Building violation repairs in North Lawndale and Little Village
Greystones and brick three-flats from before the First World War, with the ornamental stone and cornice detail that made them worth building. Nearly half of all cited properties here lead with a masonry item, and those ornamental details are exactly what gets written up — they are also what you lose permanently if the answer is to strip them off instead of restoring them.
Also covers South Lawndale, La Villita, Douglas Park.
What the City's record shows in 60623
cited properties
open violations
items per notice
What gets cited here, in order
- masonry47%
- permits and plans22%
- plumbing9%
- porches and stairs9%
- carpentry9%
Cited buildings here were built around 1912 on average, and 69% of cited owners do not live at the property.
North Lawndale is mostly brick two-flats
The photograph is one of ours, a brick two-flat taken from cited to closed. It is not a picture of North Lawndale 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 North Lawndale
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.
Masonry Repair & Restoration
The full exterior brought back, including terra cotta and historic ornament, when patching one spot will not satisfy anybody.
On the notice as: Repair exterior wall, Building in disrepair
Cornice & Bay Wall Repair
The details that make a Chicago greystone or two-flat worth what it is worth, stabilised and restored instead of stripped off.
On the notice as: Repair cornice, Repair bay wall
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
Parapet & Coping Repair
The wall above your roof line made solid again, so nothing is loose over the sidewalk and water stops entering the top of the building.
On the notice as: Parapet, Parapet & coping
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
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
Nearby on the West Side
Cited in North Lawndale? 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.