Restoration

Berglund is one of the oldest restoration firms in the country. From preventive maintenance to historic preservation, we are a single source for interior and exterior restoration.

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Drawing from over a century of restoration expertise

When we opened our doors in 1911, the first service Berglund offered was masonry repair.

Our highly skilled team remains committed to bringing craftsmanship and techniques that respect a structure’s history and allow us to be its responsible stewards. Even if the public will never know the careful, precise work done to restore a façade, replace deteriorating concrete or find the perfectly matched brick, we take pride in doing things the right way every single time.

Unity Temple Restoration Foundation

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple

Restoration

Maintaining historic character with cutting-edge techniques

We restore buildings of generations past while taking meticulous care to honor their character and history.

Our in-house staff of carpenters, tuckpointers, masons and highly specialized preservationists use traditional techniques and state-of-the-art technology to protect and preserve historically significant structures for generations to come.

John G. Shedd Aquarium

Rotunda Skylight Restoration

Restoration

Restoration Approach

Whether clients require a one-time masonry repair or seek to preserve a decades-old building, we tailor our approach for their needs.

Through centuries of experience, our in-house teams have developed technical expertise in a wide range of exterior façade types, interior finishes and building systems. We employ more than 350 tradespeople across various disciplines who self-perform approximately 75 percent of our work volume. This includes restoring nearly every kind of building exterior façade, including concrete, brick and stone masonry, terra cotta and curtainwall systems or windows. Our exemplary field supervisors include a team of specialists with the International Masonry Training and Education Foundation certification.

Our collaborative relationships with specialty subcontractors position us to take on projects that require careful coordination of several scopes of work — from plaster repairs to roof replacements. We thrive when a thoughtful understanding of the relationships between different building systems is required for preserving, restoring or repairing a building.

Owners, architects and engineers consistently rely on Berglund as a trusted team member to help develop restoration work scopes, programs and budgets. Our early involvement in projects ranges from budgeting exercises and logistics plans to hands-on inspections, mock-ups and trial repairs. With a track record of innovative solutions, we help project teams identify the best means and methods for achieving their goals within established budgets.

We employ a variety of virtual design and construction tools to plan for and document some of our most challenging projects.

We use 3D laser scanning to create precise models of existing buildings. These models provide a wealth of information that is particularly useful for de-constructing and re-constructing intricate building components. We also use these models to create 3D logistics plans that convey our scaffolding and access strategies. These plans give our clients and their project teams the ability to collaborate with us on how we can best avoid disrupting any ongoing operations.

We own and pilot drones that capture important information about existing buildings. Often, we use them to inspect existing structures when a swing stage or scaffold system is cost prohibitive. We also use them to aid in scaffold and logistics planning when our equipment must be installed on facades or roofs that are difficult to examine from ground level.

Our restoration projects often require creative plans for getting material, equipment and people where they need to go without disrupting the operations of an active building. Our scaffolding and access experts have developed custom plans for a variety of challenging environments. We consider how our scaffolding access plans will impact existing roofs, neighboring buildings, landscaping, and pedestrian and vehicular traffic. We own and self-perform the installation of swing stages, mast climbers and supported pipe scaffold systems. Our in-house operators and Berglund-owned crane, Lulls and Bobcats aid us in overcoming some of the most difficult logistics challenges. Ultimately, we work with our clients to develop the most cost-effective access solution that fits their needs.

We often undertake challenging projects that bring our teams below ground to address a variety of structural or waterproofing issues. This work includes retrofitting or stabilizing structural building elements, addressing deterioration of older structures, repairing failing waterproofing systems, injecting urethane, epoxy and low-pressure grout, and introducing water management systems such as drain tiles and overhead sewer systems.

With the postwar modernist architectural era spanning 1945-1985, many of these buildings are reaching an age where significant restoration or preservation projects are required to ensure the structure’s continued life. Because of their unprecedented combination of materials and systems, they present new challenges for the restoration and preservation community. Through our experience on several modernist building restoration and preservation projects, we have developed an expertise in working on these important structures.

Our significant modernist resume includes:

- Building and Restoring the University of Chicago’s Social Service Administration Building, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

- Restoration of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Chicago Federal Center Plaza

- Restoration of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s John C. Kluczynski Building

- Curtain Wall and Terrace Investigation & Trial Repairs Report for Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House

- Illinois Center Plaza Renovations

- Chase Tower Plaza and Façade Restorations

We collaborate with our Building Division to perform projects that require a range of expertise. For example, we frequently undertake office build-out projects on the inside of commercial buildings while we repair the façade on the outside. We also find division synergies when an existing building requires façade restoration or structural improvements before new additions are built. These projects allow us to create cost-savings for owners by consolidating management and other overhead costs.

Berglund serves as a valuable partner in a variety of con­trac­tu­al agreements.

How We Partner with Clients
Restoration Services

Berglund restores and repairs exterior façades and interior finishes. We have successfully preserved some of the Midwest’s oldest buildings.

Historic Preservation
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Building Restoration
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Building Repair & Maintenance
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Master Agreements
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Preconstruction
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Awards & Recognition

We celebrate the dedication and passion of our team who have made Berglund a household name in restoration and historic preservation.

  • 2019
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Inter­est­ed in learning more about our restora­tion or historic preser­va­tion services? 
Get in touch

or give us a call at (773) 374-1000