The Drop
Wyck House & Gardens
The drop panel included a representative cornice-to-grade section of the building where all of the repairs to wood, masonry and finishes could be carried out and tested. By the following spring, we had observed some minor failure of the stucco as it contacted the brick terrace. Theorizing that this was an area of constant dampness and uptake of water, we installed a 3/8" high rubber gasket there and repaired the stucco, which has not failed since.
The value of having a variety of professionals all looking at the building simultaneously as we did in the investigation and drop phase is that more eyes are better than one, more ground is covered in real time and you come up with ideas about things to try that an individual might not have come up with at the time and that would have been harder to implement later. Plus everyone is up to speed all the time on the status of the project and why certain decisions were made.
After a funding-related pause, Rob Fitzgerald who had done the initial masonry studies and masonry repairs in the drop area had moved on to other work, so John Lee ended up carrying out all of the repairs, including the masonry about which he knew nothing at the time. Throughout the winter John conducted an intensive self-education campaign to read all current preservation texts on lime-based materials as well as historical accounts.
In the spring, attempts were made to hire a local crew. Wanting to have the crew managed by a sensitized manager, Restoration Group out of Lexington KY was chosen for day-to-day oversight. Eventually an English mason was found who was willing to take on this project. Joe Forrest was working on a National Park Service site and had experience from his early days as a mason working with lime stuccoes. He taught the conservators a lot and together they learned still more. John had made the decision that they needed to find a high-quality oxide to slake their own lime putty, so he began carrying out tests with Corson's calcium oxide. By the time the project began again, the team would be carrying out many more lime putty-related tests in an attempt to get away from acrylic bonding agents and consolidants.
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