Gale Helps Watertown Housing Authority Save Senior Housing Complex

Ever since this five-story, two-building senior housing complex was built in 1983, it has been plagued with severe envelope problems. The leakage and poor indoor air quality was so prevalent that the buildings came very close to being demolished after several unsuccessful attempts to repair the deterioration.

The original building envelope was constructed with an exterior insulated finish system (EIFS) installed over a metal stud back-up wall. The sealant-dependent system, and poor construction detailing and workmanship failed shortly after the building's completion. This resulted in significant water infiltration, rusting out metal studs and saturating the wall and roof assemblies.

The Watertown Housing Authority brought Gale onto the project to establish the extent of the damage. After performing destructive and non-destructive testing, a leak audit, infrared thermography, and in-depth visual evaluation, Gale determined that the entire envelopes of both buildings, including the metal studs, had to be replaced.

Gale designed the complete facade and roof renovations with a metal panel system and oversaw the construction while both buildings were fully occupied with minimal disruption. Building B was completed in 2009; Building A (photos on the left) will be completed in 2010/2011.