Westdale Masonry and Brick Repair Westdale is one of Hamilton’s coolest neighbourhoods. It is the gateway to Macmaster with the feeling of being it’s very own town, not just a section of a city. Westdale is a vibrant and wonderful place to live. Most of the houses built in Westdale are well over 50 years old. Many of them need at least a small amount of masonry restoration and brick repair. Some of the houses are in need of more extensive repairs. If you walk around your home you will quite possibly find areas where, due to an inordinate amount of water and ice exposure, you will find deterioration. You may need dozens of bricks replaced and hundreds of square feet of repointing where the mortar has deteriorated. Types of Masonry and Brick Repair in Westdale Wilkens Masonry performs all sorts of masonry and brick repairs. Our services include: Brick replacement Repointing and tuckpointing Parging Chimney repair Chimney rebuilds Pillar repair and rebuilds New openings in brick and masonry walls There are some other types of masonry restoration services. However, the above are the most common you will find needed in Westdale and in the surrounding areas of Hamilton, Dundas, Burlington etc. The Quoting Process At Wilkens Masonry, we offer free estimates and quotes, always. We are also well known for offering friendly advice and will never upsell you for the sake of more work. We aim to, through enlightenment on the process of brick repair and the structure of your home, show you that our suggestions are based off of necessity. Our motto is: “quality, built on referrals”. We have a reputation we are proud of for being ethical and fair and that is something we hope to maintain. Our story Wilkens Masonry was founded in 1977 and built

Brick Repair Hamilton Brick repair in Hamilton is something that Hamiltonians have had to consider since the beginnings of this wonderful city. Hamilton has endless numbers of beautiful, old, brick homes. Year after year, the harsh weather changes and sub zero temperatures bash against the brick and stone walls, leading to a lot of deterioration. For a house to last for hundreds of years, as they are very capable of doing, there needs to be regular and competent maintenance. Types Of Brick Repair In Hamilton Brick walls can be repaired in quite a few ways. When the surfaces of bricks begin to deteriorate, a process known as spalling, they continue to fall apart more quickly as the main shell has now been compromised. When this happens, brick replacement is needed. The damaged and rotting bricks are removed and new bricks, as closely matching as is available here in Hamilton, are put in their place. This can protect the integrity of a homes walls as well as greatly improve the aesthetics, when done right. Tuckpointing or repointing is another preventative action that can be taken to maintain a home. This is the process of restoring the mortar between the bricks using fine tools and a mortar pointing bag which allows for a neat and tidy restoration. If the mortar around the brick or stone begins to fall away, this gives more of a foothold for water, snow and ice and can speed up the deterioration of the brick. Pointing is a much quicker and generally less expensive process than brick replacement. Wilkens Masonry technicians are highly trained and prolific when it comes to tinting and colouring our mortar and blending it in with the existing and healthy mortar joints. Getting An Estimate For Brick Repair In Hamilton If you would like

Masonry Contractors in Hamilton Hamilton is a city filled with thousands of century old brick homes. These homes have been battered by intense Canadian weather for so long, that many of them are in need of masonry repair or restoration. This means tuckpointing or repointing, parging, brick replacement and chimney repair. For all of these projects, it is important to find and contact a trusted and reliable masonry contractor. Types Of Masonry Contractors There are generally three types of masonry contractors. First, there are contractors who take on large jobs such as new home builds, additions etc. Then there are the contractors who specialize in the smaller jobs. These are the restoration masons. Their bread and butter is fixing the deteriorated mortar of your home, a process known as repointing, replacing damaged bricks and fixing or rebuilding your chimney. Lastly, there are the individual contractors who generally work alone and don’t have a properly established company. What Type Of Masonry Contractor Should I Choose? When it comes to the average home owner, the mid sized masonry contractor is generally going to be the way to go. If a company is too large, they may not take your :smaller” project seriously and will consider it an add on and not something that they want to show clients. If you hire an individual who is not properly established, you may have a worker who isn’t properly insured or who doesn’t have all of the necessary tools and supplies to perform the work properly. Wilkens Masonry is a good example of a mid sized masonry contractor. We make a name for ourselves with the small to medium sized repair jobs. Rebuilding chimneys, parging, repointing and brick replacement is what we do. We are also a family company who’s name and reputation drives our

