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High Winds, Rain and Your Chimney

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Recent Storms Damaged Many St. Louis Roofs!

Don’t Let Inexperienced Traveling Estimators Inspect Wind & Rain Damage
Although there is a recent post on chimney inspections, the recent St. Louis area storms cause us to post an alert! As with any serious storms, between the legitimate local estimators and repair companies will be hundreds, if not thousands of scam artists or inexperienced estimators as well as contractors plying the street offering services. Do not engage these people if they are not local or unlicensed. You could not only risk your money, but you risk a sloppy repair by inexperienced temporary crews that are not local and do not care! Read more »

Signs It Is Time to Check And Repair Chimney

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Masonry and Brick Chimneys: A Major Source of Interior Water Damage

Prevent costly interior damage due to leaks in and around chimney

Now that the weather in St. Louis is warming up, so are the storms. Many times interior water damage can be traced to the chimney! Brick and masonry chimneys need to be inspected even if you don’t use the fire place! Winter snow and ice can push into weak mortar joints and then expand them which allows water to enter.

Weather and age cause chimney deterioration

Brick Chimneys are heavy structures that are basically stuffed up into the weather and exposed to the harshest conditions. By nature they are not shaded by trees and exposed to rain and wind on all sides. Bricks and mortar deteriorate over the years under far more favorable conditions. Furthermore, due to many home styles, inspecting a chimney demands a professional if only because they are the highest and most dangerous part of a building to access.

Chimney Crown Restoration Can Save You Thousands

Chimney crowns deteriorate! The chimney crown is the cement cap that seals the brick walls and flue from weather. These are hard to inspect from ground level. Depending on the design, there is an expansion joint around the flue. This also deteriorates. If the chimney crown or expansion joint deteriorate, your chimney can leak water into your attic or other interior areas. Typically replacing the cap is a reasonably inexpensive repair if caught in time.

Signs Your Chimney Needs Inspection

- Interior Leaks
- cracks in exterior walls near chimney
- Plants or moss growing in chimney mortar joints
- visible cracks in chimney crown (cap)
- missing mortar or broken bricks
- missing or loose cap or step flashing
- bird or animal droppings in fireplace

If your house has a brick or masonry chimney, call Irish Construction for a free inspection. We can repair or restore your chimney fast and prevent expensive damage to the interior as well as the chimney itself!

Time to repair brickwork before the summer storms!

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Start with an exterior inspection of suspect areas!

Call Irish Construction To Get Your Home Fixed Right the First Time!

image broken bricks bad mortar jointsWinter is fading fast into spring and now is the time to get your home ready for the real weather. Cycles of snow and ice are the most damaging weather a brick or masonry home can face. It loosens mortar, forces bricks out of line, caused other bricks to break and can heave massive concrete slabs into cracking. If you see any suspect areas in your home’s brick work, concrete or masonry, call Irish Construction for a free home inspection.

Area in box will let water leak in house and allow bricks to crack!
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We can repair just about any plaster issue!

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Irish Construction restores interior and exterior plaster!

We would have said “all”, but our attorney suggested modesty…
St. Louis has lots of fine, old homes that feature plaster finishes. Lately we have repaired a few jobs that the owners thought were hopeless. One particular job had an upstairs room that had been neglected for 30 years, relegated to storage. It is now a beautiful, useable part of the home. In another job, the plaster in the room had pulled away, but after carefully stripping down to the masonry and re-plastering, the owner’s comment was “Not only does it perfectly match the undamaged plaster, but there is no indication that it was ever repaired.” Feel free to research us on Angie’s List for the complete comment! Read more »

Spring Yard Project? Landscape with Brick & Stone For Charm

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Raised Beds For Flowers or Vegetables Add Elegance

stone wall landscapeMany agree that brick and stone homes have extra appeal. Brick, stone and masonry exteriors suggests success, elegance, durability and long-life. Brick, stone and masonry are ideal for patios, planters, paths, raised beds and landscape walls. These materials also have practical applications as retaining walls. Landscaping with brick and stone can also enhance a brick home’s look and value. Whether age has deteriorated existing brick and masonry landscape or you want to add a new look, Irish Construction can help.

Brick patio extends the ambiance of brick homes

If you are considering a new patio or replacing a deck, consider a brick patio. As with any major construction project, call Irish Construction for a free consultation. At the very minimum our experience can offer you compare options and material. In some cases we have suggested replacing a wood deck with a combination of a landing and brick patio to enhance the landscape and save money! Since we are also concrete experts, we can accurately estimate a variety of options.

