Lincolnwood isn’t just part of our service area. It’s home. Fortune Restoration has been headquartered at 6619 North Lincoln Avenue since our family founded the company in 1979, which means the crews you see on Lincoln Avenue, in the Towers, and along the quiet side streets near Proesel Park are your neighbors. Lincolnwood’s housing stock is remarkably consistent: more than half of the village’s homes were built between 1940 and 1959, in the postwar boom that followed the opening of the Edens Expressway. Those brick Georgians, ranches, and split-levels are now 65 to 85 years old, and they’ve reached the age where original mortar, steel lintels, chimneys, and painted trim all need real attention. Nobody knows these houses better than we do, because we’ve been working on them for more than four decades from a shop a few blocks away. Crews based at the Lincolnwood shop also run north to wooded-lot communities like Lincolnshire.
What Makes Lincolnwood’s Postwar Brick Homes Unique?
The village that was once Tessville grew fast after World War II, and it grew in brick. Solid masonry Georgians, brick ranches, and brick-and-stone split-levels fill the blocks between Devon, Touhy, Cicero, and the North Shore Channel. That consistency is a gift and a warning at the same time. It’s a gift because mid-century brick was excellent material. It’s a warning because mortar has a working life of roughly 50 to 70 years in Chicago’s freeze-thaw climate, and the math on a 1952 Georgian is easy to do.
The signals show up gradually: crumbling or recessed mortar joints, white efflorescence stains, stair-step cracks at window corners (a classic sign of rusting steel lintels), and spalling brick faces on chimneys. Our tuckpointing and masonry repair crews handle all of it, and because Lincolnwood’s homes share so much construction DNA, we can usually tell you what we’ll find before we open a joint.
Why Do Lincolnwood Chimneys and Painted Exteriors Fail on the Same Schedule?
A brick home is often described as maintenance-free, and that’s about 80 percent true. The other 20 percent is where we spend our days. Chimneys sit above the roofline, exposed on all four sides, and their crowns, caps, and mortar give out years before the walls below them. Our chimney repair and restoration service handles crowns, caps, flashing coordination, and brick replacement before a chimney leak becomes an attic and ceiling problem.
The wood on a brick house works just as hard: window trim, fascia, soffits, dormers, porch details, and garage doors take the full force of Chicago weather. Thorough preparation, priming, and a quality two-coat system are what separate an exterior paint job that lasts a decade from one that peels in three years. Our exterior painting and carpentry teams work together, so rotted trim gets replaced before paint goes on, not painted over.
How Does Being Headquartered in Lincolnwood Benefit Homeowners Here?
When your contractor’s shop is on Lincoln Avenue, everything gets easier. Estimates get scheduled faster. Crews arrive without a commute eating the morning. A question about a wall we repointed gets answered by someone who can drive past the house on the way home. We’ve painted and restored homes in the Towers (yes, including homes on the holiday lights route), in the Terraces, and on the postwar blocks that make up most of the Village of Lincolnwood. We also serve the commercial and multi-unit properties along the Touhy and Lincoln Avenue corridors through our property management services. The same short drive puts our crews in Glenview’s postwar neighborhoods and The Glen within minutes.
Services Fortune Restoration Provides in Lincolnwood
One local contractor, one contract, and the painting, masonry, and carpentry get sequenced correctly. Our Lincolnwood services include:
- Exterior painting: full-prep paint systems for trim, soffits, stucco, and siding on brick homes
- Interior painting: whole-home repaints, trim and millwork, and color consultation
- Tuckpointing and masonry repair: mortar renewal for Lincolnwood’s postwar brick Georgians and ranches
- Chimney repair and restoration: crowns, caps, flashing, and brick replacement
- Carpentry: trim, fascia, soffit, and porch repair on mid-century homes
- Property management services: building envelope maintenance for the Touhy and Lincoln Avenue commercial corridors
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Fortune Restoration serve Lincolnwood, Illinois?
Fortune Restoration is headquartered in Lincolnwood at 6619 North Lincoln Avenue and provides painting, masonry, tuckpointing, chimney, and carpentry services throughout the village, ZIP code 60712. The family-run company has operated from its Lincolnwood home base since 1979.
Where is Fortune Restoration located in Lincolnwood?
Fortune Restoration’s headquarters is at 6619 North Lincoln Avenue, Lincolnwood, IL 60712, on the village’s main commercial corridor. Homeowners can reach the office at 847-647-2500 or request an estimate through the Fortune Restoration website.
How often do Lincolnwood’s brick homes need tuckpointing?
Brick homes in Lincolnwood typically need tuckpointing every 25 to 30 years, and original mortar from the village’s 1940s and 1950s construction boom is now well past that interval. Warning signs on a Lincolnwood brick home include crumbling or recessed mortar joints, white efflorescence stains, and stair-step cracking near window and door openings.
Which Lincolnwood neighborhoods does Fortune Restoration work in?
Fortune Restoration works throughout Lincolnwood, including the Towers west of the Edens Expressway, the Terraces, and the postwar residential blocks between Devon, Touhy, and the North Shore Channel. Crews also serve the adjacent Chicago neighborhoods of Sauganash, Edgebrook, and West Ridge, along with neighboring Skokie. The same crews handle the historic districts and brick two-flats of Evanston, one town east. Fortune Restoration also provides painting, masonry, and carpentry in Hyde Park.
What services does Fortune Restoration offer Lincolnwood homeowners?
Fortune Restoration offers Lincolnwood homeowners exterior and interior painting, tuckpointing and masonry repair, chimney repair, carpentry, and property management maintenance services. The company is licensed, bonded, and insured, holds EPA RRP lead-safe certification, and has served Chicagoland from its Lincolnwood headquarters since 1979.
Family-run in Lincolnwood since 1979. Talk to the contractor down the street.