A fact-finding group scanned the deteriorating cement located in the King Memorial Commons Tuesday afternoon, although almost all members were reluctant to share their findings.

Eddie Williams, vice president of Finance and Planning, said, “We’re doing a full review of the commons area with the architects, the contractors and the (Illinois) Capital Development Board. We’re basically assessing the damage and what the problem is.”

Patty Perkins, administration assistant of Finance and Planning, CDB spokesman Scott Rogers, Cliff Dunteman from Alliance Contractors and Paul Handing from Perkins and Will architects all declined to comment on the investigation.

Representatives from NIU, the CDB, Perkins and Will architects and Alliance Contractors walked through the commons making note of the crumbling areas.

Alliance Contractors laid the cement during the summer and through September last year.

The $740,000 commons reconstruction first showed signs of “scaling”—the flaking of cement’s top layer—in January 1991.

Local cement contractors said the “scaling” of newly laid cement is commonly caused by deicing salts.

Steve Larson, owner of Johnson Concrete Company in DeKalb said, “The general rule of thumb in using concrete is to wait one full year before any salting agents are put on it.”

NIU Grounds Foreman Tom Anderson said a combination of salt and sand was used on the commons sidewalks since the first snow and every subsequent time snow or ice accumulated.

The cement also is being evaluated in order to determine whether its one-year warranty has been violated. CDB spokesman Mia Jazo said the board needed to wait until now to assess the cement because the weather was warmer.

Jazo said regardless of the warranty decision, repairs could begin as soon as this spring.

“We’ll need to wait for the damage assessment to be complete and for the cement to warm up before we can start anything,” Jazo said.

Among other reasons suggested for the flaking are the high temperatures during the cement laying.