(St. Louis, MO, March 11, 2021) The University of Minnesota is one of few universities in the country to boast an on-campus boathouse. Located on the banks of the Mississippi River, the two-story Irene Claudia Kroll Boathouse features a 35-seat erg room, full locker-room, boat storage, coaches’ offices, and indoor tank for the team to practice.
Western Specialty Contractors – Minneapolis Branch teamed up with Minnesota-based General Contractor Gardner Builders to make repairs to the facility’s second floor where the 7,500-gallon practice tank is located.
Over time, water that had splashed or leaked out of the tank had seeped through the existing flooring to the space below. The facility had been constructed in 2007 with precast flooring planks and a nonstructural topping slab.
Gardner Builders removed the tank, failed waterproofing, and installed a drainage system for a new tank.
Western’s crew then repaired the concrete around the new drains, as well as cracks in the concrete slab where the water had leaked through.
After all the repairs were made, but before the new tank was installed, Western installed a new 125-mil Tremco PUMA waterproof coating system to protect the concrete floor and prevent further water leakage.
“The waterproofing is a very heavy duty and durable system that comes with a 20-year warranty but will actually last much longer than that,” said Minneapolis Assistant Branch Manager David Grandbois. “To ensure that the floor was monolithic and free from variances, Western performed an electronic leak detection test on the floor, which found no discrepancies.”
Grandbois said the project was challenged by coordinating the timing of the coating application with work performed by the general contractor and the other trades on the job. Because the facility was closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, the construction team did not have to coordinate their efforts around the rowing team’s activities.
The project started at the end of November 2020 and was completed in March 2021.
About Western Specialty Contractors
Family-owned and operated for more than 100 years, Western Specialty Contractors is the nation’s largest specialty contractor in masonry and concrete restoration, waterproofing, and specialty roofing. Western offers a nationwide network of expertise that building owners, engineers, architects, and property managers can count on to develop cost-effective, corrective measures that can add years of useful life to a variety of structures including industrial, commercial, healthcare, historic, educational, and government buildings, parking structures, and sports stadiums. Western is headquartered in St. Louis, MO with 30 branch offices nationwide and employs more than 1,200 salaried and hourly professionals who offer the best, time-tested techniques and innovative technology. For more information about Western Specialty Contractors, visit https://WesternSpecialtyContractors.com.
More than 40 years of exposure to the corrosive seaside environment took a toll on this concrete structure.
(St. Louis, MO, Nov. 19, 2020) Western Specialty Contractors – San Francisco Branch, partnered with Sika Corp., was honored virtually on Oct. 22 with a 2020 International Concrete Restoration Institute (ICRI) Award of Merit (Special Projects category) for the restoration of the First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto.
The ICRI conducts an awards program each year to honor and recognize outstanding projects in the concrete repair industry. Judging is based on uniqueness, use of state-of-the-art methods and materials, functionality, value engineering, and aesthetics. Entries are received from around the world, and the winning projects are honored each year at the ICRI Fall Convention. Due to COVID-19 concerns, the 2020 Fall Convention was held virtually.
First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto is located in Palo Alto, CA in the San Francisco Bay Area. Established in 1894, the congregation realized in 1957 that it needed a larger, more modern building for services and events. Construction on a new “Contemporary Gothic” style church included 19 poured-in-place concrete columns that extend from beneath the basement-level upward and meeting 73 feet above the main aisle. The roof panels were precast and 1,500 small stained-glass windows were installed throughout. The church can hold up to 1,050 people.
Due to weathering and aging, the church was experiencing water leaks in more than 50 different locations. It was determined that the leaks were caused by the failure of the wet seals around the stained-glass windows, as well as from cracking and spalling of the building’s concrete façade caused primarily by an insufficient concrete cover over the steel reinforcement. The roof membrane under the tile was also failing. The congregation agreed to take steps to repair the church to mitigate further damage.
Western Specialty Contractors’ crew, partnered with Sika Corp., a leading supplier of specialty chemical products and industrial materials for the construction industry, were faced with several challenges on the project. First, the crew had to assemble an engineered frame scaffolding system instead of using lifts to access the façade. The next challenge was maintaining the established color pattern when ordering and replacing broken and cracked windows, plus the silicone sealant on hundreds of windows on the concrete roof had to be replaced.
The façade had many spalled areas less than an inch deep in thickness that was addressed with the proper preparation and an application of a high-performance mortar. Deeper spalls were repaired with a form and pour method. The concrete roof tiles were also removed and prior to replacing them, a rubber roofing and waterproofing system were applied. Façade cracks that were visible throughout the structure were addressed with routing and caulking with a urethane sealant. To finalize the project, the building was thoroughly cleaned and an elastomeric façade coating was applied.
