Chimney Work in Landmark and Historic Districts

If your house is a designated or proposed Chicago Landmark, or it stands in a landmark district, the Historic Preservation Division looks at every permit application for it. The division staffs the Commission on Chicago Landmarks, and its job is to keep work from harming the features that made the building or district worth protecting. For a chimney that means the brick, the mortar color and joint profile, the height, and any corbelling or decorative top.

That review is not a reason to put off the repair. It is a reason to describe the work clearly. A chimney rebuilt in matching brick and the same profile is the ordinary kind of job staff see all the time. What slows things down is a vague scope, a photo that doesn't show the problem, or a plan to change how the chimney looks.

Signs you need this

• Your address is in a Chicago Landmark district or is a designated landmark
• Spalled or loose brick at the top of an original chimney
• Joints repointed in the past with hard gray cement
• A decorative or corbelled chimney top that is cracking
• A chimney you would like to shorten or take down

How we do it

1. Free inspection with photosWe photograph each face of the chimney and the damage close up, the views a reviewer needs to understand the job.
2. Write an in-kind scopeThe scope names the brick to match, the mortar we will use, the joint profile and the height, so the description fits what will be built.
3. Help you prepare for reviewWe give you the photos and the written scope to file with your permit application. The Historic Preservation Division encourages a pre-permit review, and staff handle most projects.
4. Do the work as describedOnce the permit is issued we repair or rebuild to the scope, then photograph the finished chimney for your records.

What changes in a Chicago Landmark district

Outside landmark districts, the Department of Buildings lets you replace up to 50 square feet of masonry in kind on a residential building of up to four stories without a permit. The city notes that this exception may not apply to Chicago Landmarks and landmark districts, so even a small chimney repair can need a permit there, and every landmark permit goes to the Historic Preservation Division.

Pre-permit review is something the division encourages, and it can speed up approval. You can reach the division at 312-744-3200 or landmarks@cityofchicago.org. We check what your city requires for your address before anything is scheduled.

Oak Park historic districts

Oak Park has three historic districts: Ridgeland/Oak Park, the Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture district, and Gunderson. The village requires a Certificate of Appropriateness for work on local landmarks and for full or partial demolition in a historic district, which can include taking a chimney down or shortening it. The village's Historic Preservation Commission does not review ordinary maintenance and repairs that need no building permit.

With 59.3 percent of Oak Park's homes built before 1940 (Census ACS 2020–24), many of these chimneys are original. We help you prepare the photos and scope for the village's review.

Matching brick and mortar the way preservation reviewers expect

The National Park Service's Preservation Brief 2 says repointing mortar should be softer and more vapor-permeable than the brick and no harder than the historic mortar. Mortar that is stronger than the brick won't give, so stress runs through the brick and cracks or spalls it. We match the mortar's strength, color and joint shape to what is there.

Chicago common brick was fired from local clay in buff, salmon and red, and the last maker closed in 1981. Replacements come from salvaged commons sorted for color.

• Chimney stack tuckpointing: typically $500 to $2,500
• Rebuild above the roofline: typically $1,000 to $3,500
• Inspection with photos and a written scope: free