The Problem
The owner of a 1932 brick bungalow in South Skokie noticed spalling concentrated on the east elevation. Twenty-two brick units had lost their face, from small chips at the corner to full delamination where the outer half inch had popped off. East elevation joints averaged 5/8-inch recess, deeper than any other face on the home.
The east face warms rapidly in morning sun and stays in shade by afternoon. That daily thermal swing drives moisture through more freeze-thaw cycles per season than a steady north or south wall. Combined with years of deeply recessed joints, the east elevation reached critical condition while the others remained deteriorated but not yet spalling.
The brick was original 1932 Chicago face brick - soft and porous in the way pre-Depression residential brick tends to be.
Our Solution
We mapped and photographed all 22 spalled units before starting removal. Each brick was cut free at the four surrounding joints with a diamond blade, then extracted with hand tools to avoid disturbing adjacent courses. All 22 cavities were inspected for sheathing damage - every one was sound, confirming the face brick had been protecting the wall even while deteriorating.
Replacement brick came from our salvaged inventory of early-1930s Chicago area face brick, matched for nominal size, fine surface texture, and warm red color range. Each unit was set in Type O lime-rich mortar with full bed coverage and solid head joints, then checked for alignment before the mortar reached initial set.
The full east elevation was raked to 3/4-inch depth and repointed with Type O mortar batched against the sheltered north corner joint, where the original 1932 color had held best. The soldier course under the windows was tooled with a narrower profile to avoid pressure on the vertical brick edges. All joints were packed in two lifts and finished concave.
The Result
The 22 replacement bricks read as consistent with the surrounding wall at viewing distance. The salvaged brick color falls within the natural range of the original batch, so the repair zone blends rather than patches. East elevation joints are now at uniform finished depth, eliminating the moisture pathway that drove the spalling. No additional spalling was visible at the 60-day check.
