Millington, Tennessee is a small town located just north of Memphis that is known for its proximity to NSA Mid-South Naval Base and its tight-knit community. Western Specialty Contractors – Little Rock, AR Branch was recently contracted through The Garland Company to restore the town’s high school gymnasium.
The gym at Millington High School was originally constructed in two stages – the main gym in the 1970s and a secondary gym in the 1980s. The masonry façade of the gym needed cleaning and restoration due to the presence of damaged and missing bricks.
Western started the project by cleaning the entire gym using pressure washers and removing tar resulting from a roof replacement project several years ago. Starting at the building’s north elevation, Western crews performed tuckpointing and replaced masonry control joints and damaged bricks using an aerial boom lift and rolling scaffolding for access. Because the gym was built in two stages, brick replacement and mortar matching were more difficult; Western’s crew was able to mix a ratio of mortar colors to match both sections.
Once the repairs were complete, crews sealed the entire façade with Garland’s Seal-A-Pore™, a clear sealer that forms an invisible water repellent surface over exterior masonry substrates that allows the building to maintain its original appearance.
In total, Western crews removed and replaced over 75 damaged bricks and installed over 2,000 square feet of tuckpointing.
In light of COVID-19 regulations, Western’s crew took care to protect student athletes returning to campus for practice by limiting workers to certain sections of the back gym and making sure the doors were locked connecting the two gyms. The crew also put up cones and caution tape around the entire work area to maintain social distancing. The project was completed on time and within budget.
About Western Specialty Contractors
Family-owned and operated for more than 100 years, Western Specialty Contractors is the nation’s largest specialty contractor in masonry and concrete restoration, waterproofing and specialty roofing. Western offers a nationwide network of expertise that building owners, engineers, architects and property managers can count on to develop cost-effective, corrective measures that can add years of useful life to a variety of structures including: industrial, commercial, healthcare, historic, educational and government buildings, parking structures and sports stadiums. Western is headquartered in St. Louis, MO with 30 branch offices nationwide and employs more than 1,200 salaried and hourly professionals who offer the best, time-tested techniques and innovative technology. For more information about Western Specialty Contractors, visit www.westernspecialtycontractors.com.
