News
St. Paul’s Summer Projects
Summer projects are underway and our campus will be looking fresh for Fall. Three major projects include painting the exposed wood and repairing some decomposing areas of the exterior window trim on Dixon House and the Rectory, replacing the dilapidated wood siding on the Rectory addition with fiber cement planks, and installing new signs to replace our Chestnut Hill Ave and Cooke Park signs.
A dented gutter on the west side of Dixon house has been the culprit of the water damage to the wall, window, and basement directly under its path that has been accumulating over many years. The gutter has been fixed and the wood window frames are in the process of being restored. Aside from improper water distribution, the existing paint on the exterior window trims on Dixon House is well beyond its lifespan, and nonexistent in certain areas. We have hired John Byrne, who works closely with the Preservation Alliance and has extensive experience with historic preservation, restoration, and working on buildings similar to ours. John will properly clean, prime, and finish with a superior exterior element guard paint and will do all necessary woodwork repairs.
Similar to Dixon House, the Rectory’s exterior paint has been deteriorating for quite some time, leaving certain areas of wood exposed to the elements. Before the new gutters were installed in the recent past, there were areas of wood that suffered from faulty or clogged gutters and have rotted. John’s talented crew will also be repairing these areas of the Rectory exterior and will do the same paint process for the window trim, shutters, soffits, and front entrance.
Volpe Enterprises will be our contractor for the back addition of the Rectory. They will start by removing the existing, warped and decomposing wood siding down to the studs. A new plywood substrate will be installed and this will be wrapped with a weather guard material for waterproofing followed by the fiber cement planks and trim. The many benefits of the fiber cement compared to wood siding include durability, fire resistance, insect-resistance, and low maintenance. An added bonus is that it is environmentally friendly and can be recycled at the end of its long lifespan.
The conclusion of our major sign-update project is within reach! We are having two new identical signs fabricated this summer and they will look very similar to the sign in front of the Chestnut Hill Avenue entrance. The exciting part is that not only will our two major church signs match, but they will also have accurate information. In order to provide flexibility in service time changes, the signs will have a track system installed and we will have panels made with our different service times. These panels will be easy to insert and remove at any time and will allow us to make changes and update them in a timely manner without having to pay for an entirely new sign.
The property committee has been hard at work to make these visions come to fruition and we hope you are just as excited as we are to see all the improvements!
