High-Rise Facade Repair, Sealant Replacement & Envelope Protection at 6,035 Feet
Commercial Facade Restoration Specialists in Colorado Springs, CO
Colorado Springs works a facade differently from a coastal city, and harder than the elevation alone suggests. The city sits at 6,035 feet, where thinner air lets more ultraviolet through onto the south and west elevations, and it collects that exposure across roughly 243 sunny days a year. Coatings chalk, factory finishes on aluminum and composite panel fade, and sealant losing its volatile content into air that carries only about 16.5 inches of precipitation a year goes hard and shrinks back from the joint face. Winter then crosses the freezing point on most days rather than settling below it, so water already inside a joint expands and releases again and again through the season.
Hail is what turns all of that from a maintenance item into a capital one. On 28 July 2016 a single storm over the city produced 84,500 insurance claims and US$352.8 million in insured losses, the fourth costliest hailstorm in Colorado’s record and the second costliest catastrophe Colorado Springs has seen. We restore the whole above-grade envelope on the buildings this city is actually made of: the towers along Cascade Avenue and Tejon Street, the brick and Lyons sandstone of Old Colorado City and the Old North End, and the institutional stock in the corridor around Fort Carson, Peterson Space Force Base and the Air Force Academy.
OUR FACADE RESTORATION SERVICES IN COLORADO SPRINGS
Trace a leak in a commercial building here and spent caulking is usually the origin. Three forces push the same way. Ultraviolet at altitude. A joint stretched and compressed every single day of the year. Air dry enough to draw the plasticizer straight out of the material. The sealant hardens, stops moving, debonds off one joint face and opens a clear path inward. Our high-rise technicians remove the spent material, prepare and prime the joint, set backer rod correctly, then install silicone and polyurethane specified for high ultraviolet and a wide daily movement range. One coordinated pass across the elevation covers window perimeters, expansion joints, panel joints, penetrations and control joints.
Altitude shows up first on aluminum, ACM panel, mullion and architectural trim. Thinner atmosphere puts more ultraviolet onto the coating, so a factory finish good for years at sea level chalks and fades markedly sooner up here, and on top of that airborne grit and winter road treatment leave a film no ordinary wash will shift. Before a budget is written for wholesale panel replacement, put our metal restoration team on recovering the original finish. Oxidation and embedded contamination come off under controlled micro-abrasion, refinishing returns factory color and luster, and the cost is a fraction of replacement with far less disruption. Restored metal is normally sealed afterwards as part of our Commercial Waterproofing services.
No window-cleaning contract reverses what happens to glass on a Colorado Springs tower. Low humidity dries irrigation overspray hard and bakes the mineral content into the surface. Alkaline runoff coming off concrete and cast stone etches permanently. Grit blown off dry ground hazes and micro-scratches. Chemical glass restoration dissolves that staining, lifts the mineral contamination and takes out the surface damage with the glass unharmed, so a curtain wall recovers real optical clarity. Holding that clarity afterwards is what our proprietary Glass Defender treatment, which is covered on the commercial waterproofing page.
One weakness is common to stucco, EIFS, precast concrete and masonry, and in this climate it is not humidity at all but the freeze arriving after a wet spell. All of them are porous. They take water on during a storm or a thaw, and that water expands once the temperature crosses back over freezing the same night. Carry that through a season and you get hairline cracking that widens, spalling at the surface and corrosion in the reinforcing behind. Our elastomeric waterproof coating systems cure into a membrane that is both flexible and breathable. It travels with the thermal cycling rather than fighting it, bridges hairline cracks to 1/16 inch, holds bulk water at the surface and still vents trapped vapor. A full palette of colors and finishes is available.
Cut stone supplies a great deal of this city’s character. Lyons sandstone from the Red Rock Canyon quarries inside the city limits was valued for color, for uniformity and for how cleanly it carved, and it appears right across the Pikes Peak region beside the cast stone and precast panel of later downtown work. Being porous, stone takes water on in a freeze-thaw climate and then has to contain it as it expands, which is the origin of surface loss, efflorescence and bedding joints that have opened. Every stone project opens with a substrate evaluation and gentle controlled cleaning that lifts contamination and leaves the face unscarred, followed by penetrating sealers and breathable coatings that shut water out while still letting the material dry. Damaged sections take color-matched patching engineered to behave the way the original does.
Mortar is always the first casualty in a brick wall, well ahead of the brick itself, and freeze-thaw is what hollows a joint out. With the mortar eroded back, rain and snowmelt run directly into the wall assembly. Inside that reads as staining. On the face it reads as efflorescence. Given time it reads as brick gone loose.
Our masonry crews cut each eroded joint back to the proper depth, place replacement mortar matched on color, compressive strength and composition, then tool the finish so the wall’s original joint profile returns. One accountable team covers both structural repointing and decorative tuckpointing, instead of the work being divided between trades.
Older brick in Old Colorado City, the Old North End and Historic Uptown gets lime-based blends deliberately soft enough to move with the wall. Specify a modern high-strength mix there and the mortar holds while the brick face spalls in its place.
Our Facade Restoration Process in Colorado Springs
Every Colorado Springs facade project runs through the same five phases, built to find every defect before work is priced, keep crews and occupants safe while it is carried out, and hand over a documented result at the end.
Building Envelope
Review
The whole envelope gets looked at three ways: from grade, by drone, and close up off suspended access. Sealants, metals, glass, stone, coatings and masonry all get photographed and logged, and the defect map is finished before a single number is priced.
