Masonry & Tuckpointing in Palatine, Illinois
Palatine's own website says the village has no historic preservation ordinance, plan, district or commission. The Census says the median house here went up in 1977. So this is not a heritage-restoration town. It is a maintenance town: about 45 percent of the homes were built in the 1970s and 1980s, and the brick, lintels, flashing and chimneys on them are now between 37 and 56 years old.
What the census says about Palatine's walls
Palatine has 14.1 square miles of land, about 65,900 residents and, in the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey, 28,469 housing units with a median year built of 1977. By decade of construction (survey estimates, each with a margin of error):
- 1970s: 7,727 units, about 27 percent, the biggest decade
- 1980s: 5,219 units, about 18 percent
- 1960s: 4,507 units, about 16 percent; 1990s: 3,677, about 13 percent; 1950s: 2,843, about 10 percent
- 2000 or later: 2,927 units
- Before 1950: 1,569 units, of which 919 (3.2 percent) date from 1939 or earlier
So about 45 percent of the village went up in the 1970s and 1980s, which makes it between 37 and 56 years old this year.
That decides which advice applies. With only about 3 percent of units predating 1940, soft lime mortar and landmark rules are the exception. The ordinary jobs are brick veneer, a steel angle over a window, a chimney crown and its flashing, a set of front steps.
Two limits. We found no Census table or other source that records exterior materials in Palatine, so any village-wide share you are quoted is a guess; if yours is brick, stone or a mix, establish that on your own wall. And not every unit is a house: about 42 percent are detached homes, 15 percent attached, and 34 percent sit in buildings of five or more units.
No landmark ordinance, and two wooden landmarks
The village's Historic Palatine page is blunt: there is no historical preservation ordinance, plan, district or commission in Palatine. What exists is voluntary: the Palatine Historical Society issues plaques for buildings it finds to be 100 or more years old, and an owner may place a deed restriction on a historic home.
That is not the same as no rules. The same page says renovations and property work must follow village ordinances, and permits, flood-hazard mapping and any homeowners-association declaration still apply. National Register status changes nothing either: the National Park Service says listing places no restrictions on what a non-federal owner may do with the property.
The two Palatine entries on Cook County's National Register list are houses, and both are wood. The George Clayson House (224 East Palatine Road, built 1873, listed 1979) is a wood-frame house on a brick foundation. The Charles H. Patten House (117 North Benton Street, built 1898, listed 2006) was put up by local craftsmen using wood from area groves, according to the Palatine Historical Society. Neither is a brick landmark, so if a contractor leads with Palatine's famous old addresses, ask what masonry the contractor has actually repaired.
What fails first in veneer from the 1970s and 1980s
If your house is brick veneer, one layer of brick tied back to a backup wall across a gap, the Brick Industry Association (BIA) calls it a drainage wall: it assumes some water gets behind the brick and relies on flashing, weep holes and the air space to send it back out. Repairs usually come down to which of those has stopped working.
- Weep holes. BIA puts them directly above the flashing, about every third brick or 24 inches on center, often as open head joints. Joints filled with mortar, caulk or paint leave water nowhere to go.
- Flashing. It belongs at the foundation line, over window and door heads and under sills. You cannot see it; staining or white salts under a window head, or damp at the base of a wall, are how its failure can show.
- Steel lintels. BIA says that in harsh climates the steel over openings should be galvanized, or else needs periodic maintenance against corrosion. Corroding steel swells, and architects describe it pushing brick out of line or cracking the masonry above the opening, called rust jacking.
- Ties and joints. Ties hold the brick to the structure, so bowing or separating veneer may be a structural question, not just a pointing job. For joints, the National Park Service's signs are disintegrating mortar, cracks, loose brick and damp walls.
Repointing does not cure a wet wall. The National Park Service's repointing brief says to fix the root cause first, whether a leaking roof or gutter, settlement or rising damp, or the new pointing will fail too.
The same brief sets the mortar rule: repointing mortar should be softer or more permeable than the brick and no harder than the mortar already in the wall, because a joint harder than the brick pushes stress into the brick faces as cracking and spalling that is not easily repaired. Written for historic buildings, it says it suits other masonry too. It says to cut old mortar out to two to two and a half times the joint width, and it shows brick edges damaged by a mechanical grinder. If your house is one of the roughly 1,600 that predate 1950, have the existing mortar identified before anything is cut out.
Chimneys: where Palatine houses let water in
The Mason Contractors Association notes that the area around a chimney crown is often overlooked as a route for moisture. The Census shows how Palatine heats: 77 percent of occupied homes use utility gas and none are recorded as heating mainly with wood (an estimate of zero, margin of error 30). If your chimney is in use, it may well be venting a gas appliance, which changes what the liner must survive.
