The Repairs That Made a Facade Worse

A landmark Upper West Side co-op thought its terracotta facade just needed another round of repairs. Instead, it uncovered nine cycles of patchwork that had made things worse. Raul Mayta, principal architect and co-founder of M+S Architects and Engineers, walks through how his team used laser scanning and hands-on investigation to find hidden cracks masked by old waterproofing, and why some sections had to be fully replaced rather than repaired again. He explains the real difference between stabilizing and replacing terracotta, how digital documentation can save future boards time and money, and why accurate surveys set the tone for an entire project's budget and timeline. Habitat's Emily Myers conducts the interview.

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Transcript

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Emily Myers: Welcome to Problem Solved, a conversation about the challenges facing New York City's co-op and condo board directors.

I'm Emily Myers with Habitat Magazine, and I'm joined by Raul Mayta, principal architect and co-founder of Mayta and Sebastian Architecture. Raul, great to have you with us. 

Raul Mayta: Thanks for having me. It's an honor to be here. 

Emily Myers: This episode focuses on a building in Manhattan, a landmark co-op on the Upper West Side.

From the street, what is an historic facade with terracotta detailing that's been standing for decades. But behind that Beaux-Art beauty, there was a problem. Parts of the building's projecting terracotta were unsafe, and past repairs had only offered short-term fixes. Raul, it's always tough for a board to hear that work done in the past isn't holding up.

When they came to you, what were the conditions they were dealing with? 

Raul Mayta: Thank you, Emily. So when we were introduced to the building was going through their ninth cycle, their ninth facade cycle. They had been designated by a, another engineer, another firm as unsafe. As once you are classified as unsafe, a sidewalk shed needs to be installed right away.

So when we walk in, it was a little bit chaotic, right? But the building had unsafe, and they needed to begin repairs right away. These building repairs, require thorough investigation, so we began asking about record drawings and where were there. So to really understand what work happened before we walked in.

So that's when we came in. 

Emily Myers: Okay. So it was an unsafe facade but were the shareholders seeing anything on the inside? Were there any leaks, anything that, that indicated- 

Raul Mayta: That is a great question ... 

Emily Myers: that 

Raul Mayta: there was a 

Emily Myers: problem? 

Raul Mayta: Actually, no. We asked, as part of our survey to ask if there was any infiltration because they usually go by the hand, right?

Infiltrations they usually help us to locate specific issues. No, the building was had-- it was watertight for and then it was just visual reviews through the exterior that pinpointed certain conditions specific to the terracotta on the upper sections, to be specific. 

Emily Myers: Okay. So you came on board.

What were some of the solutions that you worked with? 

Raul Mayta: In order for us to understand terracotta, we really wanted to have a very detailed survey. I think we always start with the laser scanning, and that, what that allows us to do is to create a digital catalog of every segment in the building.

So that is the solution number one. We found that the building didn't have really all the records than a couple of blueprints that they were left on the storage room by the previous contractor, so that we had really little to start. Once we laser scanned, we went up on the boom, and then we had a hands-on investigation where we confirmed some of the issues, and we found additional issues that were not noticed during that previous cycle.

That went into our scope of work. And then we, we began the construction. And then during construction, there were other s- things that we that we discover. Unfortunately, it seems like there were some repairs that were done during the previous cycle that they have been considered temporary, but they were really hurting the building more than helping it.

Walking the board through this, it wa- i-i-it was a great process. They have great questions and we were able to explain through the probes, through the scanning, and through our survey that although they have problems, there was, there were also solutions and options, that in order to address the issues.

Emily Myers: Okay. So what then were the temporary measures you mentioned? What had been done previously? Was it related to the terracotta? Yes. 

Raul Mayta: Yeah. 

Emily Myers: And why had it n-not held up? 

Raul Mayta: So this is a 12-story building. This is a 12-story corner building, and it's heavily ornamented on the upper sections. And the type of ornaments that I'm talking about are, there are cornices and water tables.

What are the purpose of cornices and water tables are basically to drain water away from the facade, right? So they're usually on the upper floors. Just like we use baseball caps, you wanna cover your eyes, right? The cornices will drain the water away from the facade on the top.

