Brick Masonry
We lay brick veneer on new houses, additions, garages and commercial buildings. We also build brick steps, stoops, patios, columns and mailboxes.
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Oak Creek grew from a semi-rural town of under 5,000 people in 1955 into a city of more than 36,000. About 36 percent of its homes were built before 1980, and the city's plan calls those subdivisions its oldest neighborhoods. On a house that age, there may be a crack running up the block wall in the basement. Or the mortar is falling out between the bricks by the front door. Growth brings the other side of the trade: block foundations and brick veneer for new homes and additions.
M.O.E Masonry is a masonry contractor based in Mount Pleasant, on the south side of Racine. We come up I-94 from Mount Pleasant to work in Oak Creek. Here we lay and repair brick, block and stone. That includes tuckpointing older brick and chimney repair. It also includes laying concrete block foundations under new houses and garages. Call or text (262) 744-4688. We look at the job, or your photos, and put the quote in writing.
Tell us about the wall, chimney, foundation or steps and where the job is. We look at it and put the quote in writing.
The Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey counts about 16,200 homes in Oak Creek. About 21 percent were built from 1940 to 1969, and about 3 percent before that. About 22 percent were built in the 1990s alone, the biggest single decade. About 31 percent went up in 2000 or later.
Just over half are detached single-family houses, and most of the rest sit in buildings of three or more units. The city's 2020 plan says its neighborhoods date back to the 1890s. The plan wants owners in the subdivisions built before 1980 to keep maintaining and investing in their homes.
Oak Creek's exterior maintenance code asks that masonry joints stay weather resistant and water tight. It also asks that foundation walls stay plumb, with no open cracks or breaks. Tuckpointing and masonry repair on aging walls are how an older house keeps up with that. The same code asks that chimneys stay structurally safe and sound. A chimney losing mortar above the roofline is a chimney repair job we take on.
Yes. The city says a permit is required for all foundation repairs. Permits come from Inspection Services at City Hall, in the Civic Center at Drexel Town Square. The application includes an engineering report or an appendix from a Wisconsin foundation repair standard.
Section 15.23 of the city's building code covers foundation repair. Loose or cracked mortar joints on repaired walls must be cleaned out at least half an inch deep. Then they are tuckpointed with Type M mortar or equal. When the repair includes a porch or stoop, the code requires the frost depth set by Wisconsin's Uniform Dwelling Code. An inspection comes before the backfill.
The same permit rule covers wall bracing and drain tile, which belong to a foundation repair or waterproofing company. A horizontal crack, or a wall that bows inward, goes to a structural engineer first. The masonry side comes after that: damaged block relaid and the joints tuckpointed. The permit is sorted out before work starts, and Inspection Services can tell you what your job needs.
The USDA soil survey puts most of Oak Creek on Ozaukee and Blount silt loams. Both sit over dense glacial till. Blount is rated somewhat poorly drained, and the Ashkum soils on about 9 percent of the city are poorly drained.
The survey rates frost action high on about half the city's land and moderate on most of the rest. Frost action means the soil heaves as ice forms in it, then loses strength as it thaws. The state dwelling code answers frost with depth. Footings go below the frost line or at least 48 inches down, whichever is deeper, with a few exceptions. That covers footings for landings and stoops too.
The soil survey links frost action to water. Silty and clayey soils with a high water table in winter are the most prone to it. So on a masonry retaining wall, gravel backfill and weep openings go in behind the wall to let water out. On steps and stoops, the footing reaches frost depth before any brick or block goes on top.
St. Matthew's Catholic Church on Highway 32 is brick, built in 1858 in the Early Gothic Revival style. The Wisconsin Historical Society's building inventory calls it the oldest Catholic church in Milwaukee County outside the City of Milwaukee. The church's 1920 rectory is a cream brick bungalow.
Drexel Town Square is the city's newer mixed-use center, and City Hall moved into its new Civic Center in 2015. The city's plan names Drexel Town Square and Lake Vista Park as old industrial areas turned into regional destinations. Census permit counts show 240 new housing units authorized in 2023 and 240 more in 2025, most in apartment buildings. The plan also marks open land for new single-family neighborhoods.
A new house or addition may call for a block foundation and brick veneer laid to the plans. When an apartment or commercial building calls for block walls or brick veneer, that is our commercial masonry work. We do that work with general contractors and building owners.
Communities and areas we serve around Oak Creek: Drexel Town Square, Lakefront District, Lake Vista Park, Bender Park, Oak Creek Parkway, Abendschein Park, Howell Avenue (Highway 38), Ryan Road (Highway 100), Rawson Avenue, Puetz Road, Oakwood Road, South 27th Street.
Oak Creek ZIP codes served: 53154.
We come over from Mount Pleasant, look at the job and put the quote in writing.
(262) 744-4688 We lay brick veneer on new houses, additions, garages and commercial buildings. We also build brick steps, stoops, patios, columns and mailboxes.
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Concrete block foundations and frost walls for new houses, additions, garages and outbuildings. Block foundation repair on the masonry side: tuckpointing, new block, parging and rebuilt sections.
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We lay natural stone and manufactured stone veneer on houses, chimneys, columns and fireplace faces. We also build stone steps and garden walls and repoint old stone.
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We grind out crumbling mortar joints and pack in new mortar matched to the old. We tuckpoint brick, block and stone walls, chimneys, foundations and steps around Racine.
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We repair and rebuild brick chimneys around Racine, with brick and mortar matched to the old. New crowns and rain caps are part of the work too.
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Spalled brick, rusted lintels, loose steps and failed wall sections repaired and matched to the wall. Historic brick buildings and churches restored with matching brick and mortar.
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Concrete block and mortared stone retaining walls around Racine, plus segmental block garden walls. Gravel backfill and a drain pipe go in as part of the wall.
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We lay concrete block walls and brick veneer for new commercial buildings like car washes and warehouses. We also repair and tuckpoint older storefronts and churches.
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We pour concrete steps and stoops, sidewalks, small slabs and footings for masonry. Outdoor work gets air-entrained concrete, which gives freezing water room to expand.
Learn MoreA few of the questions we hear most around Oak Creek. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
Tell us about the job and where it is, and send photos if you have them. Call or text (262) 744-4688, or use the form, and we will get back to you.
Tell us about the wall, chimney, foundation or steps and where the job is. We look at it and put the quote in writing.