BSA Historic Resources Committee Meeting Notes for December 2007
Present: Bill Barry, Matthew Bronski, Taya Dixon, Jack Glassman, Patrick Guthrie, David Hart, John Hecker, Wendall Kalsow, David Kelman, David King, Henry Moss, Elizabeth Randall, Dean Rykerson, Roberto Rosa, Brian Roche, Susan Schur, Malcolm Smiley, Natalie Wampler, John Wathne, Sara Wermiel
1. Future Committee Focus Topics: The committee discussed topics for future meetings. People were especially interested in inviting Ben Haavik to discuss sustainable HVAC approaches for house museums. The committee asked to invite curators and object conservators along with engineers from Ernie Conrad's firm, Landmark Facilities Group, which did studies and designs for SPNEA a decade ago. New strategies for fire suppression are another topic of special interest.
- Stone Features in the Mass. Landscape, Shawn Provencher, DCR Historic Landscapes Initiative
- Soliciting Feedback on the draft ASTM Historic Mortars Standard, John Wathne, Structures North
- Vermont Granite Museum Training Events, Ivan Myjer, Building & Monuments Conservation
- Sustainable HVAC Approaches for Historic House Museums, Ben Haavik, Historic New England
Members are invited to suggest topics and presenters for future meetings.
2. Committee Members' Works-In-Progress: Three of our members described recent projects from their offices and studios, raising a welter of technical and procedural questions and reminding us of the captivating challenges of our work-not to mention the outstanding quality and national significance of our colleagues' contributions. Henry asked that the committee stay alert to research and development needs and opportunities as we look at works-in-progress reports over the coming year, with a thought that the BSA can act as a 501 (c) 3 to sponsor NCPTT research grants.
Roberto Rosa of Serpentino Stained & Leaded Glass in Needham illustrated different stained glass crack-repair methods with windows at Princeton University, Andover Cemetery Chapel, Trinity Church in Boston, and Bigelow Chapel at Mount Auburn Cemetery. Roberto explained that while he most frequently uses copper foil to repair cracked glass panels, in certain situations, epoxy is the best option. He showed a few examples. Roberto's team used epoxy, tinted epoxies, and epoxy infusion techniques on "the Second Coming" at Princeton. At the chapel at Andover Cemetery, gaps were closed with infill pieces made of layers of epoxy, tinted with dyes and cured for several days in a freezer. This painted Tiffany window demonstrated the appropriateness of epoxy infill with thin original glass. Epoxy is stronger than glass and yellows as a result of UV expsoure, although a covering layer of clear glass can slow the yellowing. [Serpentino uses Hxtal NYL-1 epoxy, whose manufacturer claims that it is a crystal clear, non-yellowing, two-part adhesive system specially formulated for the restoration trade. If it is non-yellowing, can it be formulated to use on sensitive stone repairs? Note: a 10 pound repair kit costs $998.]
Silicone is an alternative to epoxy and a naturally UV resistant polymer. On a LaFarge window at Trinity Church, portions of the composition involved 5 and 6 layers of glass. Serpentino repaired with window with copper foil and silicone. Among other advantages, this method is more reversible than epoxy would have been. Copper foil was the technique employed in windows at Mount Auburn Cemetery. Once completed, rather than covering the restored window with a layer of glass to protect it, a 100 year old tree near the window was removed and new netting stretched across the window's exterior face.
Photos from left to right: Princeton glass before (1) and after (2) epoxy repair. Sakonnet Light (3), with close-up of interstitial space (4) between cast iron drum (L) and interior brick liner (R). Plymouth Rock portico trial installation of impressed current (5) and original Guastavino drawings (6).
Jack Glassman of Bargman Hendrie + Archetype: Jack presented his project for DCR at McKim, Mead & White's 1921 granite and Guastavino tile portico structure surrounding Plymouth Rock. Considering that the portico can be flooded by surf at high tides, it is in remarkably good condition, but a significant number of ceiling tiles had broken away. Jack and his structural engineers from Robert Silman (with help from Vertical Access) believed rust of an embedded steel ring beam was pushing the tiles out. To avoid damage to the Guastavino tile, Jack and his team made exploratory openings from the topside, through the roofing membrane and many inches of fill, to examine the steel. The exploratory opening allowed limited inspection and revealed corrosion at the bottom of rotated I-sections.
