Project Description
Denver Colorado – This condominium building is an eighteen story concrete frame with brick façade. There were three major issues causing brick façade failure. The brick was poorly supported and was failing under its own weight, the brick was inadequately tied to the concrete frame, and most importantly thermal expansion and contraction were causing severe stresses within the bricks. The problem was so severe that there were some instances of bricks falling off the building. Mostly the brick was cracked, allowing moisture penetration into the building. The building was built in the 1970’s and involved multiple contractors causing the described inconsistencies in the original building construction. Restruction Corporation placed new steel angles at every level to support the brick. Expansion joints were installed at every other level to allow movement due to the thermal conditions. Poorly developed vertical rebar was restrained, to tie the brick to the building. Large portions of existing rebar and angle needed to be replaced due to corrosion.
