Another 100 year old brick building.
Another 100 year old brick building.
(OP)
I too have recently become involved with determining a repair for a 100 year old, 3 story brick building. Here's the situation: An old theater adjacent to the building in question was demolished. They decided to rip down the wall of the theater that was against the wall of this building. In doing so, they failed to cut some of the wall anchors and as result the wall was pulled out of plumb about 2". The corner is cracked and separated. The floors are wood joists pocketed into the masonry. Now this 100 year old wall is exposed and appears well deteriorated. It's a 12" masonry wall, about 12 feet between floors. They want to make it "safe". What is considered "safe" from a repair perspective? Does it need to meet the current Code? There was no earthquake Code when it was built and it is also now exposed to wind and erosion. I was planning on restoring the eroded brick and anchoring the joists to the wall and the wall corners back together. Doing that alone will not come close to meeting the current Code requirements for earthquake. Oh and by the way, It's occupied by tenants. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
RE: Another 100 year old brick building.
RE: Another 100 year old brick building.
Another concern is that often for old masonry, if they were constructing 'tight' to an existing building, they may have used a lesser quality brick realising that the envelope was not exposed to the elements.
Dik
RE: Another 100 year old brick building.
Who is responsible for rectifying the damage? Was the old theatre on a separate property? Does the wall in question now encroach?
RE: Another 100 year old brick building.
My biggest concern is how to properly repair crumbling brick. If anyone has any thought or references that would be helpful. Thanks for the replies.
www.idecharlotte.com
RE: Another 100 year old brick building.
I have done evaluations of the brick for old structures and find that old brick often has significant issues. You might want to get a petrographic evaluation of the brick. Secondly, you can replace the brick with replicate brick, building in additional structural capacity. When I have cross-sectioned and examined old brick microscopically, I've found that it often has a strong shell layer and a weak interior, most due to poor firing techniques of old. That leads to crumbly brick and high water intrusion.
RE: Another 100 year old brick building.
RE: Another 100 year old brick building.
Dik
RE: Another 100 year old brick building.
2" is small compared to the out of plumb on some of the buildings and arches over here in the UK. Tying back is standard procedure over here and is the first thing they look at with an existing building.
I saw a good article on this and will see if I can try and find it for you.
RE: Another 100 year old brick building.
RE: Another 100 year old brick building.
I did reexamine the mortar. It's pretty solid... not easily chiseled which leads me to believe it is portland cement.
I got some clarification with regards to repair. They want it to structurally be as strong as it was in it's condition before the "accident". That makes it easier to determine the repair. I plan on tying the wall corners together with steel bracket ties in both directions. I don't think I'm going to try and pull the walls back together, just replace masonry and repoint the mortar. Do you think there are any negative implications with tying new brick to old? There are no expansion joints in the old brick.
Thanks again for the replies.
www.idecharlotte.com
RE: Another 100 year old brick building.
This is a dangerous condition for your client and the tenants. Do not compromise public safety to save the city money. This would be bad engineering.
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
RE: Another 100 year old brick building.
BA
RE: Another 100 year old brick building.