What the crack's shape gives away
A crack that runs true and stays put reads differently than one stair-stepping through mortar joints. Near Joliet, where dolomite bedrock can sit inches or many feet down depending on the lot, till thickness -- not one single soil type -- usually explains why two nearby houses crack so differently.
What a full repair scope covers
- Existing conditions and likely cause
- Preparation and protection
- Materials, compatibility, and installation details
- Permits, testing, cleanup, and restoration
- Exclusions, warranty terms, and change-order process
Why Joliet earned the name Stone City
Digging the Illinois and Michigan Canal between 1836 and 1848 exposed dolomite outcroppings that fed roughly 25 quarries around Joliet by the 1890s. Housing since has stacked up in waves on top of that bedrock -- from the East Side district's 1850s-70s homes to Crest Hill's postwar subdivisions -- each sitting on a different thickness of glacial till over stone.