EURO MED SEC 03


REHABILITATION OF BRICK-WALL FAÇADES

VITOR ABRANTES, NUNO ABRANTES, FERNANDO BRANDÃO ALVES


Abstract

This abstract seeks to analyze several existing cracking rehabilitation techniques on brick-wall façades. The examples concern to an upper-middle class housing complex, situated in Porto, Portugal. This housing complex holds 4 buildings (190 dwellings) and which construction is near 20 years old. The most significant anomalies that have been checked on this rehabilitation study were the cracks of the lintels over windows and on wall-corners of balconies. Both represent a severe anomaly on brick-wall façades that will have as consequence rain penetration and water infiltration. As result, one found that the horizontal lintel cracks occur as a consequence of conception mistakes due to a reduced armor support and to a poor covering. The lintel deformation will allow rain penetration through walls and water infiltrations into dwellings and provoke the severe deformation of the windows’ frames and, hereafter, problems with its opening. Beyond this the vertical wall-corner cracks are a consequence of a wrong procedure performed with the cut of the bricks. Regarding the horizontal lintel cracks, the method for its rehabilitation involves the demolition of the brick-wall façade and the execution of angle brackets before rebuilding the brick-wall. In respect to the vertical wall-corner cracks, the method for the rehabilitation consists on the stapling, using the application of stainless-steel helical pins to provide a strong mechanical solution when patch repairing the brick-wall (patch pin).

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