Brick Repair Cabbagetown

Cabbagetown is one of Toronto’s oldest and most vibrant neighbourhoods. Dating back to the 1840s, many of Cabbagetown’s homes are well over 120 years old. This means that brick replacement, brick repair and other forms of masonry restoration will be required in the near future. For a neighbourhood as old as Cabbagetown, a company that has been around for 50 years, like our family run outfit, is the type of company you should contact when you want to take care of your old home.

Types of Brick Repair Needed

With the harsh weather of Canadian winters and the advanced age of Old Toronto brick homes, most homes in Cabbagetown will need attention at various points in time. The services Wilkens Masonry provides for this part of Toronto is

• Tuckpointing and repointing
• Brick repair and brick replacement
• Parging
• Chimney repair
• Chimney rebuilds
• Pillar repair and rebuilds
• New openings for windows and doors
• Fireplace restoration, repair and rebuilds.

If you’re not sure what masonry service you may require, but you can see signs of deterioration, give us a call and we can organize a free estimate and quote.

THE WILKENS STORY

Wilkens Masonry was founded in 1977. Ernie Wilkens developed a reputation as a trustworthy, ethical and extremely knowledgeable contractor. Many people often considered him a friend rather than a hired worker and this has helped keep Wilkens top of mind for all of Toronto over the past four and a half decades. Ernie’s son, cousin and son in law carry the torch for the company now, maintaining Ernie’s vision of a reliable and admired firm.

Get in touch!

We want to hear from you, even if all you need is some friendly advice. Give us a call or visit our website and FILL OUT A FORM for a free quote. Also, you can check out our reviews on HOMESTARS and GOOGLE! 

Affordable Masonry and Brick Repair Toronto

How much should masonry and brick repair cost in Toronto this day in age?

“Everything is more expensive” is a sentence you hear more and more these days. The cost of materials and supply line delays are a constant complication, thus renovations to your home can cost more and more.

There have been some price increases in masonry, the same as other trades. However, there are still many affordable options for upkeep to your bricks and mortar.

Many masonry companies have minimum charges ranging from $1200 to $2000 for a short visit from a crew. There are, however, other companies with more affordable options. At Wilkens Masonry, we perform hundreds of small repairs a year. Our streamlined process and smaller crews mean, for the smaller jobs, we can charge well under a thousand dollars.

Types of Small Masonry and Brick Repair Jobs.

Replacing every brick that shows even the slightest bit of deterioration on your home would be very expensive. Also, it isn’t necessarily needed all of the time. Richard or Jake Wilkens will do a site visit to assess what you need with the goal of providing you with options. Estimates and quotes from Wilkens will often have a small, “minimum” , suggested work order, as well as a larger outline to give you a full understanding.

Brick replacement can be done on a few problem areas. Repointing or tuckpointing a chimney, or reinforcing the masonry on the cap, can extend it’s life and let you prepare for the more expensive path down the road. Parging can be done as a bandaid solution for many parts of a home. All of these options, while quick, can be done aesthetically and effectively when the right company is on site.

Why Hire Wilkens Masonry?

Not all companies are the same, of course, but upselling clients is a common practice. Wilkens is 48 years old and we rely heavily on referrals for our continuing business. Since 1977, we have built a reputation as one of Toronto’s (as well as the surrounding areas of Burlington, Hamilton and Oakville) most reliable masonry companies. We feel that, if a client knows they are taking care of the necessities, with an option for more down the road, they are more likely to have a positive experience with us and help our presence grow. It’s simple, who doesn’t the option of saving money?

WILKENS has been family owned and operated for soon to be 50 years. From 1977 to present day, or motto is “Quality, built on referrals”. This is our livelihood and we prioritize our reputation.

Get in touch!

Call us at 416-425-8055 or visit our WEBSITE to schedule your free estimate and quote. If you would like to read our reviews, you can do so on our website as well as on GOOGLE and HOMESTARS. We look forward to hearing from you!

