St. Paul Lutheran Church

Phased tuckpointing, brick replacement, cleaning and caulking on a Clinton church, 2026.

One overall plan, approved an elevation at a time.

St. Paul Lutheran Church stands at 715 South 3rd Street in Clinton, Iowa. The congregation knew the building had open mortar joints and needed brick replacement, and they wanted an overall plan for repair instead of one-off fixes.

TNT priced the work elevation by elevation, so the church could approve it in phases: the north elevation first, then the east, then the west and south elevations and the bell tower. Our crews finished the masonry in the spring of 2026.

Client:

St. Paul Lutheran Church

The Problem

St. Paul Lutheran Church in Clinton knew its brick needed work. It had open mortar joints and damaged brick that needed replacement, and the church wanted an overall plan for repair rather than piecemeal fixes.

TNT walked the building and flew it with a drone in September 2025. We then laid out the scope one elevation at a time, covering the north, west, south and east walls and the bell tower, so the church could see the whole job and fund it in stages.

No items found.

Our Approach

The church signed the full scope in November 2025 and asked us to start with the north elevation. It approved the east elevation in March 2026, and the west and south elevations and the bell tower at the end of April. Field work ran from February to late May 2026.

On each elevation our crews pressure washed the masonry with hot water, then spot tuckpointed, grinding the joints to at least 3/4 inch and repointing with mortar matched to the existing color, texture and tooling. They replaced damaged brick with matching units and replaced failed caulking with new backer rod and sealant. Rusted steel lintels were cleaned, primed and repainted, and worn concrete, including the entry steps, was patched. Much of the work was done from lifts and scaffolding.

Across the building, the signed scope covered about 12,800 square feet of cleaning, about 1,290 square feet of spot tuckpointing, 466 replacement bricks and about 400 linear feet of new caulking.

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