Masonry Solutions
News and Insights on the Masonry Repair and Maintenance of Institutional, Commercial, and Condominium Buildings in Eastern Massachusetts
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In this issue, our Case Study article describes Abbot's repair and restoration of a brick and poured reinforced concrete building owned by Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston's Mission Hill section. In our Masonry 101 article, we provide a definition of poured reinforced concrete.
We trust that you will benefit from the information provided in this publication. If you have any comments or questions, or would like an estimate on a masonry repair project, we can be reached at
617-445-0274 or at www.abbotbuilding.com.
Sincerely,
Michael Norman, President
Abbot Building Restoration Company, Inc.
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Abbot Repairs and Restores Brick and Concrete Mission Hill Building
Abbot recently completed a major repair and restoration of a brick and poured reinforced concrete building owned by Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston's Mission Hill section. The building was formerly an old bus garage adjacent to Wentworth property that the owner purchased and was originally using for storage of excess miscellaneous equipment.
 In 2015, the owner decided to renovate exterior of the structure (and eventually the interior) with the goal to move the school's facilities department into the building. After a competitive bidding process, the owner, acting at its own consultant, awarded the exterior masonry contract to Abbot.
Abbot's evaluated the building and identified the following major deficiencies:
- The brick masonry was extremely dirty
- The window sills were deteriorated and in some cases non-existent
- Brick above the windows to the roof had deflected and was no longer in plane with walls
- The windows were non-existent and filled with concrete block
One of the most significant repairs involved the removal of the concrete blocks that had been installed to secure the building from vandalism. When it was decided to turn the building to usable space, all of the blocks would have to be removed and new windows installed to provide ample light emission into the space.
Abbot also recommended that the brick veneer be removed from the top of the windows to the roof line, and would resource and install new brick to match the color of the rest of the exterior brick.
Based upon this comprehensive evaluation, Abbot performed the following sequence of repairs:
- All brick was power washed with a restoration cleaner to remove existing dirt, and paint was removed from bottom of perimeter of building to provide for a natural brick appearance
- All brick joints were repointed
- All of the bricks were removed from the top of the windows to the roof line, and entirely rebuilt using new matching brick
- The concrete blocks were removed from all windows
- New pre-cast concrete window sills were fabricated and installed to replace deteriorated and non-existent sills
- New key stones were installed in the parapet corners to decorate the walls
- New energy efficient windows with security screens were installed
- The foundation and balance of the existing poured concrete was coated with an elastomeric material to improve the building's appearance
- Finally, a new precast front sign was fabricated to match the original sign
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Poured Reinforced Concrete
In the article above describing Abbot's repair and restoration project on the building in Mission Hill, we refer to the use of poured reinforced concrete as part of the building's structure.
Reinforced concrete is a composite material in which the concrete's tensile strength and ductility (tendency to deform) are enhanced by the use of a reinforcing material -- usually steel bars or a mesh of steel wire (rebar). The rebar is typically embedded into the concrete before the concrete sets.
The reinforcing
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Poured concrete reinforced with rebar
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protocols are generally designed to resist tensile stresses in particular regions of the concrete that might cause unacceptable cracking and/or structural failure.
For a strong, ductile, and durable construction, the reinforcement needs to exhibit the following properties:
- High relative strength
- High toleration to tensile strain
- Strong bond to the concrete, irrespective of pH, moisture, and similar factors
- Thermal compatibility -- resisting unacceptable stresses in response to changing temperatures
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Abbot Building Restoration Company, Inc.
28 Allerton Street, Boston, MA 02119
Tel: 617-445-0274 · Fax: 617-445-0277
info@abbotbuilding.com ·
www.abbotbuilding.com
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Featured Articles
Case Study
Abbot recently repaired and restored a brick and concrete building in Boston's Mission Hill section.
See full article below
Masonry 101
What is poured reinforced concrete?
See full article below
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Abbot recently extended its range of masonry repair services to include the restoration of brick Victorian homes
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