Category Archives: Facility Spotlight Blog

Water is Nature’s Best Solvent

We as architects spend a great deal of our career figuring out how to keep water out of the structures we design. Water that is allowed to penetrate the non-permeable envelope of any given building over time can and will create damage and may give mold one of the ingredients that it needs to grow. Water, given time, can literally destroy a building. It can rust out the steel structure, roof deck, bar joists, embedded columns/beams/lintels, soften mortar, spall off the face of brick, diminish/eliminate the effective R-value of roof and wall insulation, ruin gypsum board, ceiling tile/grids, rot wood windows, wood building structure, and wood nailers, ruin wood gym floors, rust out hollow metal door frames and doors, support termite colonies, and ruin interior finishes.

Over the past 32 years, I have done more door/frame replacements, window replacements, reroofs, roof deck replacements, and masonry tuckpointing projects than I care to count. All of these are examples of issues that may have been avoided if joints in the building envelope would have been kept sealed with caulking. For example, the joint between a window jamb and the masonry wall. This may not hurt an aluminum window but over time can cause masonry joints to go bad prematurely, create that white, salty looking film on the face of the brick commonly known as efflorescence which honestly is an aesthetic issue, or allow water to seep into the concrete block which can literally push the paint off the interior side of exterior walls, or can rust embedded steel window and door lintels below this opening. I have seen all of these examples. And if let unattended, all of these problems can be extremely expensive to replace/correct. Best advice? Stop it before it happens!

Over my career, I have designed many new buildings. Once completed, the first thing I tell the building owner is “Keep all the joints caulked!” Some building owners believe that since it is a new building, I should not have to conduct any maintenance until the roof leaks! That’s like saying “Since the building is new, I shouldn’t have to clean it”. Yes, I have experienced this non-maintenance on many occasions. The fact is caulking is probably the first thing to go bad on a building. Numerous times I have observed on 2-3-year-old buildings caulk joints that are split/separated/falling out. Now, this may be in part due to improper application of the caulking originally, potential contamination of an area in the joint which did not let the caulk to adhere properly, kids poking pencils into caulk joints, etc. The fact is, when a caulk joint goes bad, it needs to be replaced fairly quickly! As soon as that joint opens, water in going to intrude!

We always recommend to all of our clients that they inspect caulk joints top to bottom at least once a year and replace all that has failed. Spending $7 on a tube of caulk can pay HUGE dividends in the life cycle cost of any building. Take my word for it, It is cheap insurance.

A word of caution; not all caulking/sealants are the same. There are certain types for certain applications. As this can be somewhat a lengthy discussion, I will leave it to another time. Just don’t go out and purchase a case of tub/tile caulk to try to repair an exterior 2” expansion joint!

There are also right and wrong ways to caulk joints. You can find instructions on the internet. If not followed, you will be wasting your money! This too we will leave for another day.

Be careful out there!

Written by Corey Schultz, AIA, LEED BD+C

“With the potential school closing looming….”

It seems money is always tight in any one’s budget and there is always a challenge to figure out how to stretch a dollar even further.  And when Topeka says “Lock the doors” has anyone considered what this means for the actual buildings”  Many times administrators look to cutting energy costs by shutting down mechanical systems when the building is not occupied for example summer recess or maybe a school system shutdown.  We have seen this done only for returning staff to find classrooms covered with mold and to compound the problem, with only a couple of weeks before schools starts!  Ugh!

For growth, mold needs food, water, and the right temperature.  Food is really anything that is organic, dust, paper fibers, human dander, organic dirt particles, and mold loves it!  It needs a source of moisture which can be a water source, i.e. leaky roof, pipe leak, etc. and/or high humidity which happens in Kansas during the summer months.  Finally, mold likes warm temperatures which like humidity occurs during the Kansas summers.

Classrooms are not like an operating room or a “clean-room” and we cannot expect them to be.  As good as any given custodial staff may be, dirt, dust, paper fibers, human dander, etc. is over time going to build up on some surfaces be it in the carpet, ceiling tile, tops of cabinets, etc.  It happens in your home, your office, your church, your grocery store, EVERYWHERE!  There are also building products that are made of organic materials like the paper face on gypsum board.  These conditions are a mold’s food source.

During a typical Kansas summer, air temperature goes up, the air is warmer and therefore it can hold more moisture, and during these months we are provided with warm, humid air that makes it here from the Gulf of Mexico.  That is the warm temperatures and moisture that mold needs to grow.

So, what do mechanical systems, specifically cooling systems do in buildings?  Well, depending on the system, they typically help lower the air temperature which lowers the air’s ability to hold moisture thus reducing the moisture in the air.  That’s why your home air conditioning unit has that condensate drain that goes into your sump or somewhere outside.  That condensate is the moisture that your mechanical system is removing from the air.

By shutting down the mechanical system in a building during summer months for whatever reason is like ringing the dinner bell for mold.  “COME AND GET IT!!!!”  The food is there, and by shutting down the system, you are providing the temperature and moisture it so desires!  Not only that, there are a lot of interior building materials that may be damaged with high humidity like ceiling tile, wood doors, wood cabinets, wood gym floors, etc.

Now, we are not saying that you shouldn’t set the thermostat to a higher temperature than you normally would when school is in session, just don’t turn it up to a point where it never comes on and definitely DO NOT shut the system off!

By increasing the thermostat temperature to a reasonable level you will reduce some energy cost.  However, if you raise it to a point that it never comes on or you shut down the system, there is an increased chance that you won’t save a dime!  How so?  Because any money that you save in energy is going to be used for hiring mold remediation contractor and more than likely, the energy savings will not cover the entire remediation cost.  But how does any school district pay for even reduced utilities if there is no funding?

Wonder if any of the State Legislators, Governor, and/or the State Supreme Court has considered ANY of the potential ramifications of shutting down schools buildings?  I THINK NOT!  This shut down could be very costly for everyone!!!

Good luck, we have our fingers crossed that there will not be a shutdown!  Have a wonderful and safe summer!

Written by Corey Schultz, AIA, LEED BD+C