Restoring a Building Facade to Its Former Commercial Glory

Until recently, a notable section of Boston had a bunch of 1970s-style high-rises that stuck out for the wrong reasons. They didn’t fit with the newer, prettier glasswork buildings by the harbor. 

To entice people to work or live in these buildings, the owners made the smart move of adding glass facades.

Whether the client’s in it for the long haul or just wants to improve the resale value, a property can benefit greatly from contract restoration work. The reasons are not just aesthetic – in skilled hands, building facade restoration can renew structural safety and energy efficiency.

To the layman, a restoration job might mean a few coats of paint. To a commercial contractor, a job well done means thoroughly completing four key steps — assessment, product selection, surface prep, and material application.

Let’s check out the lay of the land for all four.

(Related Post: Parking Garage Restoration Guide)

What Does Facade Restoration Consist Of?

Commercial building facade restoration comes down to goals and actions.

As always, the smart path is to identify your desired outcome first. Possible goals of facade restoration include:

• To preserve aesthetic appeal & historical charm
• To ensure safety
• To improve energy efficiency

As such, the exterior restoration process usually involves cleaning, material repair and replacement, and protective treatment. Target spots might include cladding, windows, doors, awnings, or other architectural features.

Altogether, your work should bring both the form and function of the building back to better days.

4 Steps of Commercial Exterior Restoration

From the contractor’s or subcontractor’s point of view, there are four steps to a commercial restoration project:

1. Assessing the Facade

Some structures seem fine at a glance, but a thorough inspection may dig up some real dirt. The older the building is, the more likely it is to be structurally deficient or even out of code compliance.

As for your project — which of the goals we discussed earlier are urgent priorities? That’s where to focus your restoration efforts.

But first, you must assess the current state of things. Start with the telltale signs that a facade component needs work:

• Surface damage: Look for cracked masonry, structural shifting and settling, loose screws, and deteriorating sealants at expansion joints. These all hint at underlying issues that can graduate to serious side effects if you don’t address them up-front.
  
  
• Building openings: See if any doors, windows, or vents are a source of air or water intrusion. Prioritize urgent issues like cracked glass and broken doors.
  
  
• Roof issues: Inspect elements atop the building for obstruction from debris and deterioration from exposure to heat and moisture. Problem areas may include gutters, drains, downspouts, flashings, and copings.
  
  
• Other hazards: Is there any other source of ongoing environmental damage? Could falling debris put people in danger?

2. Selecting a Product

This is when your choices start making or breaking (hopefully not literally) the results of your work. Building restoration products must be compatible with both the existing material and the environmental conditions.

A successful commercial restoration practice means knowing how to work with exterior materials like concrete, brick, stone, terra cotta, metal, and glass. Many facade materials have specific restoration needs, as do certain job site conditions. You’ll need to keep both factors in mind as you pick out products.

Common building restoration products include:

As you plan for action, think back on your assessment of the storefront, commercial cladding, or whatever else you’re restoring. What factors were contributing to each issue with the facade?

If the building is rife with decay and mold, and your facade is the culprit allowing water inside, the answer is easy. Buy products that fully solve leaks, condensation, and poor drainage.

If the materials appeared eroded, weather conditions may have gotten the best of them. Look at products that protect against temperature extremes, sunlight, and wind.

If there were cracks, shifts, or gaps in the building envelope, you may need to add or replace expansion joints. Make sure the product matches the expected movement of the structure.

3. Surface Prep

The property owner (and you too, probably) will want this to be a one-and-done project. Arguably the biggest step in preserving the work’s quality and longevity is preparing the surface.

A little pre-application TLC helps the installation’s:

• Adhesion
• Visual appeal
• Environmental resistance

All of the above also mean you won't receive a call back for rework. 

Surface preparation steps often include:

Cleaning

Absolutely do not coat or apply new material to the surface until the surface is free of dirt, debris, and pollutants.

There are several ways to clean a concrete or other masonry surface. 

Base your choice on the facade’s material type and condition.

Repair & Removal

Now that you’ve dealt with the surface defects, you can address deeper structural problems.

You'll need to weigh what's worth saving and what's not. Activities at this stage might include:

• Removal of damaged material – cutting out deteriorated brick, removing crumbling concrete, stripping failed coatings
• Crack repair – cleaning out fissures, then filling them with sealants
• Spall repair – removing loose concrete, treating exposed rebar, and patching with mortars
• Repointing – removing and replacing deteriorated mortar in joints

Drying

Dry the working area completely before applying products or even profiling the surface. 

At the profiling stage, wet substrates can clog tools and make textures uneven. Dry surfaces help you more easily spot the areas you need to profile. At the product application stage, a little patience will result in better adhesion of sealants, coats, and repair materials.

Check for water with a moisture meter or calcium chloride test to verify acceptable moisture levels.

Profiling

The texture of a concrete or similar surface is surprisingly crucial to the construction process. Best practices may call for a smoother or rougher surface than what your job site currently exhibits.

Abrasive surface profiling methods like shot blasting, grinding, and scarifying create a rougher surface for better product adhesion. Keying is another method with the same idea; it creates small grooves to improve the bonding of coatings and repair materials.

Chemical etching works on the opposite end of the spectrum, creating a profile on smooth surfaces. It’s particularly useful on concrete.

Follow International Concrete Repair Institute profiling standards to achieve the right level of roughness for your restoration product and surface.

4. Application

Now's when all your diligence will pay off! 

The typical order of business in facade restoration work is:

That said, you still have to be mindful of technique and tool selection. You may need to use several application methods for the same project.

(Related Post: The Art of Applying Joint Sealant)

Each method has its place in facade restoration. Your choice may also depend on:

• The specific product you're applying
• Time & budget limits
• User skill level

Application Conditions

When choosing tools, techniques, and timelines, environmental factors are just as important as the working surface. Watch the forecast for unusually hot, cold, wet, or humid days.

Most products have an ideal temperature range for application, typically 50-90°F. Applying products outside this range will probably impair curing, adhesion, and overall performance. Don't forget the surface temperature either — check that it's at least 5°F above the dew point to avoid condensation. Similarly, some products have maximum-humidity recommendations — usually around 80-85% — to avoid slow or poor curing.

Finally, no matter the job site conditions, always follow the basic best practices for restoring a facade:

• Follow the manufacturer’s product guidelines for optimal results and warranty compliance.
• Keep working time in mind for mixed products so they don’t cure inside the container.
• Apply the product consistently – overapplication can lead to runs or improper curing, while underuse can cause performance to suffer.
• To control thickness, use a wet film gauge during application and measure the dry film after curing.
• Allow full curing before you expose the facade to stress.

Patience, Planning, & Product Education

Building facade restoration is about more than covering up a few small blemishes. It’s more like a comprehensive facelift and chiropractic visit, all in one. Your work should honor and revitalize the exterior’s original charm while repairing the structural woes that threaten safety and longevity.

Be patient, have a plan, and thoroughly address all the steps from assessment to application. Band-Aid fixes will only put you (or a competitor) back on the site in 1-2 years.

A lot of products can go into a single restoration job, so continued technical education is key. We've got more tips on construction product use here: