Masonry in Baychester, Bronx

What Masonry Problems Show Up in Baychester?

Baychester masonry usually fails through water getting where it should not. Houses with driveways have block or brick walls along the drive, garden style complexes have long runs of brick, and many lots have retaining walls where the ground changes level. Moisture and frost loosen all of them over time.

The area west of the Hutchinson River Parkway is a mix of detached and semi detached houses, apartment buildings and complexes, so the masonry work varies a lot from lot to lot.

• Leaning or bulging retaining walls
• Cracked block walls beside driveways
• Loose bricks in porch and entry walls
• Missing or crumbling chimney mortar
• Wobbling gate piers
• Spalled brick faces

A wall holding back soil carries more load than it looks like. If water collects behind it with no place to go, it pushes outward until the wall leans or cracks across.

Lots with a driveway often have a short wall or pier at the street end, and these take knocks from cars and snow plows. A pier hit once can crack inside without looking damaged. We tap and probe it, check the footing and say whether a reset or a full rebuild makes sense.

The residential blocks are inland and not especially flood prone beyond heavy rain sewer backups. Even so, steady rain and freezing cycles do slow, quiet damage to any wall without good drainage.