Abbot Restores 4-Story Brick and Concrete Brighton Condominium

Abbot recently completed the first phase of masonry restoration project on a 4-story brick and pre-cast concrete condominium building at 1871-1875 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston's Brighton section.

1871-1875 Commonwealth Ave.

Acknowledging that the building was in need of significant masonry repairs, the condominium trustees  conducted their own exploratory investigation to determine what repairs needed to be done to the exterior building walls. After performing an interview process, Abbot was selected as the design/build contractor. 

Based on Abbot's recommendation, a multi-phase project was implemented with Phase 1 focusing on the Chestnut Hill Avenue side of the building where pointing, stone repair, brick replacement, and caulking of the windows was performed to repair the existing deficiencies.

In Phase 1A, Abbot performed an investigation on the rear of the building where a series of enclosed stucco porches were located. During the course of the investigation, it was found that the horizontal and vertical steel beams supporting the porches were severely deteriorated and needed replacement. As part of the permitting process, the owner retained Structures Engineering Inc. (Marshfield, MA) to inspect the damage and formulate the repair strategy. Complicating the situation was that the project had to be accomplished without disturbing the interior living spaces by isolating the porches so that the residents were not affected.

Working as a team, Abbot and Structures Engineering determined that least invasive way of performing the work was to support all of the wood floor joists by installing shoring frames from the ground through the interior of each floor level up to the roofline.

After the supports were in place, Abbot removed all of the exterior stucco walls and partial wood framing to expose the steel. Then, Abbot carefully removed the steel, and installed new galvanized structural steel in its place.

Next, Abbot reframed the walls, installed new windows, and completed the project by installing an EIFS (exterior finish system) to replicate the original stucco appearance.

As a further complication, the investigation and initial work took place in the Fall-Winter 2012 necessitating that the project be suspended over the cold winter months.  Therefore, the porches were enclosed with scaffolding and kept watertight until project could be completed in Spring 2013.

The project is ongoing, and future phases will involve masonry repairs to additional elevations to improve the overall condition of the building.

What is an "EIFS?"  

In our Case Study article above, we mention that we installed an "EIFS" (exterior insulation and finishing system) to replicate the original stucco appearance of the Brighton condominium building.    

Exterior Insulation and Finishing System (EIFS)

Often referred to as "synthetic stucco" (but not actually stucco), an EIFS

is a non-load bearing, exterior wall cladding system that consists of an insulation board attached either by adhesive or mechanically, or both, to the substrate. The EIFS is finished by an integrally reinforced base coat and a textured protective top coat. 

 

There are a number of versions of EIFS. The most basic and common EIFS is called a "barrier EIFS" (also known as a

traditional or conventional EIFS). Another type is called an "EIFS with drainage", which is a barrier EIFS to which a water drainage capability has been added.

   

EIFS were introduced for commercial use in the United States in the late 1960s, and were later used in residential applications.