Brick Restoration Hamilton and Burlington Hamilton is filled with older homes, just like Toronto, while Burlington has more “new” homes built in the last 50-60 years. Both cities are in need of good masonry restoration companies, however. Depending on how well the weather is controlled around your brick walls and structures, you may see brick deterioration on homes that are as young as 20 years old. Once an inordinate amount of water begins to saturate a wall, it will deteriorate in a few short years, leading to a need for brick repair and replacement, tuckpointing, parging and other types of masonry repairs. Why Call Wilkens? Wilkens Masonry is 47 years old. It is second generation family run and maintains a company slogan that has led it through decades of change and modernization in the restoration world: “Quality, Built on Referrals”. We are known for our friendly advice and for our willingness to give people pointers on how to do it themselves, or confidence that, if their budget doesn’t allow for it just now, to prioritize other projects and give us a call when they have the resources. We have been in business for almost 50 years, and plan to be in business for at least another 50. The way we will do that is by empowering our clients and demonstrating that not all industry is about money. It’s about garnering trust from a population of intelligent and proud homeowners. What Kind Of Projects Do We Perform In Hamilton and Burlington? Our bread and butter is basic brick repair and restoration. There are plenty of old houses with areas on their exterior walls in need of brick replacement of varying amounts, repointing the deteriorated mortar or patching in the parging in their foundation wall. We also restore and rebuild chimneys, which

How To Tell If A Masonry Company Is Legit There are many different contractors and masonry companies to choose from in the Toronto and Hamilton area. Many of them are tried and true, perform good work, and can be relied on to deliver what they promised they would. However, there are always the companies out there that will misrepresent themselves and, sometimes, will try and scam a client just looking to have some restoration done. Online Presence If a company has an online presence that seems to have original content and interaction with legitimate clients, it is a pretty reliable sign that they are an actual outfit who has been around for a while. On Google, you can view a company’s business profile and read their reviews. If they have recent reviews as well as reviews going back a few years at least, they have most likely been around for a while. Also, if they post often or respond to their reviews, this means that they are proud of the good work they deliver and would want to please every new client that decides to have them perform some work. At Wilkens Masonry we pride ourselves on the reviews we have garnered on websites such as Google and Homestars. Deposits For Work This is a tricky way to gauge a company’s reliability. Some jobs that you want to have done can be pricey, and not all companies have the cash to buy the materials required and to pay their men for the duration of the job. If the job is relatively small, a good sign is that a masonry company will not need a deposit for the work to be done. Wilkens Contracting does not need a deposit for our work to be performed. We trust in our clients and

Can I Do Masonry Repairs By Myself? The answer is undoubtedly, yes. However, the extent to which you can perform masonry repairs depends on a few things. If the work is not too far off the ground or does not require a specialist tool, then for most basic repairs, a competent person could perhaps perform the work. There are a few things to consider which we address in the rest of this article. How High Is The Work? Many times a masonry repair such as brick replacement, tuckpointing or repointing, parging or just patching in a hole will be close to the ground. Almost always, though, there will be more work just out of arms reach or even further up the walls of your house. If you do not own a ladder, or perhaps are not comfortable and confident working at heights, this is a good reason to bring in a professionally trained masonry contractor such as Wilkens Contracting. We are all certified Working At Heights trained and can bring in a variety of ladders and scaffolding setups to safely and properly access all areas needed to be addressed. This is particularly important when considering a chimney repair or rebuild. Most people are not properly trained to work on a roof in a safe and efficient way. How Important Are Aesthetics In Masonry Repairs? If you wanted to just fill a hole near the ground level of your exterior wall that you were worried about pests or water getting through, you can go to most hardware or home improvement stores, speak to an employee and find a product you can apply. However, over the past 46 years, at Wilkens Masonry Contracting we have seen many attempts by customers to do the work themselves, leading to more work when the end

How Do I Know What Masonry Repairs Are Necessary? One of the most common reservations people have these days is how expensive it can be to maintain your home. The price of living in the whole world has gone up, and Hamilton and Toronto are no exception. It is sometimes hard to determine if the work or repairs you are considering are completely necessary or if they can be left alone for a while. There are obviously important things, like water pooling against your home and pouring in to your basement, or a chimney crumbling and you find pieces of brick in your driveway. These usually require immediate attention. There are also repairs that are more aesthetic and could wait until the more important repairs are done. With all of this in mind, you want a masonry contractor such as Wilkens that is going to help you understand the difference so that you can make an informed decision. Figuring It Out Your home is your haven. You want it to be safe and secure. Masonry is the backbone of a home and it should be in good condition. When considering repairs and their level of necessity, the first thing to consider would be the structure of the home and if the damage or potential repair will help maintain it. The next is aesthetics. While there can be damage to an exterior of a home that won’t necessarily lead to the house falling down any time soon, the visuals of a home are extremely important to most clients. You want to have pride in your home, and, if you are considering selling, your home should have curb appeal. These are just two factors to consider when trying to figure out what work should be done on your home. Honesty And Ethics