Condo Media - January 2023 - 39

thawing of water entering the material
through natural porosity or surface
hairline cracks. These pockets
of moisture can become trapped in
façade walls whose freezing can expand
causing further cracking, spalling,
or displacing adjacent masonry
by a phenomenon called ice lensing.
This spalling can create dramatic
loss of structural integrity to parapet
walls, retaining walls, and cantilevering
decks, not to mention the safety
hazards from falling façade components.
Complicating the diagnosis
problems and the repair solutions is
that spalling concrete can be caused
by other forces other than water.
Similar concrete failures can manifest
themselves by compression,
tension, or vibration overloading.
MATERIALS MATTER
Equally important in a façade or
frame investigation is understanding
what materials make up these structural
elements, as looks can be deceiving.
Most of the old brick buildings
in major cities use the exterior
brick to support the interior floor
framing and are thus called " bearing
wall masonry. " These heavy walls
were designed to prevent moisture
from entering into the building's
interior spaces by the brick absorbing
water in its multi-layers of brick
and drying out when the weather
improved. Over a hundred years ago,
steel framing was introduced, allowing
the building designer to hang the
exterior façade skin on the perimeter
of the frame to produce more lightweight
and cost-effective buildings.
Today's brick building uses brick as a
veneer in which the brick is only the
first line of defense against water infiltration.
The brick actually shields
the true water barrier sheathing
behind a cavity space. This cavity
acts as a drainage channel with weep
holes at the bottom of the brickwork.
Similarly, many older buildings are
covered with a stucco façade surface,
which is a cement parge coating over
a steel lattice similar
to plaster placed onto wood lathe
strips. Modern buildings use an
exterior insulation finishing system
(EIFS) seen on many condominium
and retail building exteriors. An EIFS
façade depends on interior drainage
surfaces and is totally different in
repair methods than stucco.
INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUES
In addition to judging the cause of the
façade problem, it is important to determine
its seriousness and whether
immediate repair steps are necessary
or whether it is not an " active "
problem that can be set aside to allow
other more pressing issues requiring
capital outlays from the reserve fund.
To address these questions, there
are a variety of invasive and noninvasive
techniques to investigate the
problem. If the concern is corroding
imbedded steel, there are firms
providing chloride ion content testing
of concrete or mortar to gather
quantitative evidence of corrosion
potential. Simple stain gages can be
placed over cracks to detect active
movement. Infrared thermography
can discover unseen façade connection
failures, delaminations,
or thermal " short circuits " due to
wet insulation. There are a variety
of water moisture content meters
available at building supply stores
and woodworker hobby shops that
can accurately detect and measure
moisture in a variety of materials including
wood, drywall, and concrete.
So the good news is there is plenty
an observant building committee or
property manager can do to prevent
small structural problems from
growing into something major.
n JACK CARR, P.E., LEED-AP, IS AN
ENGINEERING CONSULTANT FOR
CRITERIUM-ENGINEERS IN FREEPORT,
MAINE, AND A MEMBER OF
THE CONDO MEDIA BOARD.
The next generation of condo lawyers
Ed Allcock
Ellen Shapiro
ed@amcondolaw.com
ellen@amcondolaw.com
Jake Marcus
jake@amcondolaw.com
Norm Orban
Sean Tiernan
norm@amcondolaw.com
sean@amcondolaw.com
MA * NH * RI * ME * FL
10 Forbes Road, Suite 420W | Braintree, MA 02184
781.884.1660 | info@amcondolaw.com
www.amcondolaw.com
January 2023 CONDOMEDIA 39
Condo Media - January 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Condo Media - January 2023
