Do you repair a bad panel or replace it?

Repair, nearly always. Pulling a panel means releasing it from the roof and from the units either side, then getting a crane into a working yard to set the replacement. That is a different job on a different budget. Taking one out comes up when it has been struck hard enough to lose its shape or its embeds, and your engineer is the one who makes that call.

Does the wall need repainting when you are done?

Plan on it. A fresh repair reads a different color and texture than a surface that has been weathering for years, so a spot coat will show. Most owners recoat the whole elevation, which also puts a new skin over everything else that has been sitting in the sun. We hand the building back prepped and ready for coating. Paint is priced on its own, so you can bid it out or use your own painter.

Tilt-Up Concrete Panel Repair

KneppKraft is a licensed General Engineering contractor repairing cracked tilt-up and precast concrete panels on commercial and industrial buildings across LA and Orange County: crack mapping, routing and structural repair, then a refinish that protects the structure and the rebar inside.

Send Us Photos Call (714) 794-2829

#547307ABCA Lic. A + B

Building-ScaleFull-Panel Repair

Crack → SealMap · Route · Repair

LA / OCCommercial & Industrial

What It Is

The panels are the structure. Repair them like it.

Tilt-up and precast concrete panels carry real load, and when they crack, water and air reach the reinforcing steel and the problem compounds. KneppKraft maps the full extent of the cracking, routes and repairs the panels, and refinishes them so the wall is sound and sealed, like it never happened.

It’s everyday work for us across LA and Orange County’s commercial and industrial buildings, at building scale, with the lifts and crews to match. Nobody moves out for it either: we sheet the stretch we are on and move the barrier along as each one finishes. More on how we work around you →

When you need it

Cracked tilt-up or precast panels
Cracking around openings & connections
Water intrusion through panel cracks
Post-seismic panel cracking
Spalling & exposed rebar on panels
Pre-paint structural prep on older walls

The Process

How a panel repair goes

Map

Survey the panels and mark the full run of every crack.

Prep

Rout cracks, treat any exposed rebar, set up for repair.

Repair

Inject or fill structurally; rebuild spalled areas.

Refinish

Grind, seal, and finish so the wall is ready for coating.

Field Work

Building-scale crack & joint repair

→ Pentel of America, Torrance: the full case study

Crack-mapped tilt-up panels at Pentel — Crack-mapped panels

Repaired and sealed tilt-up wall — Repaired & sealed

Vertical expansion joint — Expansion joint

Routed and surface-sealed crack runs on a tilt-up wall — Routed & sealed

Refinished and sealed tilt-up building elevation — Refinished & sealed

Common Questions

Are cracked panels a safety problem or a maintenance problem?

Most are maintenance, and the way to tell is where the crack sits rather than how wide it looks. Shrinkage crazing over a panel face is housekeeping. What earns an engineer’s attention is cracking at a roof or slab connection, cracking running out of a door or window corner, a panel bowed out of plane, or a panel sitting proud of its neighbors. Send a photo with a tape in frame and we will tell you which one you have.

We had these patched before and they came back. What changes?

The last fix was probably a skin patch. Filler troweled over the face of a live crack has nothing gripping the sound material behind it, so the wall keeps doing what it was doing and the patch telegraphs straight back through. Work that holds gets cut back to solid concrete, and any rust found behind it gets dealt with before anything closes up.

Start Here

Cracked panels on your building?

Send photos: we’ll tell you what the repair takes.

Request an Assessment