Historic Resources Committee

  • 1.  ornamental sheet metal

    Posted 09-21-2016 06:41 PM
    I'm attempting to restore an historic building in San Francisco that has elaborate sheet metal cornice and crown moulding on two facades. The 7 story building was built in 1929 and, unfortunately, was not well maintained. The sheet metal was fabricated in galvanized iron and is rusted to the point where much of it is irreparable. I'm having a very difficult time finding anyone on the West coast that does this kind of work and can find no information in industry literature on the restoration of architectural sheet metal.
    Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing?
     
    A. Gordon Atkinson, AIA 
    735A Taraval St. San Francisco, CA 94116 
    tel 415-731-9927 fax 415-731-9942
    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 2.  RE: ornamental sheet metal

    Posted 09-22-2016 05:44 PM

    For the restoration of the Wyoming Capitol Building in Cheyenne the sheet metal work is being done by Renaissance roofing in Belvidere, Illinois. Check out their web site at Renaissance Roofing Inc.

    the contractor for the sheet metal work at the Wyoming State Capitol Building in Cheyenne is Renaissance Roofing of Belvidere, Illinois. Check out their web site at www.claytileroof.com

    .

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    Michael Dixon FAIA
    architect
    United States Peace Corps
    St Charles IL

    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 3.  RE: ornamental sheet metal

    Posted 09-24-2016 06:48 PM
    RE your sheet metal restoration question, a suggestion  from Roberta Deering, Former Preservation Director City of
    Sacramento (Relayed by Paul Schmidt AIA) see below:
    • I'm cc'ing Craig Hausman, here, who was the architect for the City's restoration of the Mortuary Chapel at Sacramento's Historic City Cemetery, which involved the restoration of its original sheet metal "shingle" roofing…painted to look like weathered copper, with a green-ish-blue patina look.  
    • The metal work was done by Capitol Sheet Metal, on North 16th Street, in the River District.  Capitol Sheet Metal also restored the big south facade canopies at the Sacramento Valley Station (Amtrak) and even totally reconstructed the missing one there….all look VERY nice!

    Hope this helps get the project going!

    -Roberta



    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 4.  RE: ornamental sheet metal

    Posted 09-22-2016 05:53 PM

    The fabricator for the Milwaukee City Hall project was Heather & Little in Markham, Ontario. I know it is not the west coast but perhaps they have worked with an installer the can recommend in your region.  

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    Michael Krause AIA

    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 5.  RE: ornamental sheet metal

    Posted 09-22-2016 06:18 PM

    We have a large inventory of historic standing seam sheet metal roofs here in Winchester, VA. I too have been on the roofing part of this research trail. The National Park Service has Preservation Brief #4, Roofing for Historic Buildings which has a small section on metal roofing. But a huge PDF can be downloaded from the Copper and Brass Research Association, Roofing & Flashing Manual, dated 1948. It was a part of every architect's library back in the day. It is mostly about copper but you can get good folding and maintenance information anyway. There are a few old companies that still do this work on monumental historic buildings. Wagner in Washington DC is one, Heather and Little is another.

    Hope it helps,

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    Edward Acker AIA
    Senior Architect
    Winchester VA

    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 6.  RE: ornamental sheet metal

    Posted 09-22-2016 08:54 PM

    Hi Gordon

    We have faced this situation a number of times and have saved the historic fabric by using automotive bondo, along with typical fiberglass mesh and/or light gage sheet metal backing as needed for areas that have 'little to no' metal left.  This has been successful even where there was dramatic deterioration.  I don't know that this type of work falls into any traditional 'trade' category but many craftspeople are familiar with the use bondo for car body repair; it is readily available.

    If complete replacement is needed, there are artisans who can work with metal replicating just about anything - but repair may be easier.

    We also just used the 'bondo' approach on a badly damaged 50 year old aluminum facade with success, with a silver spray paint closely matching the visual character of the undamaged aluminum nearby.

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    Michael Malinowski AIA
    Applied Architecture, Inc.
    Sacramento CA

    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 7.  RE: ornamental sheet metal

    Posted 09-23-2016 11:30 PM

    Hi Gordon and all All: Some thoughts on early 20th century cornice problems (endemic in the Northeast and Chicago). Check out:

    *Standard Practice in Sheet Metal Work (1929) from SMACNA.org, a manual of original period details (this sheet metal trade org. began with cornices before HVAC)

    *GFRC (glass fiber reinforced gypsum) as a substitute/repair material; Towne House Restoration does this work in NYC

    *Ditto fiberglass (Architectural Fiberglass Corp. in NYC specializes in this work)

    *W.F.Norman in Nevada OK (still offers some galvanized steel cornice parts)

    Hope this helps -Gordon

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    Gordon Bock
    Principal
    National Archives Associates
    Kensington MD

    2024 HRC Taliesin West