SPRING 2021 NEWSLETTER Northshore’s Robust Renovations Northshore Austin, a luxury high-rise apartment complex in Austin, Texas. Northshore Austin, a luxury high-rise in the Texas Originally built in 2014, the apartments were in capitol, is a mixed-use building that includes 38 need of repairs come 2019. The post tension plugs floors, 439 residential units and 40,000 square were loose, protruding, incomplete and needed to feet of retail and office space. As of 2019, the be removed and replaced. Additionally, concrete tower stands as the ninth tallest building in was spalling and rebar was surfacing in certain INSIDE Austin. Northshore is positioned in the center of locations, therefore needing remediation. Lastly, downtown’s most vibrant and exciting area with two roof davits were repaired. this issue close proximity to Austin’s famed Lady Bird Lake, 2ND Street District and a multitude of upscale Chamberlin was brought onto the project by Wiss, dining and entertainment hot spots. Janney, Elstner Associates (WJE) because of their Northshore’s Robust Renovations.....................2-3 (Continued pg. 2...see NORTHSHORE) Quality Assurance for Waterproofing CONSULTANT’S CORNER Quality Assurance for Systems................................2-4 Waterproofing Systems ABC Excellence in Design Phase Construction This is where it all begins. If the design and detailing are not Awards........................................5 properly drawn and communicated, the probability of failure with a quality application and installation is greatly increased. Employee Profile............5 The most common problem that contractors and subcontractors face with installing waterproofing systems in new and renovation Projects in Progress.....6 construction is the lack of project-specific details at critical Jeremy Musie Project Manager Pie Consulting & Engineering (Continued pg. 2...see QUALITY) WWW.CHAMBERLINLTD.COM (NORTHSHORE continued from pg. 1) long, trusting relationship with the side of a building, the schedule them and their vast knowledge of had to be reworked. Crew members installations on high-rise buildings. worked hard to make up for lost time and finish the project within SKY HIGH SCHEDULING the year time frame. In order to begin construction, TIGHTENING THE POCKETS Chamberlin, WJE and general contractor CAMP Construction While Chamberlin crews worked created a detailed schedule as on the post-tension pocket repairs, the building was in full operation they were mindful of quality during construction, including control. Post-tension plugs are all residential units, retail and used to strengthen the building office space. The project was structure, eliminate water intrusion on a one-year schedule from and add longevity to the life of the September 2019 to August 2020. building by mitigating post-tension To accommodate the tenants corrosion. The existing post-tension Grease caps were modified by crew to fit securely and patrons, construction was plugs were loose, protruding performed only during the day, not and carried issues from partially to disturb anyone in the evening improper original installation. and night. During the repair design phase, When planning a schedule, curing two approaches were assessed: times and testing times on coatings trowel-applied and precast plug and concrete repairs had to be repairs. Performing mock-ups taken into account. Time was and petrographic studies helped allotted before construction began determine the best repair approach to lay sidewalk and pool deck for the Northshore building. protection and relocate or place Ultimately, precast plugs were the protection over the plants. Even most successful approach for the with a well-laid plan, unforeseen project-specific conditions. circumstances necessitated changes in schedule. A majority of the scope The crew had to first remove the was performed on swing stages and existing slumped grout plugs. on days where the weather was too Protruding strand tails needed to windy, raining or too cold to be on be cut as they were not cut during Post-tension plugs were repaired and installed (Continued pg. 3...see NORTHSHORE) (QUALITY continued from pg. 1) transitions. Frequently, designers omit unusual intersections and penetrations from construction documents or provide details with constructability issues that will need to be “worked out” in the field. Example: Many historic buildings are renovated and brought back to life. When one of these buildings is approved for renovation, steps must be taken and considered. Typically, those steps include bringing a building’s performance up to code, increasing thermal performance, and keeping the exterior aesthetically exactly how it was when the building was originally built. These steps can be challenging when opening up walls and working within the shell that exists. In these instances, detailing the correct assemblies while showing the new product in existing structures, with the feasibility of installation in mind, is extremely critical. A historic building in downtown Dallas was renovated recently. The construction modification included a retrofit new glazing system (Figure 1). The architect developed the detail (Figure 2) for this specific assembly; however, it was not based on the evaluation of the air and moisture behavior of the existing wall system and, in turn, created installation challenges for the contractor during an advanced stage of construction. This situation caused both construction schedule delays and quality compromise. Although the contractor attempted to provide a solution that they believed would be adequate, the field performance water penetration testing resulted in a failure of the glazing system. This could have been mitigated at the Design Review Phase, with a collaborative understanding of the interaction between the new and existing Figure 1 building materials and assemblies. Efforts should be made, as a (Continued pg. 3...see QUALITY) 2 ACTIVE MEMBER OF: (NORTHSHORE continued from pg. 2) original construction. Then the existing When the concrete had fully cured, performed new testing after repairs grease caps were removed. New grease it was time to reinforce the slab were complete to ensure the system was caps were installed, and the crew edge with elastomeric coating. The safe to use. modified them by trimming the caps material installed on Northshore was to fit snugly in the crimped anchorage an RD coating, one in a range of high- SWINGING INTO SAFETY ring. The modified caps were epoxied performance protective coatings. They In order for the crew to get to the into the anchorage pocket for a positive, are 100% waterborne, offering solutions construction zone, they needed to walk watertight fit. In the end, the crew for anti-corrosion, liquid waterproofing, through the building to access the roof. repaired a total of 451 pockets. anti-carbonation and wear resistance. With COVID-19 concerns, Chamberlin The crew cleaned the substrate and then took precautions such as ensuring the ANCHORING THE SLAB installed two layers of the coating along crew was masked up and practicing social with embedded mesh. The slab edge concrete was another area distancing. To accommodate the tenants and patrons, signage and barricades were in need of repairs. The spalled concrete All roof davits were tested prior to used to keep everyone safely out of and exposed rebar was removed by the mobilization and two of them failed, construction zones. Chamberlin crew. The existing concrete requiring repair before swing stage was then prepped to receive new concrete use. The roofing material around the The post-tension pocket repairs, slab by installing anchors and tie wire for defective davits was removed, and the edge concrete repairs and coatings support. Once the concrete was installed, davits were sandblasted for surface were all performed on swing stages. prep. The crew then coated the davits it was protected and cured for 14 days It was extremely important for the and repaired the roofing material. WJE before waterproof coatings were installed. crew to inspect the equipment each day before beginning work to confirm proper functionality as well as keep safety as a primary focus while working. As Northshore Austin is a high-rise, crew members hung on the side of the building 30+ stories high. The team wore appropriate Personal Protective Equipment including harnesses, gloves, vests, safety glasses and hard hats. Chamberlin’s attention to detail, internal and external communication and their ability to complete their scopes in a timely manner despite unexpected delays were critical in delivering a high-quality Swing stages were used to repair over 400 post-tension pockets project on time with zero safety incidents. (QUALITY continued from pg. 2) team, to provide details prior to construction modification that could affect the in-place wall systems’ behavior. The Design Phase is intended to address the 3 C’s, Continuity, Compatibility and Constructability. To avoid scenarios which may increase the risk on loss of quality and performance, Quality Assurance programs designed to evaluate and resolve problems can start as early as the Design Phase. An effective program includes the following basic steps: • Evaluate project criteria which establish characteristics of the acceptable end-product. • Implement periodic reviews and approvals for the criteria and design during development. • Review the schedule for completion of the project and compare it with feasibility. • Schedule Building Envelope consultant reviews and performance