RepairQ We are a small community in south central Illinois with a deteriorating masonry building issue that drastically needs to be addressed. I have been looking at your shotcrete product and I am thinking that this may be the most efficient and economical way to protect these exposed surfaces from the elements and stabilize these structures. My question to you is: Have any other communities used this product for this purpose, can this product be used in a situation such as ours, or am I just barking up the wrong tree? The wall in question is three stories tall, about 40 ft (12 m); the exposed wall was interior multi-course thick masonry from the late 1800s-era.
Your proposed project is a great application for shotcrete. We’ve seen shotcrete used for enhancing structural integrity of historic masonry structures across the country. Often shotcrete is used on the back side of the wall to add structural strength while preserving the exterior appearance. In effect, we build a structural concrete wall in-place behind the old wall. Shotcrete has the natural advantage of not requiring any formwork, and can create a good bond to the existing wall, letting the structure elements work together. Here’s a link to a past article from Shotcrete magazine documenting the restoration of a historic brick building (shotcrete.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2009Win_SCM01pg08-12.pdf). If you don’t need to preserve the exterior appearance, you can certainly shotcrete the exterior of the wall using the same approach. You can finish the interior (or exterior) surfaces in a variety of ways to provide the architectural appearance you desire. Shotcrete is a placement method for concrete, so using shotcrete will provide a final structure with the strength and durability of cast concrete. By the way, the term “gunite” is the old tradename for what we currently call “dry-mix shotcrete.” Let us know if you have any further questions.
