Brand-new brownstone facade has hairline cracks. What the?

I just had my facade re-brownstoned. I just noticed multiple hairline cracks along the surface. Is this acceptable? The contractor did not do a final wash on it. When I hose it down, there are many, many fine cracks on the surface.

homely

in General Discussion 8 years and 9 months ago

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homely | 6 years and 5 months ago

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It should be known that Polash refused to repair the hairline cracks, and no longer has a DCA license! Polash is basically one guy named Mohammod Robbani, aka Forhad. Beware. More and more cracks have appeared. They’re still hairline so perhaps I can epoxy them? Any suggestions on how to prevent further damage?

EJR | 8 years and 8 months ago

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The acid wash is definitely a key part of the job. The facade is really not finished until that is done. Re Stones R Us, I have never heard of that Company before, and it is certainly too cold to do any exterior masonry work right now, but in fairness to them, it is possible the property owner is a developer who does not care about quality and told them to do it even though it is too cold. I’ve hard of that before.

homely | 8 years and 8 months ago

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Thanks for all the replies. The job was done by Polash Contracting. They say they’ll look at it in the spring. I do believe the work was done well above 40 degrees. I’m also glad to know that the acid wash should be part of the job, as he fought me on that. FYI: it’s about 25 degrees today and there is actually someone applying brownstone finish coat over on DeKalb — the company is Stones R Us… probably want to avoid them.

emmajacob | 8 years and 8 months ago

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I also worked with Excellent Contractors – who are awesome and responsive, and very busy because they’re so good. They did our facade work during the early fall, and due to the temperature fluctuations, there were hairline cracks in certain areas even after the wash. They came back as soon as they could to jackhammer/chip away the whole surface that they’d done and start from scratch — and the outside temperature had to hold steady for a few days. If you have a warranty with your brownstoners, this should fall under it. The cracks require a substantial amount of work/cost to fix — and they must do the acid wash for their work to be considered complete.

bk123 | 8 years and 9 months ago

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They may be able to salvage it by grinding down to solid material, then refinishing.
no the cracks are not good and will get worse as the freeze-thaw cycle hits.
http://www.nyc-dob.com

landlord | 8 years and 9 months ago

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I had my facade re-brownstoned as well (by excellent contracting). This was about 2 years ago. I have not seen any fine cracks. The facade actually looks better and better over time. I do remember them saying that it’s very important to do it above a specific temperature. The job was halted for months while waiting for the right temp.

KB7394 | 8 years and 9 months ago

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Was there other work performed inside the home? This may not be unusual if so and can be contributed to settling.

Augustiner | 8 years and 9 months ago

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Sounds unusual – can you upload a photo?

eileengray | 8 years and 9 months ago

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This is not a good sign and it is not acceptable. It’s a big job to remove and re-stucco and maybe not the best time of the year. Are you in a Landmark District? LPC has pretty clear instructions for this whole process including the final mix proportions.

Arkady | 8 years and 9 months ago

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Certainly doesn’t sound right to me. Have you phoned the contractor about it?