A Note From Josh: Start With a Diagnosis, Not a Repair

A few weeks ago we were hired to perform a below-grade investigation on a historic maintenance building where some new masonry problems had started to show up.

What I want to point out is what the owner did before they ever called us. They saw something changing in their building, and instead of guessing at it, they brought in a structural engineering firm to look at it and write a report. Then they hired us to open things up below grade and investigate further, coordinating with that same engineer, not around him. Written down, that sequence sounds obvious. In practice it's the exception. More often we get called in after somebody has already spent money on a repair that never addressed the cause.

What we found below grade was that a water main break had washed out soil beneath the foundation and let the structure settle. Once we could see what we were dealing with, we brought one more voice to the table: Brian Barnes of Prosoco, their Business Unit Leader for the Anchoring Systems Group. As luck would have it, Brian lives about 45 minutes from the site. He came out and walked the building with us and the engineer.

That's the meeting that produced the fix. The three of us worked through it together and landed on a repair built around Prosoco's heavy-duty sock anchors, a system we'd used before at Fort Atkinson and came away impressed with, particularly on a wall that's moved and needs to be stabilized and reconnected from the inside without tearing the building apart to do it.

Here's why I'm writing about it. Restoration money gets spent on problems an owner can't see. What gives everybody in that conversation confidence (the owner, the engineer, and us) is knowing the diagnosis came from someone qualified to make it, and that the people who manufacture the material stand behind the approach and put their own hands on the building.

That's what specialists are for. Not just good products and good reports, but people who know their piece cold and will get in the truck when you call. I'm grateful for Brian's friendship and for his help on this project and plenty of others. Good suppliers aren't vendors, they're part of the team.

If your building is showing you something new (a crack, movement, water where it shouldn't be), start with a diagnosis, not a repair. Our Investigation & Budgeting work is built for exactly that, and when the diagnosis calls for it, our masonry and concrete restoration crews carry out the fix. Either way, reach out anytime. We're always glad to be part of the conversation.

Josh SmyserOwner, TNT Tuckpointing & Building Restoration