Page 18 - Chicago Cooperator Spring EXPO 2019

18 THE CHICAGOLAND COOPERATOR — SPRING EXPO 2019 CHICAGOCOOPERATOR.COM L ike people, buildings age. Even under the best of circumstances, weather – particularly water, in the form of rain, snow, and ice – followed by or combined with extremes in tempera- ture can do permanent damage to facades, cornices, parapets and other ornamental features, as well as to rear and side eleva- tions. These problems can be exacerbated by design flaws or neglected maintenance. Often, it’s not until a thorough inspection, a leak issue – or worse, an incident where something falls from a facade and strikes someone on the ground below – that the signs of a problem become evident. That’s why it’s so crucial that the signs are noticed before damage is done. The Causes of Facade Deterioration “Structurally, a lot of issues we come across may be due to improper design,” says Rhocel Bon, a senior associate at Klein & Hoffman, a national engineering firm with offices in Chicago and Phila- delphia. “We see flaws resulting from de- sign, and even more from lack of main- tenance, or deferred maintenance. With brick buildings, for example, if there isn’t a tuckpointing program, you’ll find that after some years, the mortar joints start to weather. Water enters the wall cavity, which can cause problems to the under- lying steel.” Tuckpointing is a maintenance meth- od for mortar joints that involves re- moving the outer inch or so of existing mortar and replacing it with new mor- tar. The existing mortar must be tested first, to insure that the strength of the new and old mortar is the same. Bon ex- plains that applying replacement mortar that is stronger than the original mate- rial will only cause additional problems. The same is true of the converse; the new mortar shouldn’t be weaker than the old mortar either. “Most of the time, the biggest factor in New York City—as well as other cold cli- mates—is the freeze,” says Eric Janczyk of Nova Restoration, a facade maintenance and restoration company located in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn. “Both heat and cold have their own issues. In winter, you have the snow and ice hitting the building, and moisture can infiltrate the building. Then it freezes up and can expand, causing pressure from within the walls, that can in turn cause areas of the facade to bulge and displace. Rain can also get behind the bricks, which can cre- ate structural issues behind the facade. Exposure to the elements – sun, wind, rain, and snow – impacts sealants, mak- ing them age more quickly. The sealants can become ‘gummy.’ This is especially true on east-facing facades and eleva- tions. Be it cold or warm weather, water can then cause erosion of the underlying steel.” Another cause of deterioration on fa- cades is pollution, though that damage is mostly aesthetic. The effects of pollu- tion on stone – particularly limestone – are well known. It can turn the normally buff-colored stone black. The stone is po- rous and made more so by the effects of pollution, further weakening the facade and facilitating water infiltration leading back to the problems described above. The Useful Life of a Facade ‘Useful life’ is a concept from account- ing and appraisal that assesses how long something can realistically last, given the environmental stressors and regu- lar wear-and-tear it’s subjected to on a daily basis. Nothing lasts forever – and different building components have dif- ferent useful lives. For example, the use- ful life of a roof might be 25 to 30 years, while the longevity of a boiler might be 40 or even 50 years. According to Janc- zyk: “The life of a facade is initially 50 to 60 years – but many buildings built in the 1970s didn’t demonstrate that. A lot of them were constructed with poorly- made glazed brick, and a lot of them are in need of repair now. In those buildings, the useful life of the facade is more like 25 or 30 years. That’s the result of poor construction and/or poor materials. Who built a property, when it was built, and what it was built of are all major factors.” Repairing and Maintaining Your Facade Both Janczyk and Bon suggest that fa- cades, as well as side and rear elevations, be inspected for damage assessment ev- ery three to five years, whether they fall under required local inspection guide- lines or not. They both agree that new- er buildings should be inspected a little more often than not, as older buildings were simply built better. If a problem or defect is found, in most cases the first step will be to install a building canopy—also known as a side- walk shed or a girdle—to prevent anyone from being struck by falling building ma- terials. Over the past few decades there have been incidents of facade collapse causing fatal injuries all over the country. These tragedies could have been avoided with regularly scheduled inspections and the installation of canopies. While no- one likes the canopies, and many mu- nicipalities are seeking to limit the time an owner can keep one up around their building, they are a necessary eyesore. “Despite complaints, we are not overdo- ing it with canopies,” says Janczyk. “The first priority,” says Bon, “is to secure any kind of hazard that may fall. Then we go up with scaffolding and touch the surface to see if anything is displaced. With masonry you are look- ing for corrosion, rust, etc. We check the sealant around parapets and windows. Terracotta is difficult to inspect, because much of the seal isn’t visible. We test it by LANDSCAPING, LAWN CARE & CURB APPEAL/EXPO Facade Restoration Taking Care of Your Building’s Exterior BY A J SIDRANSKY ISTOCKPHOTO.COM