Brick repair in Santa Fe NM - sound joints and brick that keep water out
Crumbling mortar or cracked brick? We find what's letting water in, then repair the joints and brick so your wall holds up.
Does my brick need new mortar or new brick?
Brick repair in Santa Fe usually means repointing, which is cleaning the worn mortar out of the joints and packing in new, plus swapping out any brick that's cracked too deep to keep, so your wall stops taking on water.
At Sterling Santa Fe Concrete & Masonry, we get these calls from all over Santa Fe and the cities around it, usually because mortar is sanding out of the joints, a few bricks have split or a white crust keeps coming back. The price turns on how much wall needs new joints, how many bricks have to come out, how high we're working and what it takes to stop the water behind it. The schedule turns on mortar-friendly weather and on whether the city has to approve the work first, and we handle that paperwork. If the damage is up on your chimney, that's its own job. Once I've seen your wall, my written estimate puts a real number on it.
How we handle brick repair
First I decide whether your brick can stay and just needs new joints, or whether cracked units have to come out, because that choice sets most of the job. Then I look for the water, since a leaking downspout can wash mortar right out of the joints, and fixing it goes into the plan ahead of the new mortar or the repair won't hold. On the wall itself, we clean the old mortar out to sound material, cut out cracked brick and set matching units in their place, pack the joints with a mortar that suits your brick, tool them to match the wall around them and clean the face before we leave.
Brick trouble often starts at the ground. If your drive slopes water toward the house, regrading under new driveway pavers can turn it away, and where a slope keeps pushing soil against a wall, retaining wall construction can hold the dirt back and give runoff a better path.
Brick repair and historic review in Santa Fe
Inside city limits, the City of Santa Fe Land Use Department issues building permits, and most construction work needs one. If your house is in one of the city's five historic districts, exterior work like brick repair needs pre-approval from the Historic Preservation Division before any construction permit is issued. The city says most simple maintenance and repair there won't need a construction permit, and that kind of work can go through a maintenance and repair application that city staff approve, with brick coping listed among the examples. Whether your job needs a building permit depends on what we're doing, so I check what the city asks for at your address before anything gets scheduled.
Most of the brick we repair in Santa Fe is older, and older brick usually needs mortar that gives before the brick does. Masonry cement makes a high-strength mortar that can damage historic masonry, so preservation guidance generally steers away from it on historic buildings, and on older brick you should ask any mason which mortar they plan to use. The same question comes up when we repair older brick in Española and Los Alamos.
How brick repair works with us
Call or send a message
Call (505) 303-0434 or send the form with your address and a few photos of the cracks or worn joints if you have them. We'll set a time for me to come out.
I inspect and measure the wall
I come out myself, measure the wall, check the joints, the cracked brick and the downspouts, and tell you plainly what I'd do and why. You get it in writing, showing what's being repointed, which bricks are being replaced and any drainage fix, so you can see where the money goes.
We file permits and approvals
Once you say go, we take care of the permits and any historic review the job needs. The work waits until those are in hand, so your start date follows the city's approval.
We repair it and walk it
My crew and I do the work with me there on site. When we're done, I walk the wall with you before we pack up.
Get a written estimate for your brick and mortar repair
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set up a visit. I'll come out, look at the wall and give you a free estimate in writing, and there's no obligation to go ahead.
Questions before you book brick repair
How much does brick repointing cost in Santa Fe?
Across the US, professional brick repointing usually costs about $400 to $2,500 per 100 square feet of wall. Where your wall lands depends on how deep the joints are worn, how high we're working and how closely the mortar has to match. Any brick replacement or drainage work your wall needs shows up in my written estimate along with the joints.
Should I repoint or replace damaged brick?
Repoint when the damage is minor, like small cracks or loose mortar, and replace brick when the cracks run deep, since new joints won't save a brick that's split through. The depth of the damage decides which job you pay for, and I'll show you which bricks I'd keep and which have to come out.
What causes efflorescence to keep coming back on brick?
White powder that keeps coming back usually means water is getting into the wall and staying there. A white bloom right after new work is just normal drying, but when it returns after that, the water source is what needs fixing, not the stain.
How long does brick repointing last?
Professional repointing can last up to 30 years, according to one national cost guide. How long yours holds depends a lot on whether the water problem behind it got fixed and whether the mortar suits the brick.
What is the best time of year to repoint brick?
Spring or fall is usually best, because one cost guide says mortar cures best when daytime temperatures stay between 40 and 90 degrees for at least 24 to 72 hours. We plan repointing around weather like that when we can.
What is the best way to remove old mortar from brick?
Slowly and by someone skilled, because power saws on thin joints, which most brick walls have, almost always break the brick edges and cut too far into the vertical joints. If your brick is old and soft, ask who will take the mortar out and with what tools, and I'll tell you exactly how we'll do it on your wall.
Why Santa Fe homeowners call Sterling Santa Fe Concrete & Masonry for brick repair
I come out to every job
I look at your wall myself and write the estimate, and my crew and I do the work with me on site. The person who decided what your brick needs is the one watching the joints go in.
Learned brick on my father's jobs
I was mixing mortar and hauling brick for my father before I could drive, and I started this business in 2013. That's 13 years of our own work on top of the years I spent learning it.
Older Santa Fe brick is our work
We're best known for repairing older brick and stone, and many of our calls come from homes in Santa Fe's historic districts. Old walls need a lighter hand and the right mortar, and that's the work we do most.
Fully licensed and insured, every job
We're fully licensed and insured. Ask any mason about it before they set a ladder against your house, and we'll show you ours.
If the mortar is going or a brick has cracked, the sooner the water stops getting in, the less there is to fix. Send me a few photos or set up a visit, or call (505) 303-0434.
Other work that protects your brick
Driveway pavers
If your drive tips water toward the house, new pavers laid on a proper base with the right slope can move that runoff away from your brick.
Retaining wall construction
When a hillside keeps pushing dirt and runoff against your house, a retaining wall holds the soil back and gives water somewhere better to go than your brick.
Book a visit for your brick and drainage repair
Have your address, a few photos of the damage and whether you're in a historic district ready when you call (505) 303-0434, email quotes@santafeconcreteandmasonry.com or send the form, so I can tell you what to expect before I come out.
