Seminole State College, Weldon Building

Window Replacement
Lake Mary, Florida

Gale was commissioned to design window-wall replacement at the Weldon Administration Building, a 2-story 50,000 sf facility.  Window replacement was deemed the best approach to solve ongoing moisture intrusion issues related to brick thru-wall flashing.  The original construction entailed the replacement of ribbon windows flush with the outside brick veneer.  Gale had correctly identified the cause of ongoing moisture intrusion as a failure of thru-wall flashing at the window heads behind the brick veneer.  Various attempts to correct this, however, proved unsuccessful and the Owner made the decision to install new windows.

Gale designed window replacement to locate the window frames back behind the air space in the wall system, so that any defects in the brick thru-wall flashing would cause leaks outside of the window frames and not impact the interior any longer.  The design constraints included the need to keep the building occupants in place and modify the interior finish and trim installation to accommodate the new windows.

The construction period services provided by Gale included leak testing of isolated selected window-wall units.  Gale utilized industry standard test protocols with some modification (AAMA 502.1) to verify the watertight performance of window units in-situ.

The project also involved minor brick repairs (cut-pointing, etc.) and installation of metal trim to conceal existing structural members within the building.  Construction also included replacement and removal and patch of interior drywall window surround and associated trim and sill pieces.

The result of this project was a solution to ongoing moisture issues related to the brick and associated flashing and an end to the leaks.