First fork: is yours masonry, brick or block with a flue liner, or a factory-built fireplace, a metal flue in a framed chase? CSIA's inspection procedure for the factory-built kind starts at the make-and-model plate and checks the storm collar, rain cap and chase pan. Masonry is judged on crown, flashing, joints and liner.
Where a masonry chimney fails
- Crown or cap. General Shale's chimney checklist says a good cap overhangs, has a drip edge and slopes away from the flue, and that a thin trowelled mortar cap shrinks, cracks and can lift off the brick. In most cases the flue tile should not be bonded to the cap; a flexible caulk joint lets it move.
- Flashing. Stepped counterflashing built into the brick should turn down over step flashing under the shingles. The checklist calls caulk standing in for flashing inferior workmanship, and says a chimney wider than 30 inches normally needs a cricket behind it.
- Joints and brick. Cracks, voids in joints and spalled brick are suspect entry points for water. Chimney joints should be concave, vee or grapevine, not raked, because a raked joint holds water.
- Flue liner. The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) Level 2 procedure includes a video scan, reporting cracks or gaps in the liner, and sealing unused openings into the flue.
When to have it inspected
CSIA's procedures, built on NFPA 211, treat a Level 1 inspection as the routine annual one, and as right when you swap an appliance for a similar type. They recommend a Level 2, with a video scan and access to attic and roof, when conditions change: a different fuel, efficiency or type of appliance, a sale, relining, or a chimney fire or weather event. In Palatine, furnace and water heater replacement are both express-permit items on the village site, and the village has adopted the 2021 International Fuel Gas Code with amendments. If a new gas appliance will vent into an existing masonry chimney, ask who checked the flue size and liner against it.
What a sound repair scope looks like
Working top down: a crown that overhangs, slopes and has a drip, with a flexible joint around the flue tile; metal step flashing and counterflashing instead of sealant; repointing only what needs it, with a tooled joint; spalled brick replaced, not coated; relining only when the inspection or a changed appliance calls for it.
Freeze, thaw and flooding in the northwest suburbs
The Illinois State Climatologist's 1981-2010 normals for Chicago Palwaukee Airport, about seven miles east of Palatine, put March at a normal low of 28.9 F and high of 46.1 F, and November at 32.0 F and 48.1 F: days that typically start at or below freezing and end well above it. That is our reading of the normals, not a freeze-thaw count, but it is the pattern in which water in a crack freezes overnight and thaws by afternoon. It also bounds repair season: the National Park Service gives 40 to 95 F wall temperature as the range where mortar neither freezes nor dries too fast, and the mean temperature in the normals is above 40 F from April through October.
Water also comes at masonry from the ground. The village's flood-prevention page says certain lands next to Salt Creek and Buffalo Creek, and several low-lying areas, are flood hazard areas, and that the village engineering department can tell you whether yours is one. After the July 23, 2011 storm the village manager said the rain exceeded the storm sewers' 100-year design. If you have a brick or block foundation wall, or a basement that has shown water, drainage comes first.
Permits, registration and paperwork
Palatine's building-permit page lists adding a fireplace, stoops and stairs in any material, fences, roofs, drainage work, and installing or replacing HVAC units or water heaters as needing permits. Painting and like-for-like window replacement are listed as usually exempt. Tuckpointing and chimney repair are on neither list, so rebuilding a stoop or adding a fireplace is a permit question, and repointing or crown repair is an ask-first question: Building Permits and Inspections, 847-359-9042. The page says most contractors pull the permits and advises spelling that out in the contract. If your wall belongs to a building with an association, your declaration may decide who orders the work, so ask the board before collecting a quote of your own.
The village's 2026 contractor registration, done through its online portal, lists Masonry and Fireplace as separate trades, each with a trade-specific surety bond, and every registration expires on December 31. Where work disturbs lead-based paint in a pre-1978 home, the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule requires certified contractors. And OSHA's silica table calls for a shroud and dust collector on grinders that remove mortar.
What to ask before anyone cuts a joint
- Which parts of my wall are brick, and which are stone, concrete or steel?
- Which ASTM C 270 mortar type, and why is it no harder than what is there? The Park Service brief lists Types M, S, N, O and K from hardest to softest.
- How will old mortar come out, how deep, and what dust control is on the grinder?
- Will weep holes, flashing and lintels be checked, not just the joints?
- On a chimney, which inspection level was done, and does the scope cover crown, flashing and liner?
- Who pulls any permit, and is the firm registered with the village this year for the right trades?
