Restoration/Renovation

Abbot Restores Facades of Two Adjacent Buildings

414-418 Columbia Road

414-418 Columbia Road

Boston – Abbot recently restored the façades of two adjacent brick and precast concrete buildings used for subsidized housing at 414-418 and 422 Columbia Road in Boston’s Dorchester section.

In 2015, Building Envelope Technologies, Inc. of Easton evaluated the façades of both buildings to determine the extent of deterioration that had taken place over time. Abbot performed the repairs on the front elevations of both buildings:

  • Chemically cleaned all of the brick to remove atmospheric dirt. Cut and repointed all of the brick and replaced the deteriorated precast concrete headers, sills, bands, keys, and quoins between the brick headers.
  • 422 Columbia Road

    422 Columbia Road

  • Removed any deteriorated steel above the windows, installed new galvanized steel where appropriate, and then re-installed the existing brick that could be salvaged and installed new brick to match the original color.
  • Replaced deteriorated precast concrete, to match existing shapes and sizes where necessary, including the building foundation.

To complete the repair, Abbot applied a pigmented elastomeric coating that matched the original color to protect the precast concrete.

Additionally, at 422 Columbia Road, the precast concrete at bottom of building was severely deteriorated. Instead of patching the deterioration as had been done in the past but constantly failed, it was decided to remove and replace approximately 25% of the 3-ft. x 4-ft. stone blocks to provide a more permanent solution.