February 9, 2006
Thomson taps: A renewal, not a dirge
Tapping sounds will be heard in the corridors of Thomson Hall in days to come. But it’s all part of the evaluation and repair process, campus officials say, and will not take place during class hours.
Thomson Hall, most on campus know, was evacuated briefly the afternoon of Thursday, Feb. 2, after flooring in the center of the second story, near classrooms 211, 215 and 217, buckled, causing ceramic tiles to pop out of place and doors to jam shut. Rooms near the damaged, now temporarily patched area of floor will remain closed until repairs are complete.
David Fields, who oversees much of upper campus for the Maintenance and Alterations Department as a zone manager, described the event succinctly: “Buildings naturally settle as time goes by, putting pressure on these tiles, lateral stress, and they can upheave like they did.” The lack of expansion joints in the building’s construction, in the late 1940s, also contributed to the buckling, he said.
Fields said the tentative plan for repair is to examine and remove tiles that have a hollow area underneath where they no longer fully stick to the subfloor. Classrooms will be top priority in the repair work, he said.
And that’s where the tapping comes in.
Scott Howard, senior facilities architect with Engineering Services, who will evaluate the area in the next few days, explained the situation in an e-mail: “To survey whether the tiles are adhering to the subfloor involves tapping on the tiles and listening for a ‘hollow’ sound.” Since the first areas to be surveyed are outside the classroom doors in the middle of the second floor, Howard said he will survey after class hours to avoid disturbing students (and being banged on the head by an opening door).
Meanwhile, Fields has found reports dating back a couple of decades that detail previous buckling problems in Thomson. A 200-square-foot area buckled in 1978 and was repaired, he said, and a 50-square-foot area behaved similarly in 2000.
There also is the matter of finding tiles that match, or come close to matching, the 60-year-old quarry tile used in the flooring, Fields said. When that issue is solved, the tiles will be reinstalled with an added element of give toward the walls to protect against further problems. “We will cut around the perimeter of the space and do in-filling with caulking, and cover it over the top with grout, so it looks like a grout joint.”
And what of other buildings on campus? Fields said he has heard of similar problems with the dormitory Haggett Hall and possibly the South Campus Center Cafeteria, but no work is currently planned on these buildings.
Still, he said, there is no way to prevent this happening again in Thomson without removing and replacing all the building tiles, a prohibitively large job.
“This is just part of the aging process of a building that has ceramic tile or quarry tile flooring,” Fields added.
The buckling event caused a buzz of press activity and concern, but perhaps the most illustrative comment came from Bob Roseth, director of the News & Information office. “All buildings breathe,” he said. “This one just coughed.”