Masonry Repair in Bloor West Village

There are many wonderful neighbourhoods in Toronto. Bloor West Village is no exception. Vibrant restaurants, wonderful schools and, of course, beautiful old brick houses. From Jane to Keele and Queensway to St Clair, most houses are pushing 100 years old, and are often in need of at least a small amount of masonry restoration or repair.

Brick replacement, tuckpointing or repointing, parging and chimney rebuilds are the main types of work needed on the old houses in Bloor West Village. Harsh Canadian weather and the freeze/thaw cycle that it brings can slowly deteriorate bricks and mortar. It can be just a small amount of deterioration at first. If, for example, a downspout overflows in the weeks of winter thaw, it can speed up deterioration and create a more urgent need for restoration.

Getting A Free Estimate

When you notice something out of the ordinary on the walls and masonry structures of your home, the best thing to do is, at first, a little bit of research. Using the internet to find a reliable contractor can be tricky. It’s hard to determine if a company’s reputation is genuine or manufactured. Once you feel that you have found one, most likely they offer free estimates.

The contractor will come out, hopefully in a timely manner, and discuss the problems you may or may not have with your home. If the contractor is honest, they will not be too pushy on things and explain the nuances of the various types of work your home may need. Most homes need at least a little bit of work, but if the story being told is that you have a short period of time, all of a sudden, too get something addressed before you have a serious problem, you should take a breath and seek a second opinion.

At Wilkens, we have built up a reputatation (just check out our reviews on Google and Homestars) and can be relied on you deliver an honest  assessment followed by a fair quote.

Hiring Local

Wilkens Masonry serves most areas of the GTA as well as Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville and Mississauga. However, the founder of the company, Ernie Wilkens, raised his family in Bloor West Village for 25 years with his children attending Humberside and Runnymede schools. Our yellow vehicles are still a regular staple in the area and our head of sales, Ernie’s nephew Richard, resides in the Junction, just a stones throw away from the main drag of Bloor West Village.

We have an appreciation for the neighbourhood and the pride people have for their homes and we hope to be a part of keeping those homes in tact for many more years to come.

Contact Us For a Free quote

You can peruse our website galleries and fill out a free estimate request form HERE. We offer plenty of free advice and our family run business is here to help as we have been for the past 47 years.

Original Wilkens Team

Brick Restoration Toronto

Brick restoration in Toronto is an extremely important subject. Most homeowners find that some portion of their house has a section of brick exposed to the harsh elements of Southern Ontario.

Brick walls are battered each year in the colder stretches of the late and early months and are often in need of restoration. It is hard to know exactly how far to go when restoring the average brick wall. Should you rebuild the entire thing? Should you do a small patch job? The answer is hard to be sure of, but we will do our best to help answer it.

Brick Replacement

Brick replacement is exactly what it sounds like. When a brick becomes so deteriorated that it is no longer structurally sound and perhaps creating a larger problem on a wall, the brick can be removed and a new one can be put there in it’s stead. This can be easy, or extremely difficult.

If a brick is “newer”, under around 50 years old, it can be harder to remove from the wall and replacing bricks can be more tedious and therefore more costly. If is older and softer, bricks can be taken out in no time at all. Sometimes the bricks are cut out of the wall with plunge blades on a tool called the Arbortech, or it can be chiseled out with a hand held jackhammer.

The masonry company that you request an estimate from would judge on site the degree of difficulty in taking out the bricks.

Parging Bricks

Parging bricks is a “band-aid” solution. It is a coat of reinforced mortar that is intended to hold deteriorating bricks together for a short amount of time until the problem has to be properly addressed. Parging is not a structural solution for deteriorating masonry and should always be considered a temporary solution.

Accessing The Work Area

If the bricks that need to be restored are near the ground, the work is made much more easy. If scaffolding or ladders are required, the scope of work is greatly increased due to the added labour needed and at the level of safety now required to perform the restorative work safely.

Get In TOuch for a free quote!

The easiest course of action, if you have deteriorating brick that you think needs to be restored, is to contact us at Wilkens Masonry and have us come take a look, free of charge. We will give you detailed insight into the process of the work and exactly what is needed and why. Visit our website and fill out our form. In the meantime, check out or reviews on HOMESTARS and GOOGLE.