The rehabilitation process for various types of buildings and constructions is fast picking up pace in the building and construction sector. It is thus that individuals in the industry such as Ali Ata from the AAIM Development, who works in property development decided to rehabilitate a residential building in Illinois.
This is a 30-unit multifamily residential building that is in need of a lot restoration to escalate tenant retention. Installation of new heating and air conditioning systems is among the major changes in the rehabilitation plan for the building. Ata divulges the information that he intends to conduct an overall upgradation of the building’s functionality. Working with the AAIM development, Ata has gained expertise in the trade over the years and has added to the age-old reputation of the rehabilitation firm for buildings.
Changes in the rehabilitation procedures
The process of restoration or rehabilitation of buildings has witnessed sea changes from pre- Covid to post- Covid situation. After the global society was struck hard by the outrageous blow of the pandemic, there was a noticeable decline in the retention of tenants. With the growing inclination of individuals such as Ali Ata towards the rehabilitation of residential buildings, the retention of tenancy has made a comeback.
Failure of rehabilitation
Despite the gradual movement towards more and more restoration of buildings, there have been incidents of failure of the process. The failure of the process lay in the shortcomings of the concrete that was being used. The exposure of the concrete to various types of loads was the primary cause of this failure. Concrete was known to fail under situations of compression, tension, flexure, or torsion. The weakness of concrete in tension made the failure more pronounced. The deterioration of concrete is caused by various reasons which in turn leads to problems in functions, aesthetics, and structure. Some of the factors that cause concrete to be damaged include chemical damage, insufficient reinforcement, and damage by impact, fire, blast, seismic, structural, carbonation, and chloride attack.
Retrofitting methods for rehabilitation
Some of the mention-worthy methods that are used in the retrofitting process during rehabilitation are guniting, shotcreting, concrete stitching, resin injections, dry packing, polymer impregnation, vacuum impregnation, autogenous healing, drilling, and plugging. Epoxy injection, polymer concrete composite usage, concrete sealer usage, routing and sealing, and fiber-reinforced concrete are among the other names that come under this.
Strengthening the structure during rehabilitation
Within the process of rehabilitation, there are various ways in which the structure can be strengthened, informs Ali Ata. The steel can be pre-stressed to repair the cracks; apart from that chemical grouting, column jacketing, beam jacketing and carbon wrapping are the commonly used means of strengthening the structure.
Thus, it is evident that concrete plays the role of the protagonist when it comes to the rehabilitation of a residential building. This is why it is important that one is aware of the ways in which it can affect the rehabilitation of the buildings, irrespective of their type.
