Restoration of the church steeple has begun. Below are photos of the work in progress.
Some of the photos were taken from the basket. The workers (all of whom are at least OSHA 10 certified) took me up with my camera to survey what has been going on. I did my best to remember my high angle rescue training, but I didn’t need it.
In some of the pictures, you can see copper strips being applied to the seams of the steeple. Before they are applied, the seams are calked. After the copper strips are fastened with screws, more calking is applied to make them water tight. The steeple will then be painted with four separate layers of paint to make it appear as it did before.
The section below the steeple still needs some calking and more paint, but already it looks much better than it did. The circular windows are back in the shop, painted and ready to be installed when the exterior paint is dry.
Damage was found on the steeple that wasn’t known about. Based on some architectural drawings, it’s believed the four squares of exposed wood with nails sticking out held finials. When the finials were removed, the wood was not covered and is probably the source of some of the leakage. This will need to be repaired.
You can see where the cell phone antenna wires run through the gutter. The gutter leaks there, and water collects in that area as well. The wires will be boxed off and separated from the gutter, protecting both the gutter and the wires.
There had been plans to repair about 200 tiles on the roof over the Sanctuary. From the vantage of the bucket, it’s obvious that the roof is in much worse condition. You can see numerous broken slate tiles in the photographs. The planned repairs have been put on hold, with only enough repairs being planned to prevent further damage. At some point, the entire roof will need to be redone.
I’m working on a panorama of the view from the bucket. The pictures with the cross in them give you some idea of how widely the cross can be seen. I’ve been asked and yes, that is a lightning rod on top of the cross.
We have always been able to see the steeple at my parents’ house on Temona Drive. Between Broadway and Arbor.
Wow – great pictures of a big job! Rob, i was scared just looking at the bucket. I’m impressed that you actually went up in it! Love the pics of the cross with the neighborhood down in the background.