After approximately forty years of service, two buildings on a military base were showing serious signs of deterioration and Structural Preservation Systems (SPS) was contracted to perform major masonry façade repairs. On one of the buildings ("Building A"), two of its four corners appeared to be sagging, while a lack of expansion joints had literally led to the building's breaking point in several locations. Large areas of the façade were minimally supported by the shelf angles and appeared to be sliding off and/or bulging out of the wall. While the second building ("Building B") did have expansion joints, they were purely cosmetic since they were not cut through the full width of the brick. Building B also had considerable shifting of brick at its parapet wall-roof slab interface.

After carefully selecting and receiving approval on brick matches for the two buildings, SPS removed and replaced an approximately 3-foot tall strip of brick at over 800 linear feet of shelf angle at Building A. During the repair process, 2x4s and retrofit wall ties were installed at and around the repair to shore the 3-foot opening, and stabilize the façade. Following the demolition of the brick, SPS and the engineer determined if shelf angle extension (on the horizontal leg) was necessary to adequately support the above brick.  More than 50 percent of the shelf angle exposed had anywhere from ½ inch to 2½ inches of extension welded to it. When the brick was ready to be replaced, it was done so with new adhesive flashing, and a substantial amount of ties directly to the steel frame and block backup wall behind it. Seventy square feet of bulged brick were also removed from two of the building's corners, revealing a 1-foot gap in the shelf angle. Before replacing the brick here, new sections of angle were welded on to form corners to ensure the future support of the brick at these locations. The last major façade issue affecting Building A was thermal movement of the masonry façade, which resulted in shear stress cracking at several locations. At these locations, broken brick and mortar joints were removed and replaced. To guard against future damage, ½-inch-wide expansion joints were saw-cut around the building, and then filled with backer rod and sealant.

Like Building A, the major problems occurring at Building B dealt with movement of large brick sections at and around shelf angle, particularly where the parapet intersected with the roof. To repair the bulged and shifting brick in these areas, an approximate 1.5-foot tall strip was removed and replaced at more than 1,200 linear feet of the roof-parapet shelf angle. The existing aluminum flashing at all repair areas was then re-oriented to provide a drip edge preventing water infiltration. Adhesive flashing was then installed over the aluminum flashing, and the bricks were replaced with sufficient ties to the block backup wall. SPS also fully cut through the ineffective expansion joints, and then installed backer rod and sealant.

To comply with the project's fast-track schedule (work began in June and had to be completed before cold weather began) and minimize disruption to building occupants, SPS worked with the owner to develop alternate scheduling strategies, such as an around the clock weekend shift to perform repairs that called for a complete electrical shutdown of Building A. High cost and high priority operations within the building demanded that the weekend shutdown was completed on-time. Through detailed preplanning and frequent communication with the owner, a large crew was coordinated to work around the clock to meet and exceed the owner's expectations.  

Within 6 months, SPS was able to remove and replace 4,500 square feet of brick façade at shelf angle locations, as well as an additional 1,200 individual bricks at miscellaneous building locations. Over the course of the project, multiple work items were value engineered, which allowed SPS to perform additional repairs while keeping within the owner's original budget. Upon completion, the owner was very satisfied with the quality of workmanship and project management.