.
If you’ve already gotten a written estimate from another contractor, bring it to us. Our Free Second Opinion means we’ll review the scope they proposed, tell you whether it matches what we’d find on a camera inspection, and give you a written comparison. No cost, no pressure. The home for all of that documentation is a written record – yours to keep regardless of whether you book the work with us.
Key Takeaways
- Mortar repointing in Arlington Heights runs $400 to $1,200 for most residential chimneys, with a written price before any work starts – always.
- Chicago-area freeze-thaw cycles make mortar joint maintenance more time-sensitive than in milder climates. Visible recession or crumbling is already a trailing indicator of how far deterioration has progressed.
- Every repointing job starts with a camera-scan inspection under NFPA 211 Level 2 – not a visual from the roofline – and ends with a documented photo record you keep.
- Mortar mix matching matters as much as the application itself. The wrong mix causes the brick face to fail rather than the joint.
- The 365-Day Done Right Promise covers every repointing job we do. If it isn’t right, we come back and make it right.
- A Free Second Opinion on any written estimate is available at no charge – bring us what you have.
Schedule Your Repointing Inspection
If you’re seeing crumbling joints, mortar debris on the roof, or staining on the brick face, the next step is a camera inspection – not a guess from the ground. Call (331) 202-2419 to schedule. A live person answers every call, every day. We’ll document what’s there, give you a written price, and let you decide what to do next. No obligation to proceed on the same visit.
Repointing is part of the larger family of masonry work we do under Chimney Repair in Arlington Heights – if there’s more going on than the joints, we’ll find it on the camera scan and scope it separately, so you know exactly what you’re dealing with before committing to anything.
Written by Corrine Halstead, Owner at Emberly Chimney Cleaners Arlington Heights, serving Arlington Heights.