And then on the 10th or the 11th floor, we also have water tables to continue that drain protection. You also have lower ledges on the lower floors. And even most the elements that protrude further from the facade, as you can imagine, they're more exposed to the nature of the snow load, as snow re- is retained on these segments, and it causes deterioration of the segments.

The damages that we found were specific to the water tables. Some of them were exposed, some of them were covered by previous repairs. Yeah, as the cornice will have a protrusion. In this case, it was protruding up to two feet, so there was quite a bit of surface that we need, that they needed to protect.

How did they-- How was it protected before? They installed a fluid applied system over the terracotta, which may be okay as a waterproofing system, but unfortunately in this case, it was hiding many repairs that were questionable. During our investigation, we found that this fluid applied system was covering repairs that were already cracking or even cracks that were hidden by the w-waterproofing.

As I said, as with terracotta, you open one segment and then more things c-come up. So the solution here, a solution that we came up with is to for the 10th floor, replaced the 10th floor with terracotta. And then for the 11th floor, we're currently under the the evaluation of replacing the 11th floor as well.

Unfortunately, we couldn't salvage. We can't salvage a lot of them, but there is a large percentage that needs to be replaced because unfortunately repairs during the previous cycle were not done to the extent that it probably it needed to be done, right? 

Emily Myers: So what you had then was waterproofing repairs that actually covered up faults that hadn't been repaired.

So there's only so many layers you can put on terracotta before you actually have to replace it. 

Raul Mayta: Correct. Correct. And and, as we understand terracotta, we know that it's a hollow element. It's not solid. So once it gets repaired the thickness of the wall is reduced.

The structural integrity, it's reduced. So DoD is right now, actually, and very wisely, looking a little bit closer into the repairs of terracotta. As a matter of fact, now QAs and professionals, every time we file a phys report, we are obligated to demonstrate our methodology of how do we repair terracotta.

I believe this is great because it creates that missing record that we had before, correct? If we will have under- if we understood how terracotta was repaired before, we would have saved a lot of headaches, right? So what are we doing now? We are creating this record for our board in a very specific and processed way in a digital way, right?

Because we don't want to leave another set of plans to the board. Then God forbid they change architects, hopefully there won't be because the team were very great. But we're creating a digital record where we are integrating BIM and all the element technology or elements that we have, so it, they're at the hands of the board.

So in theory, at the end of this project, the board will have a living digital record of every segment that it was either replaced or repaired. And so they could access it in, in, in any point and they could even predict what segment at what location could require repair at what point. So that is the goal.

That is a solution that we're implementing on this case. 

Emily Myers: So your solution is not only the physical repair of the terracotta, but also a sort of documentation of the facade that hopefully will bring cost savings for the future because they, there won't be the same level of investigation needed for future repairs?

Raul Mayta: It definitely will not be the same level of investigation. It will... It's almost like when you go to the doctor and you have a physical. The more you look at it the better, the less you have to look later, right? And next year. So this year we'll look at everything and we are digitalizing it. We are even digitalizing the products approved by landmarks, the re- the pro- the cost, everything, so the board can predict how much it's gonna cost them in the future.

Yes, we are trying to close that link between loose records because the OB, because the contractor make them digital and make them available to the board so they can save money in the future. 

Emily Myers: This kind of documentation have been available sort of 10 years ago or are we at a new stage of- ... Digitized, digital scanning, modeling, that is it enabling something new for boards?

Raul Mayta: question. I think the technology has been there. I think it has, it was implemented in the architecture world. It was implemented more towards the new construction first. And slowly started to be implemented into the restoration industry. I'm very glad. I'm very glad. Something else that we tried to experiment in this project is fabrication of terracotta segments, because as this is a lengthy process.

We're talking about months and months. Had to use laser scanners to expedite the shop drawings that get produced to cut that time because it's significant and, the boards spend money on the site wood sheds, on the scaffolding, and the more we can do to expedite the production process, the more we can help our clients.

Emily Myers: So what is the cost of this kind of project, and does the digital documentation how much does that increase the cost? 

Raul Mayta: So that is a great question. The project started being approximately $1.5 million. And then it went up to, I think, that included the restoration of all the facades and the off-street elevations, which are many.

