Elm Park Towers, Worcester Housing Authority, Worcester, MA

The 16-story high rise, owned and operated by the Worcester Housing Authority, exhibited severe leakage through the wall of one end of the building that faced northeast. After performing destructive removals of select areas of the wall, we determined that there was no through wall flashing and that the existing brick veneer was too close to the backup structure.

In this case, installation of through wall flashing, for example, at the floor lines would not solve the problem as water would continue to infiltrate between floors. Only complete rebuilding of the wall with all new flashing would solve the problem while maintaining the aesthetic of the building exterior. A full exterior barrier system (cladding in metal panel or coating) would keep the water out, but it would change the look of the building. Because of the high cost of the other options the Owner was open to seeing the Coating Option in place. Extensive mockups on the existing brick demonstrated that we could keep the water out while maintaining the original look of the building at a very economical price. A real win-win.