Steel in New York is the unseen skeleton holding up the skyline. Used universally in facades, walls, floors, roofs, basements, windows, doors, sidewalks and fire escapes, for structure and aesthetic. It’s strong and reliable, supporting its ever-changing load for decades, even a century, provided it’s well maintained, protected and waterproofed.
Through CANY’s extensive work to help building owners meet the requirements of New York’s Façade and Safety Inspection Program (FISP), our engineers have seen their fair share of steel that has quietly rusted over time and become unstable. The damage can be hidden on a spandrel steel deep within a building that historically might not have been properly waterproofed. When a brick façade starts to degrade it lets in water, which gets stuck, unable to dry out, sitting on the steel causing it to rust and the steel to expand. This is called rust-jacking because the accumulated rust literally jacks elements off the building, making the building a danger to the public below.
CANY’s engineers offer a Structural Steel Repair Service to mitigate against such events. When cracks are detected on a building, it’s quite likely it will be the steel elements that are suffering. Repair involves opening-up the building, tracing the leak, locating and removing the rust, then repairing, reinforcing or replacing the steel, before closing-up with more efficient waterproofing. Rust cannot remain, it won’t get better with a quick fix; it must be removed.
Structural Steel Repairs are rarely required for isolated projects, more often the cause is part of a bigger issue, such as failing waterproofing or degradation of façade. At CANY, we have over twenty-five years of experience of working on New York’s most recognized buildings, some of which were built at times when building codes barely existed. We know what we’re looking for and there isn’t much we haven’t seen. If you think you might have a problem, get in touch and let us work with you to determine the cause and provide a solution before it becomes a bigger problem.