Signs your masonry needs a look
- Mortar recessed behind the brick face, sandy, or cracked along the brick edge
- Spalling: faces flaking or popping, especially on chimney top courses, steps and wall bases
- White powder on the surface: usually harmless, says the Park Service, unless salts crystallize inside the brick and spall the face
- Rust stains or cracks above a window or door, or brick pushed out of line over an opening
- No open weep joints at the base of a wall that stays damp
- Water stains in the attic or on a ceiling near the chimney, or sealant-only flashing visible from the ground
Palatine and the surrounding area
Palatine borders Arlington Heights, Inverness, Schaumburg, Rolling Meadows and Deer Park. If yours is a large-lot or estate property, start with our estate and landmark work, compare masonry in Arlington Heights, masonry in Schaumburg or masonry in Inverness, or browse every area we serve across Chicagoland.
Questions Palatine owners ask
Does Palatine have a historic preservation ordinance or review board?
No. The village's Historic Palatine page states that there is no Historical Preservation Ordinance, Plan, District or Commission in Palatine, so no preservation board reviews exterior changes and no preservation approval is needed to repoint brick. National Register listing does not change this, because the National Park Service says it places no restrictions on what a non-federal owner may do with the property.
Do I need a permit for tuckpointing or chimney repair in Palatine?
The village's permit page lists neither, and we could not read the municipal code text, so we cannot tell you they are exempt. It does list adding a fireplace, stoops and stairs in any material, fences, roofs, drainage work, and installing or replacing HVAC units or water heaters as needing permits, and lists painting and like-for-like window replacement as usually exempt. For anything on the border, such as a crown rebuild or a stoop, call Building Permits and Inspections at 847-359-9042 before work starts.
How old are Palatine's houses, and does that matter for masonry?
The Census Bureau's 2020-2024 estimates count 28,469 housing units with a median year built of 1977. The 1970s are the largest decade at 7,727 units and the 1980s add 5,219, so about 45 percent date from 1970 to 1989, while only 919 units, 3.2 percent, are from 1939 or earlier. That shifts the typical job away from lime-mortar walls and toward veneer, lintels, flashing and chimneys that are 37 to 56 years old.
Are Palatine homes brick?
Some are, but we found no source documenting exterior materials for Palatine's housing, and no Census table records them, so any village-wide percentage you are quoted is a guess. Two National Register houses in Palatine are a warning: the 1873 Clayson House is wood-frame on a brick foundation and the 1898 Patten House was built with wood from area groves. If your house has siding but a brick chimney or brick steps, the masonry job is the chimney and the steps.
What goes wrong first with brick veneer on a 1970s or 1980s house?
A few failure points recur. Weep holes filled with mortar, caulk or paint stop the wall draining. Flashing over openings and at the base may be missing or failed, and you only see the staining. Steel lintels corrode and swell, which can crack the masonry above them; the Brick Industry Association says lintels in harsh climates should be galvanized or else need periodic maintenance. Joints show the National Park Service's signs: disintegrating mortar, cracks, loose brick and damp walls.
How often should a chimney in Palatine be inspected?
The Chimney Safety Institute of America treats a Level 1 inspection as the routine one for annual inspections and cleanings, and as right when you replace an appliance with a similar type. It recommends a Level 2, with a video scan of the flue and access to attic and roof, when conditions change: a different fuel, efficiency or type of appliance, a sale of the property, relining, or a chimney fire or weather event.
Is spalling brick a mortar problem?
Not always. Spalling means the face of the brick is flaking or popping off. The National Park Service's repointing brief ties it to two causes: mortar harder than the brick, which pushes stress into the brick faces, and salts crystallizing inside the brick as moisture leaves the wall. Either way the underlying problem is water that cannot get out. Replacing spalled brick without finding what is driving it, whether a leaking roof or gutter, a blocked drainage path or a failed chimney crown, only restarts the clock. Ask the contractor what is causing it before you compare quotes for the repair.
Do I need to check my chimney when I replace a furnace or water heater?
If the new appliance will vent into an existing masonry chimney, yes. CSIA recommends a Level 2 inspection when an appliance is replaced with a dissimilar one, and its procedure includes confirming the flue is sized for continued use. In Palatine, furnace and water heater replacement are both express-permit items on the village's site, and the village has adopted the 2021 International Fuel Gas Code with amendments.
What should I check before hiring a mason in Palatine?
Ask which ASTM C 270 mortar type is going in and why it is no harder than the existing mortar, how old mortar will be removed and what dust control is on the grinder, and whether weep holes, flashing and lintels are checked as well as joints. Ask who pulls any permit. The village's 2026 registration lists Masonry and Fireplace as separate trades and expires each December 31, so ask whether the firm is registered for the right trades this year. On a house built before 1978, if painted surfaces are involved, ask about EPA lead-safe certification.
Is MasonryPros.us a masonry contractor?
No. MasonryPros.us is a free matching service operated by Media Express LLC, a Chicago digital agency. We do not perform masonry work and we have no office in Palatine. You describe the job once, and we match you with local contractors who do that specific type of work. There is no obligation to hire.