In 2013 we performed a historic masonry restoration of the Union Block building.  The first woman awarded a law license in the U.S. , Arabella A Mansfield, practiced in this building.  Early supporters of women's rights and civil rights spoke in the Union Block, including Fredrick Douglass and Bronson Alcott among others.

The project consisted of completely removing and rebuilding the South-West corner of the building, installing new structural steel columns to support the main header beam of the South-West corner, solid tuckpointing the South and West elevations, random brick replacement, removing and re-installing the keystone on the South elevation, rebuilding window arches on the South elevation, needling shoring and rebuilding half of the lower West elevation brick wall. 

In 2013 we performed a below grade waterproofing and drainage project at a unique building called Woodland Palace.  This is a unique building hand built by one man Fred Francis in the late 1800's.  A watch maker by trade he had a gifted mind.  His house had running water, geothermal cooling and many other features that were leaps and bounds above typical home construction of that day.  

We performed below grade excavation around the site to expose the brick foundation walls.  We then performed masonry restoration to the walls to make them sound again.  Next we installed a below grade waterproofing membrane to the walls and drain tile around the foundation walls. 

Winter came a little early and that made the project more challenging.  But everyone was happy with the finished project.   

In the fall of 2013 our company started the restoration of these cast in place concrete stairs.  This repair was necessary due to

severe reinforcing corrosion caused mainly by chloride intrusion and carbonation of the concrete.  Our repairs grew larger than

originally thought due to the severe corrosion of the reinforcing.  The forming of the structural beams and stairs was very challenging to say the least.

We were able to duplicate the original structure's lines.  Our repair process incorporated epoxy coated steel, a corrosion inhibitor in the repair material and application of a silane water repellent to add additional years of life to the structure. 

In 2013 we were awarded the contract to restore the underside of a concrete staircase and steam tunnel in Woodward, IA.  This project was a typical cast in place concrete restoration job except for the all extra deteriorated reinforcing that was uncovered once the chipping started.  We chipped out all deteriorated concrete to expose 3/4" behind the rebar.  Where corrosion had reduced the cross section of the rebar by more than 25% we installed new epoxy coated rebar.  We formed the areas up and pumped them back with concrete.  The forming was a challenge due to the tight working conditions. 

We epoxy injected approximately 200 LF of cracks in the stairs.  This removed water that had infiltrated the stairs (which should stop any future freeze thaw damage) and bonded back together the concrete.

We also applied a cementious waterproofing coating to the top of the stairs.   

In 2002 we were awarded the contract the to perform a major exterior restoration on Davenport Central High School by the Davenport Community School District.

The job consisted of solid tuckpointing of the brick and sandstone, brick replacement, cleaning of the brick and sandstone, patching of the sandstone, replacement of the stone cheek walls at the entrances to the school, application of a water repellant to the brick and sandstone, application of a stone consolidant to the sandstone.

The reason for all of these repairs was to stop any further deterioration of the brick and red sandstone. No major restoration had been done to the school in approximately thirty years. So the mortar joints were eroded, bricks had cracked.
Some of the red sandstone had severe erosion or the face of the stone was quite friable / crumbly. We performed extensive stone patching around the building.

The application of the water repellant to the sand stone will keep the sand stone from absorbing water yet still maintain a high breathablility.

The application of the stone consolidant replaces the stone’s natural cement which was lost due to the natural weathering process. The consolidant penetrates into the stone and chemically reacts with stone grains to form a glass-like silicon dioxide gel.

In 2005 we were awarded the contract to perform the concrete restoration on Building 220 at the Rock Island Arsenal.

This was a challenging project due to:

• The existing structure being a large manufacturing facility that operations have to remain on-going while these repairs take place.
• The large amount of patching that the building needed.
• The detailed architecture of the building that had to be reproduced with our work.

The reason for these repairs was: the age of the structure, lack of concrete cover over the existing rebar and carbonation of the existing concrete (which was measured up to one inch in some areas).   

Prior patching attempts by others had not lasted due to poor workmanship and lack of skill and knowledge.

Scope of work

We removed deteriorated concrete using the pneumatic chipping hammers. Saw cut all edges of patches. Abrasive blasted on steel and concrete to remove corrosion from steel and open the pores of the concrete.

