Western Speciality Restores Masonry Facade of Glen Oak Towers

September 26, 2017 — Glen Oak Towers is a housing building in Peoria, Illinois, that was originally constructed in 1954. The 15-story masonry structure and its attached 40-space parking garage were showing signs of deterioration and corrosion of the concrete surfaces, as well as weathering from salts and deicers brought into the garage from outside vehicles. Western Specialty Contractors' Springfield, Illinois, branch recently completed restoration of both structures, as two separate projects.

Parking Structure Concrete Restoration

For the first project, Western crews restored the parking structure, performing approximately 3,100 square feet of full-depth concrete repairs (30% of the suspended deck), 550 lineal feet of structural joist repairs, 55 lineal feet of structural beam repairs, removal of 1,500 square feet of asphalt topping on the upper level and installation 825 lineal feet of gravity-fed epoxy injection.

Western crews installed shoring to support the concrete areas that were not to be removed during the restoration process. The shoring also acted as the support framework for the form work and false floor that had to be used for fall protection.

In order to keep the garage operable for tenants, Western crews performed the garage repairs in three phases. In the first phase, new concrete was installed using a concrete pump. In the second and third phases, new concrete was placed using a concrete buggy to move material through the garage. Once the concrete repairs were completed, Western crews applied a two-component, fast-cure traffic membrane on the elevated parking level. The garage restoration project was completed in four months.

Masonry Facade Restoration Includes Installation of Weeps, Sealant

For the second project, Western crews performed masonry restoration on the building's challenging facade. Crews performed necessary tuckpointing throughout the building and replaced more than 5,000 spalled and broken bricks, which were mainly at the shelf angles. Western crews also installed new weeps along all of the shelf angles to allow water that may have penetrated the wall to drain out. Workers then re-sealed all of the shelf angles with a silicone sealant. Western crews also sealed around all newly installed windows, using a Dow Corning silicone sealant.

Frequent Swing Stage Changes

Due to the building having a lot of ins and outs, Western crews were required to change the sizes of the swing stages often during the masonry restoration project.

"Access was difficult since there were lower roof areas that were not connected all the way around, so we had to move the stages up and down off the roof levels as we went around the entire building," says Western Springfield, IL branch manager Scott Haas. "Roof anchors needed to be installed in order to tie back the swing stages properly."

Family-owned and operated for more than 100 years, Western Specialty Contractors is the U.S.'s largest specialty contractor in masonry and concrete restoration, waterproofing and specialty roofing. For more information, visit www.westernspecialtycontractors.com.