Building violation repairs in Belmont Cragin and Hermosa
Dense two-flats and bungalows from the 1910s and 1920s, one of the most crowded housing stocks in the city and one of the most consistently maintained. Citations here concentrate on the front elevation, because that is what the inspector sees from the sidewalk: lintels, sills, the parapet line and the porch.
Also covers Hermosa, Cragin, Austin (north).
What the City's record shows in 60639
cited properties
open violations
items per notice
What gets cited here, in order
- masonry38%
- permits and plans28%
- porches and stairs12%
- carpentry9%
- plumbing9%
Cited buildings here were built around 1919 on average, and 64% of cited owners do not live at the property.
Belmont Cragin is mostly brick bungalows
The photograph is one of ours, a brick bungalow taken from cited to closed. It is not a picture of Belmont Cragin itself. It is the building type your blocks are made of, and the standard we finish them to.
Knowing the type matters more than it sounds. It decides whether your notice is a mortar problem or a framing one, whether a permit is needed before anyone touches it, and what the inspector will look at when they come back.
See more of our workWhat we fix most in Belmont Cragin
Notices here lead with masonry, then permits and plans. These are the trades that actually close cases on these blocks, and we self-perform all but the licensed ones.
Tuckpointing & Repointing
The joints get ground out and repointed to match, so the wall stops shedding mortar and the inspector stops writing it up.
On the notice as: Repair exterior wall, Building in disrepair
Steel Lintel Repair
Rusting steel above your windows replaced before it lifts the brick any further. This one gets worse and more expensive every year you wait.
On the notice as: Repair lintels
Window Sill & Projection Repair
The masonry under your windows repaired and pitched properly, which is the cheapest way to stop water getting into the wall.
On the notice as: Repair window sills, Maintain projections
Porches, Stairs & Decks
Porches and exterior stairs rebuilt to current Chicago code, which is the item the City is least willing to be patient about.
On the notice as: Repair porch system, Repair exterior stair
Permits, Plans & Unpermitted Work
Drawings prepared, permits pulled under our licence, and old unpermitted work made legal. You never have to call the department yourself.
On the notice as: Plans & permits required, Work not allowed
Roofing, Eaves & Drainage
Water sent off the building the way it should go. Skip this and it quietly writes your next masonry violation for you.
On the notice as: Repair roof, Repair eaves
Nearby on the Northwest Side
Cited in Belmont Cragin? Find out what it costs.
We price every item on your notice in person, for free, and tell you honestly which ones are repairs and which are replacements.
Insured. A person answers, Monday to Saturday.