Masons before pier crews
The company began laying brick in 1930, so matching original brick on a 1970s two-story is part of the job.
Foundation and Leaning Chimney Repair in Dunwoody, GA
Chimneys tilt and stoops drop on brick houses from Dunwoody's 1960s and 1970s boom, and Anglin's sets them right on steel piers.
42 percent built 1960 to 1979
Dunwoody foundation repair from Tilly Mill Road to Dunwoody Club Drive
Anglin's takes on foundation repair in Dunwoody for houses from the subdivision boom that began here in the 1960s. Nearly 42% of the city's homes were built between 1960 and 1979. Their original footings, stoops and backyard walls are all now 45 to 65 years old.
We drive steel push piers under what settled, lift it back, and our own masons close up the brick before the crew leaves. Our Marietta office at 770-422-2924 books free estimates, and most jobs get on the calendar within one to four weeks.
Out back, past the patio
The back wall of your Dunwoody yard is tipping
You see it every time you cut the grass. The old wall holding up the back of the lot has rolled forward at the top, and the cap blocks no longer line up. Walls like that went in when the subdivision was graded, somewhere between 1963 and 1975 on most of these streets, and they have held wet clay uphill of them for 50 years.
Walk back toward the house while you are out there. The brick stoop by the back door often does the same thing on a smaller scale, dropping away from the threshold an inch at a time. Both can be repaired where they stand, and both get worse over another wet season.
Home territory for this family
Why the family counts Dunwoody as home territory
Dunwoody sits on the arc between I-75 and I-85 where the Anglins most want to work.
Push poles for tall chimneys
Piers alone won't bring a two-story chimney back plumb, so our crews push it in from the yard while it lifts.
One price no matter how deep
Graded subdivision ground can hide soft soil well below the surface, and a deeper pier costs you nothing more.
Experienced people who answer
Instead of a commissioned salesman, installers and owners settle your price together around a table. Call at night and a live answering service picks up.
Where the creeks begin
What loosens footings under Dunwoody's rolling subdivisions
Cecil subsoil on the Dunwoody lots runs to more than half clay, which holds rain and softens under a loaded corner. It rates low for swelling, so the harm more likely comes from water and from ground graded when the subdivisions were laid out.
Where the creeks begin
Dunwoody sits high, about 1,129 feet up, and several creeks begin inside the city.
- North Fork Nancy Creek flows south from here, and Perimeter Creek starts just west of Perimeter Mall.
- Along those creek bottoms, the DeKalb soil survey maps frequently flooded silt loams such as Cartecay and Wehadkee.
Backfill under stoops and garage corners
Builders on a deadline often packed only the top two or three feet of backfill and left loose soil below. Steps, porches and chimneys set on that fill settle years later and separate from a house on its own footing.
Yards sloping toward Kingsley Lake
Kingsley Lake is a natural spring lake, and yards falling toward it or toward a Nancy Creek tributary keep their low corners wet longer. That corner is a likely place for settling to start.
What people say when they call
- "sagging front porch"
- "Garage Crack"
- "Porch Separation from House"
- "sagging floors"
Read how foundation repair works on an older brick house, from the first dig to the lift.
Two stories of brick up top
Tall brick chimneys tilting on Dunwoody two-story homes
Dunwoody Club Forest is a 495-home subdivision known for large two-story brick houses, and a chimney that tall carries a lot of brick above the roof.
It leans in slowly above the roofline
That happens when the mason set that upper section on plywood decking rather than a load-bearing wall.
It splits away starting down at the ground
That points to the footing instead, and you see it as a gap between chimney and siding that starts low. A factory-built firebox wrapped in brick can do both, tilting in at the top and bowing out below.
What the lift involves
- We figure out which one you have before quoting.
- When the ground moved, piers go under the footing and poles anchored in the yard push the chimney back, and brick anchors fasten it to the house.
Our masons point up the mortar around the original brick, so you avoid a two-toned rebuild. Your roofer reseals the flashing afterward. See the full leaning chimney repair process.
More ways we can help
Other repairs a 50-year-old Dunwoody brick house may need
Houses built here in the 1960s and 1970s tend to wear in the same few places.
Stoops dropped from the door
An original brick stoop built over backfill sinks and pulls away, and we lift sinking steps and stoops on push piers.
Backyard walls on rolling lots
Rolling lots like those near Mount Vernon Road often rely on older backyard walls, and we repair the retaining wall you already have.
Cracks over double garage doors
Brick cracking above the opening on an older front usually traces to a sagging steel lintel.
Block basement walls by creeks
If your house has a block basement and backs onto low, wet ground, a bowing wall gets steel I-beams set against it.
Rural until the 1960s
Dunwoody's ground, from farmland to brick subdivisions
Dunwoody stayed rural until suburban building began in the 1960s. More of its homes date to the 1970s than to any other decade, and relatively few have been added since 2010.
The city line and the housing mix
- The city covers the northern tip of DeKalb County, with Fulton County to the north and west and I-285 along its southern edge.
- Detached houses make up about 44% of homes, and apartments and townhomes account for most of the rest.
Dunwoody North, Kingsley and Club Forest
- Dunwoody North. It opened in 1963 and 1964 with streets like Kingsfield Court and Vintage Lane, then added a second phase across Tilly Mill Road.
- Kingsley. It sits around a spring-fed lake off North Peachtree Way, and its swim and racquet club dates to the late 1960s.
- Dunwoody Club Forest. It filled the rolling hills between Mount Vernon Road and Dunwoody Club Drive in the early 1970s.
The four-foot cap on new walls
City zoning caps a new retaining wall on a single-family lot at four feet, but an existing wall can be repaired at its original height. That makes repairing an existing wall the practical route, and a taller wall left from the 1960s or 1970s grading is worth saving where it stands.
Nancy Creek's restoration channels
Inside Brook Run Park, small tributaries of Nancy Creek were named stream restoration candidates in the city's 2018 Nancy Creek watershed plan. Yards that drain toward channels like those keep the soil behind their walls wet longer.
Dunwoody lookups to try first
- Dunwoody North Civic Association history: how the city's first large subdivision was laid out.
- Georgia DNR flood map: check whether your lot touches a mapped creek floodplain.
- Census Reporter Dunwoody profile: housing age by decade across the city.
- USDA Web Soil Survey: the soil series mapped under your own lot.
Both in the same visit
Stoop and chimney in one 1970s visit
On brick homes from this era, one visit can cover two problems: a front stoop that dropped and a chimney separating from the wall. Our crew digs at each footing, drives steel push piers to load-bearing ground, and lifts both back into place.
Brick anchors secure the chimney, the masons repair the joints the movement cracked, and the yard is cleaned before the truck leaves.
Customer Reviews
The work matters.
So does your word.
Hear from homeowners about the repair, the crew, and the finished work.
★★★★★
“Showed up on time and finished job in one day... did an excellent job of repairing my brick porch and a brick retaining wall.”
Elaine S.
Brick porch and retaining wall repaired in one day
Wall height, stoops and tall chimneys
Dunwoody questions about walls, chimneys and city rules
Honest answers before you make a decision.
Still have QuestionsChimney, stoop or back wall
Keep the original brick on your 1970s house
Tell us whether it's the chimney, the stoop or the wall out back, and we'll set up a free estimate visit at 770-422-2924. Regions Bank offers financing on approved credit.
Set up a free brick and footing visit