Dietrick Dining Hall, Exterior Restoration

Compass Contracting recently performed a $100,000 exterior renovation of Virginia Tech’s main dining facility, in Blacksburg, VA.

The scope of work for this project entailed the following:

• Cleaning and sealing of the exterior precast concrete elements.
• Structural concrete repairs to the beams, columns, and walls.
• Tuckpointing of natural stone elements.
• Installing and epoxy broadcast overlay system.
• Epoxy crack injection.
• Caulking replacement.

Sika products were chosen to be used on this project and included concrete patching mortars, epoxy resins, elastomeric coatings, anti-corrosion inhibitors, and caulking sealants. The work was to be done during the school’s summer break, resulting in a very tight completion schedule.

Compass contracting self-performed 100% of the work on this project. Sam Neighbors, Vice President, acted as project manager and Frank Hernandez was the on-site project foreman. Both Sam and Frank worked closely with VA Tech’s project management and the consulting architect, HDH of Christiansburg, VA.

Repair materials:

• Sika Armatec 110 - This product was used to prime the steel rebar and as a bonding agent prior to the placement of the repair mortars.
• SikaTop 121 Plus - This product was used to rub out bug holes and minor surface defects in the concrete surfaces.
• SikaRepair SHB - This product was used to hand patch vertical, horizontal and overhead spall repairs.
• SikaLatex R - This product was added to the SikaRepair SHB to increase mortar’s adhesion in overhead applications.
• Sikagard Elastocolor - The product was selected as the elastomeric coating to be applied onto the concrete beams, columns and mechanical penthouse screen wall panels. This product provided both a means of sealing the concrete and a uniform coloration of the structure.
• SikaFlex 1A - This product was used in the routing out and sealing of cracks in the concrete beams and columns.
• Sikadur Combiflex
• Sika MonoTop 611 - This product was selected as the material to use in the form and pour repairs of deeply spalled areas, which exceeded 2” in depth.
• Sikadur Epoxy Broad-Cast Overlay System - This systems was chosen as the waterproofing for the horizontal surfaces of the concrete beams.