DON'T LET SMALL CRACKS BECOME BIG PROBLEMS

What Happens When Masonry Damage Gets Ignored?

Brick and block don't fail overnight — they fail slowly, one freeze-thaw cycle at a time. A hairline crack in a wall lets water in. That water freezes, expands, and turns a small crack into a structural problem. A crumbling mortar joint on a garden wall or a foundation wall does the same thing, just out of sight until the wall starts to lean or bow.

Walkways and steps settle and heave with the ground underneath them, creating trip hazards most homeowners don't notice until someone gets hurt. Retaining walls carry the weight of the soil behind them. Once their mortar joints begin to fail, the wall may be only one hard rain away from a much larger repair.

None of this fixes itself. The good news: caught early, most masonry repairs are straightforward. Left alone, they turn into full rebuilds.