Vertical Expansion Joint Sealant Replacement
KneppKraft is a licensed structural contractor that replaces failed sealant in the vertical expansion joints of tilt-up and precast concrete buildings across LA and Orange County, the full length of every joint.
Envelope work, not a caulk-gun fix.
A failed vertical expansion joint on a tilt-up building usually turns up during the same inspection that finds cracking. It’s the same water-intrusion problem showing up two ways, so when the joint failure is tied to a cracked panel we pair it with epoxy crack injection or tilt-up panel repair on the same wall.
The whole run
- From ground level
- Up the wall
- Over the parapet
- Back down to roof level
How a joint replacement goes
Cut out
The old sealant and backer rod come out of the joint.
Roughen
The concrete edges along the joint are mechanically roughened, so the new sealant grips sound concrete.
Backer rod
New foam backer rod is pressed into the joint.
Seal
Two-part sealant, mixed and installed to the manufacturer’s guidelines.
This one is scheduled by the weather, not by the calendar.
Sealant goes into a dry, clean joint. Rain stops it, and so does the marine layer that sits on Los Angeles and Orange County mornings, because material pressed into a damp joint lets go early and the run has to be cut out again. Expect start times that move with the morning and a booked stretch of dry days with slack in it, which is the honest reason a joint scope is quoted as a window rather than a date.
The rest is access. A vertical joint runs the full height of the panel, so the crew works from a lift travelling down one elevation at a time.
- Dry joint required, so wet weather moves the day
- One elevation at a time, parking released as the lift moves
- Lift path and staging walked with you first
- No chipping and no hot work, low noise for tenants
- Irrigation and wash-down held off the fresh joint
- Doors and dock positions on that face kept working
Recent expansion joint & sealant work
Joint or seal failing?
Send photos of the joint or the crack near it: we’ll tell you what the repair takes.
Request an Assessment