Commercial Exterior Case Study

About the Project:

Location: Florence, Kentucky
Date: June 2023
Duration: 2 Weeks

Description of the Project:
The building we were contracted to paint is a Sports of All Sorts located in Florence, Kentucky. It is multi-sport recreational facility that hosts different recreational leagues, sporting tournaments and parties. It also has other recreational activities such as a workout area, bowling alley, and arcade.

What Did the Project Involve?
The project was for the exterior of the facility. The beige color on the cement block exterior was fading. There were dark water stains throughout different areas of the exterior and parts of the block were chipped off and in need of repairs. The expansion joint caulk was starting to fail and in need of attention. The exterior design of the building had faux square windows, diamond shapes and a ribbon band. The different colors of these accents were fading, outdated and did not go with their color scheme. The blue color on the metal awning of the front of the building had started to fade and was miscolored due to sun and weather.

Surface Preparation:
The project involved expansion joint caulking and masonry repairs by our carpentry division followed along with painting prep work and exterior painting by our painting division.

Carpentry: The carpentry team on the project by cutting out/scraping the current expansion joint seams to remove the old and failing caulk. Once all of the caulk was removed the failing seams were cleaned, we installed a closed cell backer rod and caulked the expansion joint seams with a smooth polyurethane sealant.
There were approximately 27 areas that were in need of masonry repairs. The failing areas were scraped to remove any loose cement. These masonry areas were then patched with a concrete mix, shaped and spot primed to prep for painting.
Once the carpentry team completed all of the necessary work on the expansion joints and masonry repairs, the painting team took over.

Painting Prep: Started by hand scraping any loose paint and properly disposed of all falling paint chips. Rusted areas on the metal awning and other metal areas were wire brushed and/or grinded down. These rusted surfaces and bare areas were then spot primed. We also pressure washed and hand cleaned the entire building to remove all dirt and debris.

Application: Once the prep work was completed, the painting began. The surfaces to be painted included the concrete wall panels, window trim, metal caps, gutters, downspouts, rails, man doors, front metal awning structure and scuppers.
We applied two finish coatings on all surfaces to be painted. The metal areas- awning, doors, and railings- were painted with a gloss industrial urethane enamel and all other surfaces were painted with a satin acrylic latex based paint.

Special Challenges:
Expansion joint caulking is a very involved process. All caulk must be removed, the area must be cleaned so the back rod can be installed properly. Then the areas needed to be sealed correctly. If not, there will be water damage and leaks that will come through to the interior of the facility.
Not all painting companies can provide masonry work, so the customer had the ease of having all of these services provided by one contractor. The new concrete installation for the masonry repairs needed to be shaped correctly as to blend into the existing surface. Due to the high traffic at different points throughout the day, we had to utilize parking lot cones and wet paint signs. We also had to make sure to cover any areas that could be affected such as cars that were not moved and the light fixtures and cameras not included in the scope of work.

Special Equipment:
A water trailer was needed for the pressure washing of the building. Boom lifts were also needed for the project.Expansion joint repair that involves backer rod and new sealant installation and masonry repair are special services.

After Images

Below are images of the project after we finished. Click to enlarge.