Structural Repairs for Historic House in Denver

Building Structure

This old historic brick house is a single-story house with a second floor located within the roof rafter A-frame construction.  It is constructed with wood framing for the roof, floor and interior walls.  The exterior walls, foundation walls and interior foundation walls are constructed with brick.  There is a small basement with crawlspace below the main floor.

Location: Denver, Colorado

Year Originally Built: 1891

Issues/Concerns:

  • There is extensive brick and mortar deterioration in the foundation walls.
  • Brick interior bearing walls are damaged with openings created for mechanical ducts causing structural framing support issues.
  • Wall cracking is present on the interior and exterior walls.
  • Exterior wythe of bricks are separating from the interior brick wythe at the front of the house,
  • Floors are sloping.
  • High-strength mortar repairs were previously used with old brick construction.
  • Ground water is saturating soils around the perimeter of the foundation in the crawlspace.
  • The exterior grade is relatively flat around house and property.

Challenges: There is asbestos and construction debris within the crawlspace.  Lead paint is present on exterior brick walls.  Brick foundation construction around the crawlspace is very shallow below exterior grade.

Services: Investigation, Design and Repair Services
Date: 2015 through 2016
Resolution: Brick wall, foundation and main floor framing repairs developed for construction.