Mild winter weather is perfect for new landscape projects with brick and concrete

image retaining wall repair Irish ConstructionIn St. Louis we are having another mild winter. That means Irish Construction can do spring garden and landscape enhancements now! It is perfect weather to build raised garden beds, repair existing flower beds, add concrete, stone, or brick pathways, or repair existing driveways and sidewalks. You can have the raised beds for your vegetable or flower gardens in place before the spring storms soak the ground. This is also ideal weather to do tuckpointing existing landscape brickwork or stabilizing stone walls. A little tuckpointing goes a long way to preserve brick construction while enhancing the value and visual appeal of a home.

Figuring out why your plaster walls are cracking

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Solve Foundation Issues Before Repairing Plaster

Don’t just fix or cover cracks, let a pro figure out way it’s happening
Lath and plaster walls crack for a variety of reasons. To permanently repair cracks in lath and plaster as well as drywall interior walls, you must figure out why the wall cracked. In many homes, old or new, foundation issues can be the culprit. Whatever caused the foundation issues must be corrected otherwise a crack is likely to reappear.

Plaster crack repairs often return to foundation issues

image foundation repair St. Louis Irish ConstructionAny contractor that says he can cover up plaster cracks due to foundation, footing or flooring issues is probably guessing. Even the hassle of covering lath and plaster with drywall cannot guarantee a long-term repair. In many cases plaster cracks that are covered with drywall reappear as bulges, bows or new cracks. The shifting of the house cannot be disguised with tape and joint compound either! You have to stabilize the geometry of the house. Drywall and plaster don’t flex, so if the house is shifting, cracks will return fast!

Fix underlying foundation and footer issues first

Instead a proper, permanent repair may start by repairing the foundation or footing.  Irish Construction has many options when it comes to affordable foundation repair. Whether you need a corner of the house lifted, a section of subfloor footing repaired or a whole wall mudjacked level, Irish Construction has the experience to repair the real problem the first time. They Irish Construction can fix crack, bulges, or bows in your lath and plaster walls.

Signs you may need your foundation inspected

There are obvious signs of a defect in your foundation or footing. Cracks in exterior brick or stucco walls, cracks in the foundation, leaks in the basement and uneven gaps between window and frame suggest further inspection by a professional. Any crack in interior or exterior walls should prompt a call to Irish Construction. In some cases what seems like a foundation defect could be a flooring footing that has rotted. When it comes to a permanent repair of a crack in a plaster wall, footing or foundation should be repaired first! We are committed to exceeding your expectations, but to even begin to meet them, we need to know what is at the root of the problem.

Save Thousands and Seal Your Concrete I Tell You!

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Another Bid on a Problem Driveway That Was Preventable!

Sealing your concrete isn’t just for winter and will save you a lot of money!
We posted awhile back about sealing your driveway and most of the emphasis was on protecting it from winter weather damage including the ice melt you might sprinkle on to keep if safe for walking. Quite frankly that post wasn’t worded harsh enough! Reecently we bid to resurface a driveway that was about four years old and had lots of spalling. You probably have seen spalling of concrete including chips, scarring, pitting and crumbing of the surface. The driveway died way too young!

Frankly we should have screamed that if you don’t remember when your driveway was PROFESSIONALLY sealed, just get it sealed as soon as possible. It isn’t just the damage from ice you sprinkle or the stuff your cars drag over the winter that a professional sealing can protect you from. Sealing your concrete can also protect you from age related defects such as chipping that can be accelerated by a bad pour!

A proper sealing makes it harder for your concrete to suck up salts, water, oil, gas and other chemicals. A proper sealing of your concrete can keep water from being absorbed into the surface of the concrete where it can expand by freezing causing surface damage. Maybe you have seen concrete where the smooth finish is pockmarked with areas of exposed aggregate? If it isn’t water freezing and causing the top layer to flake away, harsh chemicals like salt, gas and oil eat away and maybe stain the surface as well. By sealing your concrete you reduce the chances of this happening!

Defects in workmanship can eventually cause damage to concrete pads!

Another note, sometimes it is the actual construction that causes a concrete pad’s surface to fail. A bad mix of concrete, concrete that was in the truck too long, concrete that was poured on an extremely hot day and other construction miscues can come back and show themselves five years down the road. Sealing can help prevent how soon these issues show up by preventing the mechanical processes of freezing or the deterioration caused by harsh chemicals from accelerating the failure of a pad’s surface.

The bottom line is a professional sealing can save you thousands, if not ten thousand dollars or more. The cost of sealing is small compared to the cost of tearing out an average-sized driveway!

We can seal anytime of the year so call 314-725-9024 for a free estimate on sealing your driveway.

FAQ On Sealing Your Driveway
1. How often should I have my driveway professionally sealed?
- Every three to five years is good practice. More often if there are many freeze cycles or harsher winter weather.
2. How soon can I seal my new concrete driveway?
- Typically you should wait three to four weeks to seal a new concrete pad.
3. Do I need to seal my sidewalks as often as my driveway?
- No, you don’t have to seal your sideways as often. Driveways are subject to heavy traffic compared to sidewalks and that can cause wear the sealer off.
4. Can I do it myself?
- Sure, you could paint on a home improvement purchased product, but those tend to not be as durable as professionally available products and therefore wear away fast. In some tests the store-bought sealer was done in less than 6 months!

