Lintel Repair in Bensenville, IL — Rusting Steel Lintel Repair for DuPage County Buildings

Quick Answer

Emerald Masonry LLC repairs and replaces rusting steel lintels in Bensenville, IL — the steel angles hidden over your windows, doors, and openings that crack and lift the brick above them as they corrode. We are a family-owned, licensed and insured masonry contractor with 40+ years of Chicagoland experience, serving DuPage County. For a free on-site estimate, call (708) 288-1696.

Lintel failure is one of the most misdiagnosed masonry problems. People see cracked brick over a window and assume they need "brick repair" — but if you replace the brick without addressing the rusting steel underneath, the new brick cracks right back out.

What a Lintel Is — and Why It Fails

A lintel is the horizontal support that carries the weight of the wall across an opening — a window, a door, a garage, a storefront. In most Chicagoland brick buildings that lintel is a steel angle. Steel and water do not mix: once the protective coating wears and moisture reaches the steel, it rusts. And rust occupies far more volume than the steel it replaces — a process called rust jacking.

As a steel lintel rusts, it expands with enormous force and physically pushes the brick above it apart — which is why lintel failure shows up as cracking and lifting, not just rust stains. Left long enough, the steel loses its load-carrying capacity and the masonry over the opening becomes genuinely unstable.

Signs of a Failing Lintel in Bensenville

Look directly above your windows, doors, and other openings for:

• A horizontal crack in the mortar joint right above the opening.
• Rust-colored staining bleeding out of that joint or down the brick.
• Brick lifted, stepped, or pushed out of line over the opening.
• Visible rust, flaking, or swelling where the steel edge is exposed.
• Gaps or cracked caulk at the ends of the lintel.
• Sagging or a sticking window/door frame below the opening.

The Risk of Waiting

Rust jacking is relentless and only accelerates. A hairline crack over one window becomes a row of cracked and displaced brick; the expanding steel keeps widening the gap and water keeps reaching more steel. On the warehouses, flex buildings, and multi-unit properties common in Bensenville, long commercial lintels carry serious load, and a failing one over a storefront or loading-door opening is both a structural and a liability concern. The earlier a corroding lintel is caught, the more likely it can be treated rather than fully replaced — and the less brick has to be rebuilt.

Our Lintel Repair Process

1. Assess the steel. We determine how far the corrosion has progressed and whether the lintel can be treated in place or must be replaced.
2. Support the load. When replacement is needed, we temporarily shore the brick above the opening before removing anything.
3. Treat or replace. Light surface rust is cleaned and treated; compromised steel is removed and replaced with a properly sized, protected lintel.
4. Rebuild the brick. We reset or replace the affected brick with matching units and repoint with color-matched mortar.
5. Seal the ends. We detail and seal the lintel ends and joints so water cannot get back to the steel and restart the cycle.

Materials We Use

Replacement lintels are properly sized galvanized or coated steel, set with the right bearing and protected against the moisture that caused the original failure. We point with the correct mortar type and color for the surrounding brick, and we match replacement brick as closely as the original allows. Where appropriate we incorporate flashing and end dams so water that reaches the lintel drains back out instead of pooling on the steel.

What Affects the Price

The honest cost drivers for lintel work are:

• Number and length of lintels — one residential window versus several long commercial spans.
• Repair versus replacement — treating surface rust is far less involved than shoring, removing, and replacing steel.
• Brick rebuild above — how much masonry has to come out and go back.
• Height and access — ground-floor openings versus upper stories or anything needing staging.

The only accurate way to price lintel repair is to inspect it — and Emerald Masonry provides that estimate free across Bensenville.

Local to Bensenville and DuPage County

Bensenville sits in the heart of DuPage County's industrial and logistics belt near O'Hare, so it carries an unusual mix of building types — older brick homes and two-flats, mid-century commercial blocks, and a large stock of warehouses and flex buildings with long steel-lintel openings over docks and storefronts. All of that steel is decades into its life, and our DuPage freeze-thaw winters keep feeding the rust-jacking cycle. As a Chicagoland masonry company that works on both homes and commercial buildings, we see lintel failure across all of it and repair it so it stays fixed.

Emerald Masonry LLC is a family-owned, licensed and insured masonry contractor serving Chicago and the Chicagoland suburbs with 40+ years of experience in tuckpointing, chimney repair, brick repair and replacement, lintel and parapet repair, foundation and limestone/sill repair, caulking, power washing, sealing, and commercial, residential, and historic masonry restoration. Free on-site estimates — call (708) 288-1696.

Lintel work often goes hand in hand with related repairs — see our lintel repair, brick repair, tuckpointing and repointing, parapet wall repair, and commercial masonry restoration.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does lintel repair cost in Bensenville, IL?

It depends on how many lintels are involved, their length and location, whether the steel can be treated in place or has to be replaced, and how much brick above them needs to be rebuilt. A single residential window lintel is a modest job; multiple long commercial lintels are larger. A free on-site estimate is the honest way to price it.

How do I know if I have a rusting lintel?

The classic signs are a horizontal crack in the mortar joint just above a window or door, rust-colored staining bleeding from that joint, brick that looks lifted or stepped out of line over the opening, and gaps where the steel sits. If you see rust stains and cracking above an opening, the lintel underneath is almost certainly corroding.

Can a lintel be repaired, or does it always need replacing?

It depends on how far the corrosion has gone. Surface rust caught early can sometimes be cleaned, treated, and the brick repointed. Heavily corroded or structurally compromised steel needs to be replaced, which means temporarily supporting the brick above, removing the old lintel, and setting a new one. We tell you honestly which your building needs.

Do you handle both residential and commercial lintels in Bensenville?

Yes. Emerald Masonry LLC repairs lintels on homes, multi-unit buildings, and the commercial and industrial properties Bensenville is full of. We are family-owned, licensed, bonded, and insured, with 40+ years of Chicagoland experience. Call (708) 288-1696 for a free on-site estimate.

Get a Free Lintel Repair Estimate in Bensenville

If you see cracking, rust staining, or lifted brick above a window, door, or opening, the steel underneath is telling you it is time. Emerald Masonry LLC will come out, assess the lintel, and give you an honest assessment at no cost — before the brick above it fails.

Request your free on-site estimate through our contact page or call (708) 288-1696 today.