DDCC Love Building Exterior Brick Repair

The exterior brick façade of the Love Building at Davidson-Davie Community College exhibited significant cracking around its entire perimeter. Atlas Engineering was selected for the repair project due to their extensive experience in structural and building envelope repairs. Their comprehensive approach addressed both the immediate issues and the underlying causes of damage.
Fieldwork conducted by professional engineers revealed that the original construction had an insufficient number of expansion joints, leading to large cracks from normal brick expansion and shrinkage. Additionally, the lack of a waterproofing system at the steel shelf angles caused surface corrosion and adjacent brick damage.
Atlas designed repairs to include the addition of expansion joints, rebuilding damaged brick sections, tuck-pointing damaged mortar joints, and installing waterproofing at the steel shelf angles to prevent future corrosion. Given the building’s aesthetic importance and the unavailability of the original brick, Atlas designed repairs to salvage and reuse a significant portion of the existing brick for lower section repairs. Atlas provided the owner with several options, including cost estimates and renderings, for replacing the bricks above the shelf angle.
With a limited construction window during the summer break, Atlas ensured rapid and precise installation by maintaining an on-site presence during critical stages, guaranteeing high-quality repairs that met the college’s needs.