The Restoration Pillar Newsletter
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I hope you are starting off to a good week. It’ll be interesting to see what the weather decides to usher in. Perhaps the Spring will make up for lack of precipitation we had during the Winter. In any case, we really wanted to have an informative article on hail damage as it normally starts in the Spring. We also wanted to share an educational article on the common areas of cracking in bricks, as many properties we encounter daily are aged and use bricks.
I’d like to take a moment and introduce one of our Project Managers. This month I’d like to present Michael Greene. Mike has been a powerful asset to the company with his extensive knowledge in construction and remodeling. He has had experience in operating his own remodeling company and he holds multiple restoration certifications. Mike grew up in Germany and is fluent in speaking German. He is an avid soccer player and fan and enjoys the outdoors. Among the multiple fire, water and mold restoration projects Mike is currently heading up, he is also managing a major foundation repair at a multi-family townhome complex. If you have any questions for Mike, you can email him at mike@nubilt.com. Warmest Wishes, |
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| Issa Ashour President |
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Common Areas of Cracking
in Bricks and Mortar
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- Above and below doors and windows
- In the angles of bay windows
- Around corners
- Along the edges of coined corners
- Archways-above, in the corners, and in the center
- Above garage doors
- Throughout walls over 25 feet long without expansion control joints.
- Fireplaces and chimneys
Area Specific Issues
There are several reasons why cracks occur at doors and windows. The main reason for this is that they are the weakest part of the wall and pressures release at these locations easily. Brick receives its strength from the inter-locking of the brick by staggering each course instead of just stacking them. At the edge of a door or window, the brick stop and do not inter-lock. This edge creates a cold joint between the brick and framework of the door or window that allows brick to shift more easily...
Hail Damage To Roof Shingles
View Examples of What Roof Hail Damage Looks Like
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Hail forms when frozen water drops are lifted in turbulent wind regimes during thunderstorms. The frozen drops of water increase in size and eventually fall to earth as hail having been driven by a combination of gravity and wind forces. Hail stones vary in size from pea size (1/4 inch diameter, little roof damage), through marble size (3/4 inch in diameter, threshold damage to roof materials) to golf ball size (11/2 inch in diameter, typically severe damage to roofing materials).
Hail size distributions tend to be localized with some roofs damaged, while others are not. Wind direction plays an important role, as well as roof pitch. A direct impact of hail on a shingle is more damaging than that of a glancing blow. Figure 1a illustrates the dynamics of hail impact on two different roof pitches.
The home on the left would sustain more roof damage than that on the right, because...
