Remedial Facade Works
A building’s facade serves three roles:
- Structural resistance to wind, seismic, and gravity loads
- Environmental protection from the elements, including moisture and temperature
- Architectural appearance and aesthetics
Integrity Projects has a vast experience in methods of construction, the roles a building facade plays and remedial building work solutions:
- Builders License
- Facade inspection and reports
- Render repairs
- Concrete cancer repairs/ Concrete Spalling repairs/welding steel reinforcement
- Steel superstructure assessment and repairs
- Expansion joint installation and replacement
- Water leak repairs
- Differential settlement facade manifestation repairs
By far the most common remedial facade works we encounter in Sydney Australia is concrete spalling (concrete cancer) and the associated problems and causes that go with it. It is imperative that the correct repair material is used and the initial cause of water penetration is eliminated. Below is a short explanation
Concrete Spalling Repairs (Concrete Cancer repairs):
Steel embedded in masonry and concrete includes reinforcing bars, joint reinforcing, ties, anchor bolts, shelf angles, and lintels. Rusted steel embeds that have lost 25% or more of their cross sectional area are typically considered to be no longer structurally effective and Integrity Projects will then weld new reinforcement into its place.
Additionally, rust requires up to six times more volume than that of the steel from which it was formed. This increased volume results in internal pressures that lead to cracks and spalls in the concrete or masonry in which it is embedded this is cut out and replaced with a repair mortar.
It is important that steel embeds be coated with a material to prevent rust, when performing remedial repairs the use of corrosion-accelerating chlorides in concrete and mortar must be minimised, and water be diverted away from concrete and masonry, because as stated in most but not all cases this is the reason spalling occurs.
