East Stroudsburg Area School District must make $2.3 million worth of repairs to faulty masonry work at two schools. The board recently voted to prepare a bid package for repairs to Lehman Intermediate and J.T. Lambert Intermediate.

In April, district officials hired D’Huy Engineering, Inc. to investigate damage at both schools. The $48,900 investigation took place over the summer.

D’Huy issued a report of its findings last month. It identifies a number of causes, including material failure and builder errors. D’Huy estimates the repair to cost $292,800 at Lehman and over $2 million at JTL.

A number of masonry features at both sites have visibly deteriorated since their construction. When JTL was built in 1990-1991, cast stone was used for window sills and coping caps — a covering that directs water off the top of walls and away from openings. Most of the capstones have cracked significantly due to a reaction with chert, a rock found in the casting material.

“Based on D’Huy’s investigation, the materials used at JTL during that era — the early 90s — were pretty much used across the country,” said Scott Ihle, facilities dirctor for East Stroudsburg Area School District. “They’re finding that these materials themselves are causing deterioration not specific to JTL, but across the board.”

Prior to the investigation, the district had already replaced most of capstones along the top of the building with aluminum substitutes. Most of the capstones that remain cover short site walls along walkways and entrances.

As capstones cracked, water entered the fractures. The D’Huy report shows that water was then able to penetrate the walls because of insufficient flashing — a type of thin, waterproof material, usually metal. Builders did not extend flashing to the wall’s edge, the report said, leaving two inches of masonry exposed. Penetrating moisture expanded during freezing temperatures, causing further damage.

Investigation showed improper flashing elsewhere in the building. Steel tubes that support the metal grating walkway outside the kitchen have rusted severely in the absence of proper flashing, the report says.

Poor flashing has also lead to the rusting of steel lintels: beams used to support masonry over openings. The report shows that builders again failed to flash past the surface. Without a drip edge — a lip that carries runoff — water can pool along the underside of the steel beam.

When metal rusts, the oxidation causes it to expand. Corroded lintels above window openings have expanded enough to crack bricks and bend window frames.

At least one wall at Lehman — constructed with the North High School in 1998-1999 — also exhibits severe damage.

The brick veneer of the natatorium is cracked and bowing. The D’Huy report says mortar is “soft and crumbling for the full depth of the joints,” and that the material has “no structural integrity left.”

D’Huy probed five locations of the wall during investigation. In the report, the company says the wall appears to “have been exposed to freezing temperatures” before the mortar could cure.

Both Lehman and JTL were designed with cavity wall systems, wherein a protective outer wall is separated from an inner backup wall to let water drain away from the building through “weep holes,” the report says. Because the mortar didn’t cure properly, the brick ties that connect the walls did not adhere.

Builders also appear to have deviated from architectural plans, the report shows. Drawings call for three continuous inches of spray foam insulation to cover the steel beam that supports the roof. Photographs show an insufficient amount of foam that does not cover the flanges of the beam. As a result, interior air can escape through the wall cavity. In the report, investigators note a chlorine smell at the location, likely to have emanated from the Lehman pool.

The board has authorized D’Huy to conduct additional testing for the purpose of preparing a bid package. The $72,000 contract gives D’Huy responsibility for project designs and specifications, preparing builder contracts and applying for necessary permits.

“The majority of the investigations have already taken place,” said district Facilities Director Scott Ihle on Friday. “Between January and February, D’Huy will perform additional investigations to prepare the project for public bid.”

D’Huy’s participation will continue even after a bid is chosen. The contract price also includes a full-time D’Huy employee on-site during construction to observe repairs.

Ihle — who joined the district in February — could not identify the original contractors who built the schools. Administrators were not available to answer questions for this story.

The school board has included the repairs as part of its five-year capital improvement plan. District officials have not indicated whether they intend seek legal action against the original builders to recoup costs.

“To my knowledge, there’s no concrete answer that we’re moving on that,” said Ihle. “A determination has not been made one way or another.”

Following the preliminary timeline in the most recent D’Huy agreement, bids would open in March. Construction would occur between June and August