Improper or failing caulk seals across hundreds of facade joints represent vulnerabilities undermining your property’s weather-tightness, energy efficiency, and long-term durability. Over time, the cumulative impact of air and water infiltration through unsealed cracks accelerates wear on structural components, electrical systems, and interior finishes.
That’s why working with professional commercial caulking contractors represents a wise facilities management investment. Read on for an in-depth look at proven best practices for maintaining your high-rise asset’s all-important building envelope integrity.
Conducting Thorough High-Rise Site Assessments
The first step for any reputable commercial caulking firm lies in conducting thorough field assessments of existing building conditions. During initial walk-throughs, technicians scrutinize all joints, seams, and transitions needing fresh sealant, including:
- Perimeter seals around windows/curtain walls
- Expansion/control joints between facade panels
- Parapet walls caps and copings
- Roof equipment curbs/flashings
- Window washing anchor points
- Louvered vents/AC units
- Door frames/entryways
Inspectors employ tapping methods to identify hollow-sounding areas indicating voids or delamination behind existing caulk beads. They also use moisture meters, probes, and cameras to gauge seal integrity. Photos, diagrams, and joint measurements document crack widths/depths, previous repairs, caulk deterioration levels, and other deficiencies.
Professionals take detailed notes on building materials, daily sun/shade exposure, prevailing wind direction, facade orientations, and indications of prior moisture infiltration, such as efflorescence or staining. All aspects combine to inform repair recommendations and work plans customized to your property’s exclusive construction characteristics and geographic climate challenges.
Access Planning for Working Safely at Heights
With extensive heights involved, commercial high-rise caulking projects present significant fall hazards. As such, reputable contractors invest heavily in advanced rigging and access equipment, such as elaborate swing staging/suspended scaffolds that encapsulate multiple building floors.
Safety managers conduct engineering analyses of rooftops and equipment to determine safe working load limits for rigging and loads. Redundant counterweight systems and strict tie-off policies provide additional protection against uncontrolled descent.
Controlled Access
Zones with strict entry protocols isolate immediate work areas from falling tool hazards. Specialized safety nets offer further protection. Such rigorous fall prevention standards reduce risks to workers and the public while inspiring confidence in the crew’s ability to operate safely at extreme elevations.
Choosing the Best Caulking and Sealants
With hundreds of caulking and sealant products on the market, material selection represents a complex specification task. The ideal solutions for high-rise buildings balance performance, longevity, and cost-effectiveness while meeting relevant building standards.
On commercial projects, advanced silicone, polyurethane, and hybrid caulks provide the optimal blend of long-term durability, elasticity, and weather/UV resistance needed to accommodate the greater movement and extreme exposure of high-rise joints.
Professional assessors consider multiple characteristics, including joint location, width, depth, movement, and orientation, when recommending appropriate products. For example, wider expansion joints prone to greater structural shifts may utilize more flexible, higher-performance caulks than narrower control joints.
Aesthetics also play a role. On decorative precast panels or stone facades, colored or textured caulks hide repairs and blend with surrounding surfaces. In all product cases, reputable contractors verify conformance with relevant ASTM specifications and rely on name-brand caulks applied precisely per manufacturer instructions.
Careful Surface Preparation
After safely accessing work zones, commercial caulking crews thoroughly clean all joint surfaces using specialty power tools, solvents, or chemicals depending on substrates. Proper cleaning eliminates bond-breaking contaminants while exposing intact, structurally sound joint edges for caulk adhesion.
Grinding wheels, oscillating cutting blades, sandblasters, or pressure washers remove failing caulk beads and backing materials, such as old rod packs, down to sound substrates. Primers, activation agents, or substrate refreshers further prepare joint surfaces where needed.
The goal is to remove all material compromising caulk bonds while providing contaminant-free, refreshed edges for new sealant beads to grab onto. Careful prep represents one secret to achieving long-lasting water/air-tight seals.
Applying Caulk Neatly and Consistently
With joints prepped and ready, applying caulk evenly across hundreds of linear feet of intricate high-rise facades taxes even the steadiest hands. True caulking professionals, however, make the task look deceivingly easy.
The mark of a seasoned commercial caulker lies in their ability to maintain perfectly straight aesthetic joint lines without sags, runs, or messy overlaps of material. Crews dispense caulk from top-quality bulk-loading guns to control flows and profiles. Proper caulking depth is also essential; too little caulk won’t make a solid bond, while too much leads to unsightly squeezing out of material.
On some joints, crews first insert foam backer rods cut slightly larger than gaps to provide back pressure and limit caulk usage. As the last step, professionals neatly “tool” applied sealant beads to achieve seamless transitions, optimal adhesive contact, and water/air-tight seals lasting 10-15 years.
Ongoing Inspections and Maintenance
While commercial caulking projects aim to provide long service lives, ongoing facade movements, severe weathering, accidents, and other factors mean seals eventually fail again. As such, reputable contractors guide facility managers on sealant lifecycles and best practices for periodic inspections and maintenance.
For example, they recommend checking all important seals every year before winter and after major storms. Any identified cracks or voids can be addressed with annual touch-ups to preserve integrity and extend restoration cycles. With vigilant upkeep, owners get the most ROI from their commercial envelope caulking investments.
Protect Your High-Rise Building With Expert Commercial Caulking
Maintaining the properly sealed building envelope system through industrial-grade commercial caulking represents an invaluable tool for protecting the intricate facades of high-rise structures against moisture damage, air infiltration, and accelerated weathering.
An ounce of preventative sealant applied today by a restoration professional can save facility owners many pounds of restorative repairs tomorrow. Waterproof Caulking & Restoration is here to help. Contact us today at 484.265.9646 or online to schedule an assessment and get started as soon as possible on protecting your building.