With all the challenges faced in completing the project, in the end, Western was able to restore the beloved church’s sanctuary to its former glory, with much appreciation from the congregation.
“These type of unique repair and restoration projects don’t come around frequently to contractors and manufacturers and when a successful repair leaves a client thankful and satisfied, it makes for a very memorable project. The First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto restoration was one of these projects,” said Jon Carden, Western San Francisco Branch Manager. “We were honored to work alongside Sika on this challenging restoration, and thankful to the ICRI for recognizing our expertise and hard work.” The project started in spring 2016 and was completed in April 2018.
About Western Specialty Contractors
Family-owned and operated for more than 100 years, Western Specialty Contractors is the nation’s largest specialty contractor in masonry and concrete restoration, waterproofing, and specialty roofing. Western offers a nationwide network of expertise that building owners, engineers, architects, and property managers can count on to develop cost-effective, corrective measures that can add years of useful life to a variety of structures including industrial, commercial, healthcare, historic, educational and government buildings, parking structures, and sports stadiums. Western is headquartered in St. Louis, MO with 30 branch offices nationwide and employs more than 1,200 salaried and hourly professionals who offer the best, time-tested techniques and innovative technology.
(St. Louis, MO, Oct. 23, 2020) Western Specialty Contractors’ Great Plains Roofing and Sheet Metal Branch of Kansas City, KS recently completed the installation of a decorative metal panel system and TPO roofing on the new Regnier Family Wonderscope Children’s Museum of Kansas City.
Opened on October 23, 2020, the new 30,000-square-foot museum at 433 East Red Bridge Road in Kansas City, MO features 10 dynamic exhibit spaces focusing on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math), birthday party rooms, classroom spaces, and a half-acre of outdoor educational space. For the past 30 years, the museum has resided in the former Flint Elementary School building in Shawnee, KS.
Construction on the new $15 million museum began in March 2018. McCownGordon Construction of Kansas City, MO was the general contractor, and Haizlip Studio of Memphis, TN was the architect on the project.
Western Specialty Contractors was hired to install multi-colored, metal wall panels above the museum’s exterior entrance, along with TPO roofing over the top of the panels.
A crew of six workers installed the .125 aluminum plate wall system, manufactured by Northclad, which consisted of 210 brightly colored, angled panels that averaged 7 feet tall with widths ranging from 2 inches to 6 feet. Western used a series of sub girts to attach the metal panels to the building’s façade and also installed 800 square feet of Firestone fully-adhered TPO roofing over the top of the panel area. The installation was completed in 20 days.
Western Branch Manager Rod O’Bannon said installing the panels in the complex pattern designed by the architect posed the greatest challenge on the project.
“We were given an extremely specific pattern to follow for the panels. The museum would be recognizable by its unique façade, so we had to make sure we had it right. Each panel had custom angles, so aligning them correctly with equal spacing was a challenge, but our experienced crew did an outstanding job, particularly our Foreman Tony Sayers who did a tremendous job laying out all the panels and overseeing their installation,” said O’Bannon.
About Western Specialty Contractors
Family-owned and operated for more than 100 years, Western Specialty Contractors is the nation’s largest specialty contractor in masonry and concrete restoration, waterproofing, and specialty roofing. Western offers a nationwide network of expertise that building owners, engineers, architects, and property managers can count on to develop cost-effective, corrective measures that can add years of useful life to a variety of structures including industrial, commercial, healthcare, historic, educational, and government buildings, parking structures, and sports stadiums. Western is headquartered in St. Louis, MO with 30 branch offices nationwide and employs more than 1,200 salaried and hourly professionals who offer the best, time-tested techniques and innovative technology.
More than 40 years of exposure to the corrosive seaside environment took a toll on this concrete structure.
Saint Andrew by the Sea Catholic Church—North Padre Island, TX
(St. Louis, MO, Sept. 15, 2020) St. Andrew by the Sea Catholic Church in North Padre Island, Texas is an open-air, concrete pavilion designed in 1973 to resemble the ancient Greek temples that once dotted the Mediterranean shoreline almost 2,000 years ago. One of the only open-air parishes in the world to celebrate mass year-round, the 6,100-square-foot seaside church was deteriorating from decades of exposure to one of the most corrosive environments in the U.S.
The Diocese of Corpus Christi contacted the concrete restoration experts at Western Specialty Contractors – San Antonio, TX Branch to restore the church to its original beauty and integrity and to protect and extend its service life. The church had numerous chips, cracks, and spalls on the concrete pews, under the roof structure, and around repair patches. Every structural beam and column within the pavilion also needed repair, as well as a wooden cross and bell tower at the top of the church. In total, approx. 2,300 square feet of repairs were needed.
