Western Specialty Contractors

Master Craftsmen in Building Envelope Restoration

Parking Structures

Country Club Towers

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Western Specialty Contractors was contacted to perform numerous repairs at the Country Club Towers parking garage. The work resulted from lack of routine maintenance and corrosion.

Failed sealant along the twin tee control joints, in random cracks, and perimeter cove joints was removed and replaced. The joints were cleaned, primed, and re-caulked with new backer rod and urethane sealant. Abandoned electrical conduits buried in the parking deck had rusted and caused concrete delamination and spalls. These areas were removed and patched using a high grade, fast setting repair mortar. These materials allowed the project to be completed in phases to eliminate long term loss of parking. Repairs were also made to the twin tee weld connection that had broken. The connections were re-welded and patched. A crack along the length of one of the twin tees was repaired by injecting structural epoxy into the crack.

Finally, a three-layer urethane vehicular deck coating system was applied with two coats of sand for maximum skid resistance. This was completed in a single phase.

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Presidential Towers

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The Presidential Towers are located in heart of Chicago’s West Loop area. A large parking structure services the needs of the building’s tenants. Exposed to the elements and road salt, the parking garage was showing signs of deterioration.

Desman Associates investigated the ramp and developed a repair specification for the owners. Western’s Chicago Branch was chosen as the specialty repair contractor. The scope of work addressed several items:

  • 700 square feet of partial depth concrete repairs
  • 500 square feet of overhead concrete repairs
  • Routing and sealing of 8,000 lineal feet of floor cracks.
  • The application of 25,000 square feet of an elastomeric coating and 300,000 square feet of a clear penetration sealer.

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1133 Washington Avenue Apartments (Days Inn)

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The three branches of Western Specialty Contractors of Saint Louis; Masonry Restoration, Concrete Restoration, and Roofing were involved in a unique project to roof and restore the old Days Inn Hotel in the Downtown area. The building was constructed in the early 1960s. It had experienced several decades of exposure to the elements and heavy use. For a number of years, the building was vacant and neglected.

Over the past 20 years, the Saint Louis Downtown area has undergone extensive revitalization. Many of the older buildings have been converted into residential living spaces. Such is the case with the Days Inn. Plans were formulated to convert it into a new apartment/condo building. Klitzing Welsh Associates was selected as the architect and EM Harris, the general contractor. As mentioned, the three Western Waterproofing branches were chosen for roofing, facade, and concrete restoration.

Roofing
One of the first items to be addressed was the replacement of the old built up roofing system on the main roof and third floor elevation. The canopy roofs on the first floor also had to be addressed. Once the old roof assembly was removed, new insulation board was installed. A white Carlisle fully adhered 60 mil TPO roofing membrane was chosen for the replacement system. The white sheet will aid in future energy savings because of its reflectability. The first floor canopy roofs were covered with the same system. A total of 14,500 square feet of new roofing was installed.

Facade Restoration
The building’s exterior facade was in need of an extensive face lift. Western’s masonry restoration branch had several major items to address. Three swing stages were utilized to accomplish most of those tasks. Included in the masonry restoration were the following items:

  • 16,400 square feet of pointing and cleaning, followed by priming and the application of two coats of elastomeric coating.
  • Damaged concrete floor sills and columns were patched. All exposed concrete surfaces were then primed and coated, not just those areas that were repaired.
  • A minimal amount of new brick and block work was completed. (Closing in doors and windows and building some new partitions.)
  • More than 1,000 2’ x 3’ granite panels were installed over the existing facade on the south and west elevations. New shelf angles were installed at each floor to help support the weight of the new panels.
  • The joints between the granite panels (5,600 lineal feet) were caulked and metal closure strips were installed at the top of the granite facade and at some end locations.

Parking Garage Restoration
A three-level parking garage – one exposed top deck and two lower levels are located beneath the hotel. Exposure to moisture, road salt, and lack of maintenance had caused extensive concrete deterioration throughout the structure. An intrusive restoration program was required.

A great deal of deteriorated concrete had to be removed. The entire garage was shored from the bottom level up. Work began on the top level of the garage so that restoration could continue on the two lower levels during the winter months.