Jack and his team turned to CorrPro (contact Clem Firlotte, P. E. 330.289.4635 mobile or cfirlotte@corrpro.com) for guidance on cathodic protection systems. They decided to install an Impressed Current System, using titanium anode wires at 24" spacing in mortar joints with 3-4 volts brought through a strip of Wiremold. The work on repairing the portico is scheduled to begin spring 2008. John Wathne has also used CorrPro for a project near the State House. [After these systems are installed, what monitoring will demonstrate that these cathodic protection systems are effective?]
John Wathne, Structures North Consulting Engineers: John has been working with committee colleague, Eric Ward of Einhorn Yaffee Prescott, for Friends of the Sakonnet Light. This "sparkplug" fixture at the mouth of the Sakonnet River, built 1882-84, has been decommissioned by the U. S. Coast Guard. It is reachable only by boat, and John's first visit to the lighthouse was via a Zodiac tossed by 5' seas. The structure is a cast iron drum with an interior lining of brick. The structure tapers with ½" thick flanged iron sheets engaging masonry. Although this is not truly a structural composite, the iron and brick interlock in such a way that one cannot move without the other moving. Brick growth, natural cement mortar harder than the bricks of the liner, and corrosion jacking on the inner faces and joints of the iron sheets, work together to announce the lighthouse's deterioration as a "paint problem" to passing recreation boaters. The primary problem with corrosion, and the primary consequence of paint failure, occurs at the joints of the panels of the drum, which are bolted but not welded and no longer watertight on the exterior.
Structures North decided to tear out the existing brick liner in vertical "lifts", dropping it into the void of the caisson below. This avoids the costs and environmental issues of disposal of the brick at this off-shore site. The cast iron will be shot blasted on both sides then painted with a 3-part paint system (zinc-rich primer, epoxy, and polyurethane top coat). New brick will be brought to the site to replace the ruined liner. The project is currently working its way through permitting at the Rhode Island Department of Transportation. John is full of admiration for his client group who has stayed with the project enthusiastically-even as its complications unfolded.
Wendall Kalsow of McGinley/Kalsow will present his firm's work on Boston College's Gaston Hall, a complicated combination of cast and natural stone, at a future meeting. [He is also presenting on the subject of cast stone at Technology & Conservation's conference, Concrete and Cast Stone in the 21st Century, March 29 - 30, at MIT.]
3. H. H. Richardson House, Brookline: David Kelman, Elizabeth Randall and others involved in the search for a lasting solution for this site announced that it will remain a single-family house. The old ell will come down, but those interior features that are significant because of their association with Richardson will stay in place after restoration. Two particularly heroic participants emerged from this long search for a solution: the Hoppins, who live next door, and Alan Galper, the young attorney who refused to admit defeat or ever give up through a prolonged and unusually intractable series of negotiations and sales offerings.
4. AIA Convention in Boston: Although various members of the committee will be involved in tours and workshops for the convention (May 2008), our group has no formal commitments. Henry will ask the BSA if there are ways that we can contribute to the convention's success.
5. Massachusetts Historical Commission Preservation Project Fund Grants: The MHC has announced Round 14 of its 50% reimbursable matching grant program established in 1984 to support the preservation of properties, landscapes, and sites listed in the State Register of Historic Places. Applicants must be a municipality or a nonprofit organization. Round 14 application deadline is February 22, 2008. For more information, application, instructions & workshop dates visit: www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc or call MHC Grants Division staff at 617-727-8470.]
6. Archdiocesan Parish Closures Article: See Bradford McKee's excellent article in the December issue of Architect or http://www.architectmagazine.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=1006&articleID=626113&artnum=1. Interesting updates on current plans for local churches and a good national perspective on the paradox of expanding Catholicism and closing churches.]
7. Oscar Niemeyer, Centenarian: Henry noted that December 15 would be Niemeyer's 100th birthday. [How many of our parents and grandparents recall his freely planned Brazilian Pavilion for the 1939 World's Fair, with its micro-Amazonian garden court concept complete with orchids and snakes? See Kenneth Frampton's Modern Architecture, A Critical History, for a balanced and lively account of this man's exemplary career!]
8: 00 a.m., Thursday, January 10, 2008
Featuring
"Stone Features in the Massachusetts Landscape,"
Shawn Provencher, DCR Historic Landscapes Initiative
The Architects' Building, 52 Broad Street, Boston, Fifth Floor
Henry Moss, Matthew Bronski, and Sara Wermiel co-leaders and scribes