Planning Facade and Waterproofing Work While People Stay In

Hotels don't close for facade work. Condominium owners still need to get to their front doors. Tenants still pay rent and expect to sleep. For most property managers, the real question about a waterproofing or masonry project isn't only what has to be fixed. It's how to get it done while people are inside.

Start with the people, not the wall

Before a scope is written, a good contractor asks how the building is used. When are guests checking in? Which entrances must stay clear? Where do residents park? Are there balconies, operable windows or air intakes near the work area? The answers shape the sequence: which elevation goes first, what hours the crew works, where the scaffold or swing stage goes, how dust and debris are contained, and how the schedule gets communicated.

The wall itself is rarely the hard part. The coordination is. A contractor can know exactly how to repair a stucco facade and still make a mess of an occupied hotel if nobody thought about the loading entrance.

A hotel that stayed open

Paramount's project list includes the Holiday Inn on the Westbank Expressway in Gretna. The scope was a stucco facade remediation, window glazing and caulking, and a waterproof coating on the entire exterior, and it was completed without interruption of the business. That's the standard worth asking any contractor about: the work gets done and the business keeps running.

Tenants who weren't disturbed

Carolyn G. hired Paramount for work on her rental property. In her Google review she wrote that Albert and his crew did a great job on much-needed work, that it was done quickly and professionally, and that her tenants were not interrupted or disturbed in any way. For a landlord, that last point is the one that counts. A repair that costs you a tenant isn't a repair you wanted.

Condominiums have rules, and they matter

Jan C. described the work Paramount did at the Cotton Mill and Property One condominiums: tuckpointing, roof work, and painting the water tower. Her association had strict rules, and she wrote that the crew followed them, with the owner on site overseeing the projects. Many of those jobs also needed PRC/HDLC approval because the buildings are historic, and she wrote that all the requirements were met without a problem.

Associations write rules for good reasons: noise, safety, access to common areas, and the comfort of people who live there. A contractor who treats those rules as part of the specification, rather than an obstacle, saves the board a lot of phone calls.

What to put in writing

• Working hours and any quiet periods for residents, guests or classes.
• Which entrances, walkways and parking spaces stay open, which close, and when.
• Where scaffolds, swing stages and equipment sit, and how they're guarded.
• How dust, water and debris are contained, and who cleans up each day.
• Who the daily contact is on the contractor's side and on yours.
• How notice goes to residents or tenants, and how far ahead.
• Which approvals the building needs before work starts, and who files them.

None of that is complicated. It just has to exist before the first day, so that a question from a resident has an answer that doesn't depend on who happens to be standing nearby.

Plan the weather too

In New Orleans, weather is part of the schedule. Coatings, sealants and repellents need dry surfaces and a dry window to cure. An occupied building makes a half-finished elevation more noticeable, so a sensible sequence closes in one area before opening the next. That's the case for doing envelope work in sections that can be made watertight each day, rather than opening up a whole wall at once and hoping the forecast holds.

It also helps to match the type of work to the occupancy. Noisy work like grinding mortar joints is better done when fewer people are around. Work with strong odors is better scheduled away from guests' windows and air intakes. A contractor who has done this before will raise those points before you do.

Who is on site matters

Jan C. noted that the owner was on site overseeing the projects, and Paramount describes itself as owner-operated. When the owner is the person on the property, rules get followed and decisions get made on the spot. When you interview contractors, ask who will be there daily and who decides when something unexpected comes up, because on an old building something usually does.

Paramount's commercial waterproofing services page covers roof and below-grade waterproofing and expansion joint sealing for buildings like these. If you're planning work in a building that has to stay open, call 504-723-4112.