The top level of the garage covers 6,000 square feet. More than 4,500 square feet of old concrete had to be repaired, including full depth replacement over the entrance ramp. Once the repairs were completed and the new concrete placed, the slab was waterproofed with a Carlisle “hot applied” membrane system.

The lower levels of the garage suffered extensive damage, both overhead and on the floor slabs. More than 18,000 square feet of concrete had to be repaired or replaced. New 5,000 PSI concrete was used as the replacement material. New reinforcing steel was added as required. Gunite, air placed concrete, was utilized for beam and column repairs. To protect the slabs against future moisture and chloride attach, a heavy duty Iso-Flex vehicular deck coating system was installed on the lower levels.

Western’s portion of the project lasted 12 months. The three Western branches are proud of their work on this “new” downtown building.

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The Prairie Capital Convention Center

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The Prairie Capital Convention Center (PCCC) parking garage is a six-story precast double tee structure with a two inch topping slab that is located in Downtown Springfield at the corner of 7th and Washington. The structure was built in the late 1970’s and consists of five suspended levels and one slab on grade. After nearly 30 years of service, the two inch topping slab had deteriorated to the point that it was determined by Hanson that it needed to be replaced.

In June of 2008, Western Waterproofing Co. was hired by the PCCC to remove approximately 117,000 square feet of topping slab to a minimum depth of 3/4 of an inch and to replace it with a new micro silica topping. If the depth of the deteriorated was greater than that 3/4 of an inch it was also to be removed and replaced monolithicially with the topping slab pour. This project also consisted of the replacement of several tons of welded wire fabric and rebar within the topping slab, more than 6,000 square feet of slab on grade concrete replacement, 20,000 linear feet of sealant, installation of new loop detectors for the entrance and exit gates multiple drain replacements/additions, restriping of the garage, etc.

This was a complex project, requiring a substantial amount of preplanning, hard work, and dedication from the office staff and general foreman, Kyle Burns. Mr. Jeff Tatarek and Mike Mendenhall with Hanson Engineers were the Structural Engineers for the project and were on site on a daily basis to oversee the work. Mr. Jeff Stuck, the Building Engineer for the PCCC played a major role in this project by working closely with Burns to help coordinate things.

The most challenging part of the project was the short schedule needed to complete the work. Western was only allowed to close the entire garage for a period of three weeks. Then, the top three levels had to reopen to traffic. With the tight time frame, the crew had no other option but to remove the concrete topping slab using hydro demolition. Within those three weeks, Western removed and replaced more than 35,000 square feet of concrete topping slab, which also included seven days of wet cure. After the first three weeks, the work had to be accomplished while the garage was in operation. This was also a challenge, different types of barricades had to be installed to direct traffic, along with temporary protection to safeguard the public and vehicles. The project was completed and reopned to full usage on October 20, 2008.

Genuine Parts Company

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The Western Specialty Contractors’ Atlanta branch was chosen to apply on the genuine parts garage a new waterproof deck coating. The crew removed all eisting coating and caulking mechanically. Before installatin of a new Neogard Auto-gard System all horizontal concrete surfaces were prepared by Blast-tracking, which is a self contained, self propelled, dustless operation that leaves a non contaminated, slightly fractured aggregate profile. The deck coating was dispersed into the coating to provide a wear resistance and a non-slip surface. A dark grey color was selected by the owner with lighter grey on islands and curbs to help prevent tripping and traffic damage. After the coating had cured new stripping and a handicapped symbol was applied. The coating will protect the concrete and occupied area below for years to come.

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BLN Ramp Restoration

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Western was contacted to review the condition of a post-tension cable parking deck at an office complex south of Minneapolis. The ramp had been exposed to years of harsh Minnesota winters and road salt deteriorating the concrete and corroding vital post-tension cables in the deck.

The concrete cover over the existing cables in many areas was insufficient. Previous contractor’s attempts to repair and protect the cables had also proven to be inadequate. Western was called in to complete 1,500 square feet of concrete repairs and install a waterproof traffic coating system over 80,000 square feet to protect the concrete and structural post-tension cables.

During the concrete repairs, Western discovered more than 20 broken cables in need of repair due to lack of maintenance and protection. The concrete and cables were repaired along with the installation of a new expansion joint system that had previously leaked. The owner, property manager, and employees were satisfied to know the ramp is now safe and preserved for many years to come.

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