Safety, Access and Site Preparation:
Safety was paramount at the site, and considerations were made at every step to ensure the health and safety of all those involved in the project. The pavilion remained closed during the entire construction process and fencing surrounded the perimeter to protect the work zone and limit entry. Custom scaffolding was erected with an elevated “dance floor” platform to provide access to the entire workspace while protecting the floors and pews below. This setup enabled workers to ergonomically perform repair duties to the underside of the roof structure. Proper PPE was required while on-site and measures were taken to adhere to OSHA’s Crystalline Silica Standard which went into effect just before the construction project began. The structure was protected from the outside elements allowing work to continue regardless of weather conditions. Health and safety were considered in the selection of the materials, placement methods, and equipment used. Low-dust repair mortar was selected, dust collection systems with HEPA filters were employed and the use of monopod jackhammers contributed to the comfort and productivity of the crew. All deteriorated/delaminated concrete was identified and marked using a sounding hammer, then extended a minimum of six inches and configured in square or rectangular patterns.
Concrete Spall Repairs:
In cases where the repair area was equal to or less than an inch in thickness, BASF MasterEmaco N 425 vertical and overhead repair mortar was applied by hand. All repair areas were first marked, chipped back to sound concrete with a chipping hammer, and finally, saw cut to square. Additionally, any exposed rebar was ground down to “clean” and if the rebar did not meet ICRI standards it was removed and replaced. BASF Master Protect P 8100 AP, a one-component epoxy primer for rebar, was applied to the steel when exposed to prevent corrosion. Proper bonding of the repair mortar to the existing concrete was ensured by achieving a CSP of 5-6 in the repair area.
Form and Pour Repairs:
As more of the original coating was removed, numerous deeper spalls were exposed. In these cases, both partial and full-depth form and pour methods were utilized. To match the existing decorative concrete, custom forms were created, paying special attention to clean carpentry. Surface preparations were completed in accordance with ICRI Guidelines and careful attention was paid to the proper cleaning, preparation, and quality of the existing rebar. When corrosion was present, the concrete was completely undercut from around the corroded reinforcement to ensure long-term performance, and primer was applied to the rebar. In many cases, the reinforcing steel was placed too shallow (less than 0.75 inches between exposed steel and surrounding concrete), and additional sound concrete had to be removed and the rebar replaced in compliance with ACI standards. BASF MasterEmaco S440, a low-dust, pre-extended, pourable and pumpable, self-consolidating repair mortar, was selected for this repair method.
Crack Repairs and Existing Concrete Repair Patches:
All non-moving cracks were treated with the same methods as the spall repairs, and existing concrete repair patches were removed and retreated properly with either the hand-applied or form and pour method. This method of treating the cracks and redoing the existing patches ensured the lines would not show through, and to mitigate any further corrosion caused by exposed rebar.
Bell Tower and Cross:
Cracks were observed along the exterior faces of the bell tower on the base, walls, and edges. The wood frame was also rotted and corrosion was present along the steel framing at the base. Ultimately, the entire bell tower and cross had to be shored up and rebuilt while kept in place. The Garland Company, Inc. worked with Western to complete the repairs, replacing all the wood wrapping around the cross’ aluminum frame, and applying the texture and coating to match the existing structure.
Texture and Façade Coating:
Because the pavilion had been previously coated with a thick, textured elastomeric coating, and subsequently removed in the marked areas for repair, a challenge then arose to match the existing texture and hide the transitions. After multiple, unsuccessful attempts to match the existing surface texture with acrylic coatings, the unique solution to spray-apply the MasterEmaco N 425 with a hopper gun created the seamless transition from existing surface to repair surface. When a final all-over coating of an elastomeric waterproof coating was applied (BASF MasterProtect EL 750), the structure was additionally protected and appeared flawless. St. Andrew by the Sea Catholic Church has been completely restored to its original glory. Expertise, artistry, and creativity were applied daily during the rehabilitation which resulted in a flawless, gleaming structure the ancient Greeks would be proud of. Western’s full-time crew of six finished the project within nine months.
About Western Specialty Contractors
Family-owned and operated for more than 100 years, Western Specialty Contractors is the nation’s largest specialty contractor in masonry and concrete restoration, waterproofing, and specialty roofing. Western offers a nationwide network of expertise that building owners, engineers, architects, and property managers can count on to develop cost-effective, corrective measures that can add years of useful life to a variety of structures including industrial, commercial, healthcare, historic, educational and government buildings, parking structures, and sports stadiums. Western is headquartered in St. Louis, MO with 30 branch offices nationwide and employs more than 1,200 salaried and hourly professionals who offer the best, time-tested techniques and innovative technology.