We applied a corrosion inhibitor to all reinforcing steel. We then applied patch material that has integrated corrosion inhibitors as part of the patch material to stop future corrosion. We increased cover over the existing reinforcing where the building esthetics would not be affected. Finally we applied two coats of an anti-carbonation elastomeric paint.

In 2010 we performed an interior tank restoration to keep a local municipality water storage tank functioning properly.

We removed and reinstalled the joint coverings over all the expansion joints. We foam injected / urethane grouted all cracks in the tank. Performed concrete patching, epoxy coating to the floor and injected epoxy into shear cracks in the divider wall.

The Iowa State Fair Board undertook a large renovation project on the Iowa State Fairgrounds. One of the major structures needing repair was the Grand Stand. We were awarded the contract to perform the restoration on the Grand Stand.

The following work was completed by our firm: The ends of the concrete seating area were extremely deteriorated and required extensive concrete restoration. We removed the deteriorated concrete and concrete around all exposed reinforcing steel using fifteen pound chipping hammers. All exposed steel was abrasive blasted and coated using a corrosion inhibitor/bonding agent. Where steel had lost more than 15% of its cross-sectional area we installed new reinforcing steel. We used the form and pour method to place the new patching material.

We cleaned the seating area using hi-pressure water. To protect the new and existing concrete from future deterioration we installed a urethane deck coating system.

On the exterior masonry of the grandstands we performed cleaning, tuckpointing and stone patching.

In 2001 we were awarded the contract to perform an extensive restoration to Brady Street Stadium by the Davenport Community School District.

The following repairs were made to the stadium:

• Performed concrete patching to the deteriorated areas of the stadium.
• Existing expansion joints on the stadium were cut out and replaced.
• Cleaned the seating areas, ramps and vomitories.
• Application of a urethane deck coating to the: seating areas, ramps and vomitories.

The reason for this restoration was the existing deck coating was worn out and no longer protecting the concrete.

In 2006 we were awarded the contract to perform masonry restoration on the interior and exterior of St Ambrose Christ the King Chapel. On the interior we performed a solid cut and point of the stone, patched the stone and stained the stone.

On the exterior we performed: tuckpointing on deteriorated joints, replaced deteriorated brick, cleaned and applied a water repellent to all the stone and brick.

Challenging aspects of this job was it was part of a larger renovation and addition to the chapel. Access to clean and apply the water repellent to the upper part of the tower involved using a crane due to the height of the tower.

The existing roof, roof support structure, four terra cotta spires and exterior brick masonry were deteriorated.

So the existing roof was removed. New trusses and supports were installed. The terra cotta spires at the four corners were dismantled. A new copper roof was fabricated and installed. The four terra cotta spires were rebuilt using existing pieces and new pieces of terra cotta.

The brick masonry below the roof was solid tuckpointed. Deteriorated brick were removed and replaced with new brick. The brick had to be custom made since the existing brick that the campanile was built with were of the standard size which is a longer brick than the modular size that is typically available today.

The City of Davenport decided to build a skate park in the summer of 2006. We were awarded the contract to do the shotcrete portion of the skate park.

We placed fifteen thousand square feet of shotcrete for this skate park. Shotcrete for skate parks is extremely labor intensive due to the tight finish that must be put onto the surface of the concrete as well as the curvatures that have to be constructed so the riders have a smooth and enjoyable ride.

We used the wet shotcrete process where the ready-mix truck simply backs up and fills the hopper of our pump with the concrete to be sprayed.

This was a large masonry restoration job for our company. We worked on this job for two years with a crew of approximately ten workers. This job consisted of tuckpointing all of the deteriorated stone joints, patching the deteriorated stone and replacing deteriorated sealant.

In 1998 we were awarded the contract to replace 15,000 brick and clean the East elevation of Kinnick Stadium.

In 2008 we were awarded a contract to perform an epoxy injection at Des Moines Community School District Central Academy.  The job consisted of epoxy injecting a debonded topping slab to the existing structural slab.  We used multiple system ports and plural component injecting machines to complete this work. We injected 12,000 square feet of floor area.