Diagnostic Testing
Where a leak or concealed deterioration is suspected we run controlled water spray testing, infrared thermography and moisture readings, so the intrusion is traced back to its real source rather than patched where it shows.
Scope & Planning
What the survey finds turns into a line-item scope carrying quantities, named products and a phased schedule shaped around the application windows this climate permits. Access logistics, occupant communication and Pikes Peak Regional Building Department permitting all sit with your project manager.
Restoration Execution
Restoration is executed to manufacturer specification by certified rope-access and swing-stage crews, while field supervisors hold quality control and log progress every day.
Closeout & Warranty
Turnover hands over the entire record. Warranty documents. Product data sheets. Before-and-after imagery. Plus a maintenance roadmap written to protect the money just spent.
Our Local Colorado Springs, CO Support Network
Serving downtown Colorado Springs, Old Colorado City, Manitou Springs and the wider Pikes Peak region properly takes more than crews who turn up. A network of specialized regional divisions is coordinated under Presto so coverage runs unbroken, from major envelope restoration through to routine facility care.
Property managers who want day-to-day and preventative support can approach our sister divisions directly:
Building Restoration Colorado Springs: Localized structural repair and high-rise exterior preservation.
Building Maintenance Colorado Springs: The ongoing preventative maintenance that keeps a Pikes Peak region property performing through the season.
Building Services Colorado Springs: Comprehensive day-to-day commercial building support across the region.
Why Colorado Springs Property Managers Choose Presto for Facade Restoration
For more than 27 years Presto Restoration has protected commercial properties nationwide, and the specification for this market is its own. That means coatings and sealants chosen for ultraviolet exposure at 6,035 feet and for daily thermal cycling rather than seasonal, roof and wall assemblies judged against what a severe hailstorm actually does to them, and permitting run through the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department rather than a single city department. Explore our full range of Colorado Springs building restoration services.
Send Us What You Are Seeing on Your Colorado Springs Facade
Unclear where your facade actually stands? Tell us what the elevation is showing, or send photographs, and our specialists will identify what has failed and lay out the options.
Call 1-800-785-9927 or Request A Free Quote.
Recent Facade Restoration Projects in Colorado
COLORADO PORTFOLIO HIGHLIGHTS
Facade, glass and masonry restoration Presto has carried out on Colorado commercial buildings.
Colorado Springs Facade Restoration FAQs
How often should a commercial facade be restored in Colorado Springs?
The cycle here is set by ultraviolet exposure and by freeze-thaw rather than by salt. As a general guide we recommend a full envelope inspection every 3 to 5 years, sealant replacement every 8 to 12 years, elastomeric coating renewal every 10 to 15 years, and masonry repointing every 20 to 35 years. South and west elevations reach the short end of the coating window first, because that is where the ultraviolet load lands, and any building that has taken a severe hailstorm should be looked at on its own schedule rather than the calendar.
What are the warning signs a Colorado Springs building needs facade restoration?
Look for caulking that has cracked, shrunk or pulled away from one side of a joint; rust streaks bleeding from fasteners or panels down stucco or concrete; white efflorescence on brick, cast stone and sandstone; stucco that is chalking, crazing or discolored; interior staining or a musty smell near exterior walls after a thaw; glass that stays hazy after cleaning; and spalling concrete around balconies, railings and window openings. Dents in metal coping and copings that have shifted are also worth reporting, because they usually date from a hailstorm and mark where the envelope was opened.
Can you restore a facade without disrupting tenants or occupants?
Yes. We routinely work on occupied offices, hotels and institutional buildings across Colorado Springs. Rope access avoids the footprint and the noise of scaffolding, disruptive tasks are scheduled outside peak hours where the work allows, property managers are kept updated through the project, and the work is phased so lobbies, entrances and parking stay in use.
How long does facade restoration take on a Colorado Springs high-rise?
Height and scope set it; the weather window then tightens it. Narrow sealant replacement on a mid-rise may wrap inside two to four weeks. Take a downtown tower through caulking, coatings, masonry and metals together and three to six months is the norm. Because sealants and coatings carry minimum application and cure temperatures, and the dependable stretch of the year is shorter at this elevation, we fix a firm schedule once the building has been scoped so ownership can plan against it.
What warranties apply to facade restoration work?
That varies with the coating systems, sealants and repair methods a given building ends up needing. Full warranty documentation is handed over at closeout, and we take owners through precisely what is covered while the job is still being scoped, well before anyone signs a contract.
Does Presto handle permitting for facade work in Colorado Springs?
Yes. Regionally issued, in fact: the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department handles commercial permits and inspections for Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Fountain, Manitou Springs, Monument, Palmer Lake, Green Mountain Falls, Calhan and Woodland Park. Applications are filed by our project managers, who run inspections through that single authority. Designated historic properties add the City of Colorado Springs Historic Preservation Board to the sequence for exterior work. If another contractor already holds the site, permitting is coordinated with them. Nationwide general liability and workers’ compensation coverage is in place.
Other Colorado Springs Building Restoration Services
Protect Your Colorado Springs Building Investment
A leak appearing inside means the facade failed some time ago, and in this climate roughly one winter separates the first open joint from the first stained ceiling. Whether the repair stays small is decided by how early somebody looks at the exterior.
Call us today at 1-800-785-9927 or click Request A Quote.