Restoration - Masonry : Pointing

Iron Furnace
Lake Oswego, Oregon

The furnace was built by the Oregon Iron Company and began operations on August 24, 1867. After it was abandoned in 1885, the furnace's masonry stack was left to endure the elements without any protection. Although the exterior of the 44-foot tall furnace is in relatively good condition, the interior stonework was seriously deteriorated. The work, done by Pioneer Waterproofing Company, consists of replacing the grout, repointing, as well as injection grouting with NHL mortars. Today, the stone furnace is the only surviving iron furnace west of the Rocky Mountains.

 

Taliesin East by Frank Lloyd Wright
Spring Green, Wisconsin

Taliesin refers both to the residence and the 800 acre estate surrounding it. First began by Mr. Wright in 1911, the house burned and was rebuilt twice.

Taliesin Preservation, Inc., is a private non-profit organization working to preserve the buildings and provide public access and educational opportunities. Their work on buildings with such a complex history- often representing multiple periods of construction, differing materials, and mixes, presents much fodder for philosophical and technical discussion...mortars and plasters being a particularly rich field.

Taliesin Preservation has come to the conclusion that matching exact mortars is less important than coming up with the best technical mixes. They have been using NHL 3.5 for numerous re-pointing jobs and several plaster repairs both interior and exterior, and have been pleased with the results. Much of their upcoming masonry work consists of replacing inappropriate acrylic modified Portland based mortars with lime based mixes. It is a tedious but highly satisfying work.

To learn more about Taliesin, visit http://www.taliesinpreservation.org/

 

Fort Laramie
Wyoming

Fort Laramie was founded in 1849 as a military outpost along the Oregon Trail. It served as a staging area for troops fighting Crazy Horse or Sitting Bull. The popular view of the fort, generated by series such as "Rusty and Rintintin" from our old black and white televisions, is that of an enclosure surrounded by a wall. Fort Laramie, however, was never enclosed by a fence. The structures were made from a mixture of lime and sifted river sand. The same mixture is used today for repairs, restoration, preservation and maintenance by the National Park Service. The walls on most structures are an average of 18 inches thick and were assembled in layers.

View this Project:

Fort Laramie

 

Charles Krug Winery
Napa Valley, California

Established in 1861, Charles Krug Winery is the first winery established in the Napa Valley. The restoration of the winery involved repointing and plastering with Saint-Astier Natural Hydraulic Lime in order to match the original materials.

 

San Carlos Cathedral
Monterey, California

Built between 1770 and 1794, the San Carlos Cathedral is the oldest stone building in California, still serving the Catholic community of the Monterey Peninsula today.

The sandstone and mud mortar walls, originally covered with a lime plaster very similar to our NHL 2, sustained minimal damage from past earthquakes while the lime plaster basically remained intact. Nevertheless, deemed an "unreinforced masonry building," the cathedral needed seismic retrofitting, and the original lime plaster needed to be removed in the process. Upon completion, simple sand and NHL 2 mixes were used for repointing and replastering, vital elements that guarantee the building's integrity for centuries to come.

This restoration was achieved with the expertise of specialized engineers and architects in collaboration with the Getty Conservation Institute.

 

Visitor's Complex - Roma National Historic Landmark District
Roma, Texas

Saint-Astier Natural hydraulic lime was used to successfully complete this interior and exterior restoration project (repointing, plastering, painting) of the visitor's complex in the historical district. Special effort was made to restore the site as authentically as possible with true historic materials, such as the lime paint on the roof deck, as it originally appeared in the 1800s.

View this Project:

www.cityofroma.net

 

Ritz Carlton Hotel
San Francisco, California

Repointing. Inappropriate mortars were used on this landmark building, leading to deterioration of the terra cotta blocks. Repointing with NHL mortars allows for elimination of water trapped inside the blocks.

 

Columbia State Historic Park
Columbia, California

An impeccably preserved California gold rush town, the town of Columbia was first established in 1850, the same year that St. Astier began producing the NHL that we know and use today. This same NHL was recently used for the repointing and brick setting restoration work on the main buildings.

View this Project:

www.columbiacalifornia.com

 

Mission San Juan Capistrano
San Juan Capistrano, California

Historical preservation of registered Historic Landmark and designated National Historic Treasure.

View this project:

www.missionsjc.com

 

St. Paul's Anglican Church
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Repointing

 

Flood Building Lightcourt
San Francisco, California

Repointing terra cotta and glazed brick with NHL mortar on this 1904 historical building.

 

Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York, New York

NHL repointing and stone repair with Lithomex.

View this Project:	The Restoration of the Fifth Avenue Facades of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
	by Timothy Allanbrook and Kyle C. Normandin
	APT International Bulletin, Vol. XXXVIIII, No. 4.

 

Second Presbyterian Church
Richmond, Virginia

Repointing with NHL and brown stone repair with Lithomex.

 

Chamberlain House, Mission Houses Museum
Honolulu, Hawaii

Restoration of coral block historical building. Repointing and plastering with NHL with coral sand.

 

Courthouse
Toronto, Ontario, California

Repointing

 

Braithwaite Building, Southern Utah University
Cedar City, Utah

 

San Mateo Central Park
San Mateo, California

Historical fence piers: Setting and pointing bricks and plastering with NHL.

Award: Historic Preservation Award, California Preservation Foundation, 2004

 

Presbyterian Church
Salt Lake City, Utah

Repointing terra cotta and stone work using NHL 3.5.

 

Old City Hall
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Repointing

 

Old Port Colden School
Port Colden, New Jersey

NHL 3.5 used as binder to repoint historic brick work.

 

Irish Hunger Memorial
Battery Park, New York City

Reconstruction of a rubble stone cottage with St. Astier NHL mortars, transported from Ireland to New York. NHL 3.5 for stone walls and NHL 5 for laying cap stones.

 

Private Residence - Hatfield
Hatfield, Pennsylvania

Full repointing with NHL 3.5 of a circa 1805 Pennsylvania stone farmhouse originally bedded and pointed with lime and sand mortar. The project included the removal of inappropriate Portland cement/sand mortar.

 

The Historic Oxford Furnace, ca. 1741
Warren County, New Jersey

NHL 3.5 to repoint 9" thick stone walls previously repointed with failed Portland lime/sand.

 

Garnier Building
Los Encinos State Park, California

Reconstruction and restoration of 19th century historical building heavily damaged during 1994 Northridge Earthquake. Stone setting, pointing and plastering with NHL.

 

Fort Point, Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California

Restoration; repointing with NHL mortar in a marine environment.