By Cayden Wemple.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, or “The Met” as it’s often referred to, is one of the most iconic structures in New York City. You may be surprised to know that the famous steps at the front of the building have never been waterproofed. A plan was put into place to remove and restore the stairs, the project leaders agreed that it would be a good idea to implement a waterproofing system to restore them. Sika was bestowed with the honor to waterproof the steps.
This restoration project required a liquid waterproofing membrane that would be able to conform to the undulating concrete deck as well as waterproof small dowels which were set in the deck to hold the treads in place. Initially a hot asphalt system was chosen but due to complicated permitting and restrictions to place a kettle near the entrance, it was decided that a cold-applied liquid system would cause less disruption to the facility. Ultimately, the Sikalastic RoofPro system was chosen because of its safe, cold application. It was also chosen because of its unique conformable fiberglass reinforcement, Reemat Premium. The reinforcement allowed the liquid membrane to conform to the irregularities of the deck as well as effectively waterproof a large number of dowels that presented the most difficult condition to waterproof on the project.
The Sikalastic Roof Pro membrane was applied to the concrete deck and then a layer of drainage mat was installed to both protect the membrane from damage and provide a drainage plane beneath the treads. A hydronic snow melt system was installed over the drainage mat and the restored limestone treads were set in a mud bed and keyed into the dowels.
Learn more about Sika Cooporation in their Coffee Shop Directory or visit www.usa.sika.com.
About Cayden
Cayden is a reporter for RoofersCoffeeShop, MetalCoffeeShop and AskARoofer. When he isn’t writing about roofs, he’s usually playing guitar or writing songs for his musical endeavors.
About Sika
Sika is a specialty chemicals company with a leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing and protecting in the building sector and motor vehicle industry. Sika has subsidiaries in 101 countries around the world and manufactures in over 300 factories. Its 25,000 employees generated annual sales of CHF 7.88 billion in 2020.
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