Factors That Make A Difference When It Comes To Concrete Construction
The attention paid to the craftsmanship before, during and after the finishing
- Attention begins at site preparation and ends with sealing the new pad after curing.
The weather conditions when the concrete was poured and finished
Hot, cold, extremely dry, sunny and wet weather can call for different practices.
The quality of the concrete is paramount.
- including making sure it is poured and finished in a timely manner
American Concrete Institute says concrete shouldn’t be more than 1 hour old when poured, though that can be drastically shortened or lengthen depending on weather.
(ASTM C 94, “Standard Specification for Ready Mixed Concrete.” Section 10.7 of the standard notes: “Discharge of the concrete shall be completed within 1 1/2 hours, or before the drum has revolved 300 revolutions, whichever comes first, after the introduction of the mixing water to the cement and aggregates or the introduction of the cement to the aggregates.) – making sure the concrete has the right additives for the temperature and weather
- making sure the concrete is allowed to cure properly including protecting it if necessary
- making sure that the air entrapment and water content of the mix is correct.
(big air bubbles are bad, small air bubbles are normal!)

The Right Time Of The Year To Fix Garden Walls

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Let Irish Construction Fix Those Brick Garden Retain Walls

Relatively Dry Weather Is Perfect For Fixing Retaining Walls Of All Sizes!
Over the summer you may have noticed sagging or bulging walls on your raised beds. Other signs like broken or missing bricks are more obvious. Well this cool, dry winter is the best time to fix these issues.

With the first freezes behind us, your garden is probably dormant and the annuals are dead. The ground is relatively solid because we haven’t had a lot of rain or snow. Plus wintertime is savings time because we can save you at least 10% due to our winter special. Fixing those raised garden beds now is the smart plan because St. Louis springs can be a very wet affair and we tend to be much busier. Soft ground tends to make masonry and brick messier. Furthermore working with wet or muddy soil chances disturbing its structure which could affect how the flowers and other plants grow. Even your trees, now entering their dormant stage, appreciate you when you fix garden structures in the winter!

Save spring for planting, let Irish Construction get busy this winter fixing up your garden retaining walls! Even better if you always wanted brick retaining walls or raised beds, building them in the winter gives the cement time to cure!

Call Irish Construction at 314-725-9024 and we will be glad to come out and give you a free estimate for repairing existing retaining walls or building all new ones! Winter work saves at least 10% of your best legitimate licensed contractor quote from Irish Construction.

Anytime is the right time to fix masonry issues

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Failing Masonry Can Be Repaired in the Winter!

Don’t let a problem over-winter because it could cause expensive damage
A lot of people hold off on interior and exterior repairs of masonry, bricks and plaster because they think these are best repaired in the summer. Take a look around, new construction happens in all but the most inclement weather conditions. It is no different for repair, patching, tuckpointing and resurfacing.

In many cases effecting an exterior or interior repair of interior plaster, exterior stucco, foundations, sidewalks and driveways should be done as soon as the problem is detected. Weather such as rain, snow and ice can wreak havoc through small cracks in bad mortar. Water that gets underneath a driveway can turn to ice and heave even the largest slab. A chimney that is pulling away can let water into a home destroying walls and ceilings.

Signs your home may have an issue include cracks in driveways, weeds growing between pavement slabs, moss in mortar joints, water staining from soffit areas, missing mortar, broken bricks, uneven sidewalks or flaking on any horizontal cement surface. All of these suggest an inspection is in order.

If you see any signs of weathered, broken, or cracked external masonry, it is better to have an experienced professional and licensed contractor like Irish Construction of St. Louis perform a thorough inspection. We can see if you have a problem and suggest the appropriate repair. Even better since winter is our slow time, we are offering up to a 10% savings on any repair or new construction. The first step is to call Tony at 314-725-9024.

The bottom line is that we can effect durable repairs or new construction anytime of the year!

Stucco Repair By Irish Construction St. Louis, MO

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Before and After: Art Deco Stucco Repair – O’Fallon, MO

Just finished by Irish Construction of St. Louis, MO (NOV 2012)
Just finished repair of a unique home Art Deco classic in O’Fallon, MO. Basically the edge of the roof above the soffit was coming apart. This area not only exposed the home to further weather damage, it comprised energy efficiency and allowed small animals to plan for their winter retreat. The Irish Construction crew under the supervision of Tony Monaghan had to basically repair the edge of the roof soffit area from scratch. The images below show the initial damage, repair in stages and the final outcome before painting.
Before and After Gallery of Stucco Repair is Automated – Click to Change Images