Industry Case Study: Franklin Police and Fire High School Historic Renovation
Challenge
Situation: Built in the 1930s, this brick school had fallen into abandonment and disrepair, with damaged masonry at cornices, walls, and columns. Interior brick walls had to have openings made for new HVAC ducting. Many concrete floors needed grinding, leveling, and crack repairs. Handicap ramps were called for at several locations. New construction was necessary to place some concrete sidewalks, floors, light-pole bases, and curbs for the parking lot; also, CMU walls on the exterior property and masonry front signage. The school's main entry had settled and required underpinning.
Challenges: A primary challenge was tuck-pointing to match the existing mortar color. After over 70 years, the mortar was stained brown, and the Historic Preservation division of the City of Phoenix wanted a color match. Pressure-washing of the brick surface would have damaged the mortar and necessitated tuck-pointing every joint of the exterior walls, outside the budget limitations of the project. Although extensive, spot tuck-pointing was necessary to blend in to
the existing brickwork.
Solution
Solutions: Arizona Repair Masons used its Specialty division with extensive forensic expertise to provide all the floor repairs, the Concrete division to form and place new concrete work, and the Masonry division to perform the tuck-pointing and masonry installations. Our other company Arizona Foundation Solutions underpinned the main entry with helical piers.
The challenge of matching the existing mortar color was achieved by mixing various mortar combinations and letting them cure for weeks before selecting the perfect match. Because the mortar stains were caused by the surrounding light brown soil, using some of the soil in the mixture was the secret to finding the right color match.
Conclusion: The project was awarded the first prize for Historic Renovation in 2008 by the Arizona Masonry Guild, citing the Engineer, Architect, General Contractor, and Specialty Subcontractor Arizona Repair Masons. The school is a pioneering center for high school students to train for careers in police work and firefighting.
