On a Yonkers brick building, failing mortar is more than wear and tear. The Property Maintenance Code of New York State, which the city’s Department of Housing and Buildings enforces, flags masonry joints that are not weather resistant or water tight, and it puts their upkeep on the owner.
The City of Yonkers Department of Housing and Buildings enforces the state Uniform Code, the Yonkers Housing and Building Maintenance Code and the Multiple Residence Law, and it inspects apartment houses and other multiple residences. The Uniform Code includes the Property Maintenance Code of New York State, whose Section 304.1.1 flags siding and masonry joints that are not maintained, weather resistant or water tight as a condition that can make a structure unsafe.
Section 301.2 of that code places the upkeep on the owner of the premises. As a brick pointing contractor in Yonkers we read a wall against that standard. Joints that still keep water out are left alone. Joints that have opened, loosened or started letting water through are cleared and refilled, so repointing in Yonkers brings the wall back to what the code asks of it.
Four points from the code that bear directly on mortar.
Section 304.1.1 lists siding and masonry joints that are not maintained, weather resistant or water tight. On a Yonkers building that turns an open or leaking joint from a cosmetic issue into a maintenance one.
Section 304.6 requires exterior walls to be free from holes, breaks and loose or rotting materials, and kept weatherproof. Mortar crumbling out of a Yonkers wall is exactly that kind of loose material.
Section 301.2 says the owner of the premises shall maintain the structure and exterior property. On a Yonkers rental building, keeping the joints sound is part of owning it, and the department expects any violation it issues to be corrected.
The same item covers joints between the building envelope and the perimeter of windows, doors and skylights. On a Yonkers wall those are usually sealant rather than mortar, so they are checked with the brick and repaired with different material.
Joints that let water through, mortar that has loosened or fallen out, and gaps at window and door perimeters. Those are the conditions the code names, so they are what we look for on every face of the Yonkers building.
Mortar that has eroded a little but is still tight and keeping water out is not the same as an open joint. We tell the Yonkers owner which is which, so the work goes where the code standard is not being met.
Open, loose and leaking joints on the Yonkers wall are raked out and refilled until the wall is weather resistant again. Perimeter gaps are closed with sealant, and sound sections stay as they are.
Mortar fails slowly, and on a building nobody looks at closely it is easy to leave until something forces the issue. In Yonkers that something can be the state maintenance code, which treats open, loose and leaking masonry joints as more than an eyesore and holds the owner responsible for them. Repointing the joints that fall short, sealing the gaps around windows and doors, and leaving sound mortar alone keeps a wall weather resistant on the owner’s schedule rather than the department’s. On a Yonkers building, it is far easier to stay ahead of the standard than to catch up with it.
We point brick on apartment buildings and houses across the city, from Getty Square and Ludlow to Park Hill, Crestwood and Dunwoodie.
See brickwork contractor Yonkers for the permits brick work needs in the city, or brick pointing NYC for how the joints themselves are cut out and refilled.
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It can be. The Property Maintenance Code of New York State, enforced in Yonkers by the Department of Housing and Buildings, flags masonry joints that are not weather resistant or water tight, and requires exterior walls free from loose material. Owners are expected to correct any violation the department issues.
The owner. Section 301.2 of the state Property Maintenance Code says the owner of the premises shall maintain the structures and exterior property in compliance. On a Yonkers rental building, keeping masonry joints weather resistant and free of loose mortar is part of that duty under the code.
No. Under its own Section 3, the Multiple Dwelling Law applies to cities with a population of 325,000 or more, which in practice means New York City. In Yonkers the Department of Housing and Buildings enforces the Multiple Residence Law instead, alongside the state Uniform Code and the city’s own maintenance code.
Yes. The section that names masonry joints also covers joints between the building envelope and the perimeter of windows, doors and skylights. On a Yonkers building those are usually sealant rather than mortar, so they are checked alongside the brick joints but repaired with a different material.
No. The code is concerned with joints that are not weather resistant or water tight, and with loose material. A joint on a Yonkers wall that has eroded slightly but is still tight and keeping water out can wait, and we will say so rather than repoint it.