But I will say most of it was the terracotta. And then once they incorporate it, they're planning to incorporate the 11th floor, it'll probably go up to 2.5. 2.5. Okay. Yes. Yes. And then you asked me what is the cost for the digital. For us, there is no additional cost to the client because our vision is that if you think about it, before we used to use measuring tapes to measure a building, and now we have the opportunity to use scanners and drones.

So as architects and engineers, our tools have make our job easier and and better. So I don't see why we have to transfer that cost to the client. For us, it's just regular cost of a service. It's the way we work. There is, there shouldn't be an additional cost for that. 

Emily Myers: So what stage is this project at?

You know- Yes ... as you pointed out, terracotta takes a very long time it to craft. 

Raul Mayta: Correct. So from their initial contract, but a scope of work, it's pretty much finished because the initial scope of work included the replacement of the 10th floor water table, which is complete. During that, we discovered issues with the 11th floor water table, which I described with the fluid applied waterproofing.

So for that project, we're probably at least eight months away from finishing. Yes. 

Emily Myers: So what then should boards with terracotta facades or perhaps other kinds of facades be paying attention to right now? What's the takeaway here? 

Raul Mayta: I think you wanna have, you wanna make sure that you, your survey is being done with the- L- with the most accurate instruments available in the industry because that sets the foundation for how your project is gonna be run.

It controls your quantities, it controls your change orders, and it will control the records that you will obtain at the end of the project. And you know those warranties are going to be based on those records, so the most accurate they are, the better they are. And then just make sure that your professionals are using the technology that will last, that will create that accountability for everybody that was involved in the process.

Emily Myers: When the building chose to do the repairs, was that, perhaps in the last five years, should they perhaps have made that decision to replace rather than perhaps stabilize and repair? You know- 

Raul Mayta: That is a great, that is a great question, Emily. There is always going to be that debate, stabilize and repairs or replace.

The previous cycle did that. They did stabilization and repairs. The methods of stabilization consisted of installation of anchors through the face of the terracotta. During our investigations, we realized that those anchors caused more damage to the terracotta than they're really stabilizing it. So you know, it is always a debate.

Repairing is always good, but depending on where is this segment located. If the segment is cantilevering out of the facade, if it's protruding, if it's serving for the purpose of water drainage and it's gonna be exposed to water replacement will likely be your r- best investment in the short and the long term.

If the segment is flush with the facade and it's not gonna retain any water, repair may be a more feasible option. And this is the, some of the methodologies we have applied when- 

Emily Myers: Okay. So since you, you mentioned that the cornice and the water table, which is a new architectural thing for me, I didn't know that buildings had water tables- Water table

but these sort of protruding terracotta elements. 

Raul Mayta: Yes. 

Emily Myers: Since th- these were water related, really they should have been replaced then, is what you're saying? 

Raul Mayta: They should have been looked into it with a better, with a great amount of detail because those are the elements that will protect your facade.

If you, if those, ... We started this conversation saying, "I was not aware of any leaks." And maybe these elements were the protectors, right? The avengers of your facade pushing the water out, so we have to take care of them. We have to take care of them because they were there for a reason. These architects 100 years ago didn't put them there for only for aesthetics.

They, there is a reason where water, will cascade down through a- 

Emily Myers: Yeah ... 

Raul Mayta: vertical facade. 

Emily Myers: Gosh, it's always a challenge sort of balancing that preservation, safety, and cost, but I think you've given a masterclass in, in solving tough facade problems while keeping the building's history intact.

Raul, thank you so much. 

Raul Mayta: Emily, it's been a pleasure. Thank you for your time. 

Emily Myers: That's Raul Mehta, principal architect and co-founder of Mehta & Sebastian Architecture. And our Problem Solved series dives into dozens of real-world examples of everything from interior design to major engineering projects with cost saving tips, board focused strategy, and of course, lots of lessons learned.

If you're a board member with your own story to share, we'd also love to hear from you. Please do get in touch online at habitatmag.com or by using the contact details in our monthly print magazine. Thanks, Raul. 

NYC Best: You've been listening to Raul Mehta, principal architect and co-founder at M&S Architects and Engineers.

For co-op and condo board directors, every project has stakes, timelines, budgets, and the board's reputation. M&S Architects and Engineers helps boards navigate renovations, capital improvements, and building challenges with precision and care. From first review to final details, they bring design expertise and real world insight to every decision.

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