The Historic Trades Carpenters carry in one of the ceiling joists during the Anderson Kitchen frame-raising. Photo by Willie Graham.
Welcome to our first Readers’ Questions blog post! Periodically during the Armoury project, we will assemble your questions about the reconstruction and compile the answers into a blog entry. Our first question comes from a reader who asked : “With so many utility buildings built directly on the ground, are there any preventive steps taken to prevent the “sill” plate from rotting and insects from feeding on the wood?” Excellent question!
The short answer is that we do take specific measures to try to prevent damage caused by environmental factors, ensuring the building as long a “life” as possible. At the same time, however, we need to make sure that these protective measures are not visible once the building is finished so as not to distract from the building’s eighteenth-century character.
Interestingly the ground level around the kitchen is slightly higher now than it will be when the project is completed. Soil has been mounded up around the kitchen foundations to drain water away from the building and to protect the still-curing mortar, which is made using a historic recipe, from freezing over the winter. After the Armoury building (on the site of the current Anderson Blacksmith Shop) is reconstructed, the property will be re-graded to reflect our understanding of the site’s eighteenth-century topography. This will increase the clearance between the ground surface and any wood, including both the sills and the lower edge of the siding.
We asked Clyde Kestner, Director of Special Projects and project manager for the Armoury Reconstruction, to provide a more in-depth explanation of the specific measures being taken to impede insect damage and decay for the Anderson kitchen and the other buildings that will be reconstructed on the site:
• Impel rods (to control decay fungi) were inserted into the bottoms of the kitchen oak sills at 2 feet on center prior to installing the sills.
• A copper termite shield was placed between the top of the kitchen masonry foundation walls and the bottom of the oak sills.
• Liquid termite treatment was generously applied to the ground along both the interior and exterior perimeter of the kitchen foundation walls prior to backfilling the footing trenches and again after backfilling was completed.
• When the Armoury building is reconstructed next year, the adjacent storm drains just east of that building and south of the kitchen will be lowered. This will allow the grade to be lowered enough to expose at least one-and-a-half bricks above grade on both buildings (except at the accessible entrances). Thus in the end all of the wood components will be at least 4.5 inches above the ground surface. The grade will also be sloped slightly to provide good drainage away from the building.
Thank you so much for the great question! Please feel free to post additional questions about the project and we will include them in future Readers’ Questions entries.
Joshua Muse says
Hi all! First off, I wanted to say that the blog and the webcam look great! A very nice job by all of the staff who have been working on it. The project is very exciting, and I’m glad to be able to follow it from afar.
I also wanted to greet any folks who followed the Coffeehouse project. I was one of the people behind the scenes for the Coffeehouse blog and webcam, which I greatly enjoyed - it was a wonderful opportunity to get to interact with some very enthusiastic and knowledgeable members of the public. I’m glad to see that this blog is so “well attended,” and by a number of the same folks.
For anyone who is curious, my wife and I moved to Vermont at the beginning of the year, though I continued to help out with the eWilliamsburg project (http://research.history.org/eWilliamsburg2/index.html) until it’s completion in September.
And another quick hello to everyone at CW! I hope that it’s not too cold down there yet, and that everything is going well.
Sincerely,
Joshua Muse
Rick Brouse says
Hey Josh! Great to hear from you. Sorry to hear you are not at C.W., though. Great to hear you are in Vermont. What are ya doin’ up there? Feel free to contact me via e-mail if you don’t want the world to know what you’re doing in V.
Later my friend
Ernie Barbieri says
I’m enjoying the excavation and restoration very much. But why the metal scaffolding? That doesn’t seem to be very authentic to Colonial Williamsburg restoration efforts.
Ernie, excellent question (and one that many readers may be wondering about)! The metal scaffolding is needed to be in accordance with modern safety regulations. Safety is paramount for both the workers as well as guests visiting the site. In the 18th century, wood scaffolding would have been erected for the construction process. However using a historically-accurate scaffold would not meet today’s OSHA safety standards. Fortunately, it will only be required on the kitchen building for about 8 weeks, so we expect it to be taken down early in the New Year.
Anton Pecha says
Hi
I was wondering about the brickyard facebook photo 33 of 58 which shows what looks like a rubberized ice and water shield being installed between a brick course. How will the two courses bond to each other? What is the purpose of this?
I really enjoy all the information you and all the trades are providing. I would love to see many of the happenings in person, but living in NJ I only get down once every two or three years. Keep up the good work.
Thanks,
Duke of Gloucester Society Contributor,
Anton Pecha
Randolph NJ
Anton, great question and thank you for your thoughtful comments! We talked to the project manager and the masons and found out that the black material sitting on top of the foundation in the photo is a damp-proofing membrane. This barrier is installed to prevent “rising damp,” or a process by which moisture is drawn up through the masonry. The surface of the membrane is actually a little tacky, so it adheres to the brick and the mortar is applied directly on top of it.
Phil Smith says
Just wanted to thank you for the all of the information you provide through this website. As a contractor, my last job was constucting a 18th century replica house using reclaimed lumber. I have a passion for this kind of work and to see what is going on in Colonial Williamsburg just fuels my fire. Keep up the good work and thanks for all that you do.
Phil, it is always wonderful to hear that people are enjoying following the project-thank you!
L.M. and Rick, your questions are very timely! We have just completed an artist’s rendering that shows all of the buildings to be reconstructed. We are in the process of writing the accompanying blog update, which will describe the work schedule in greater detail. We plan to post that next week, so stay tuned!
Rick Brouse says
Great question L.M. I too, being an architect, was wondering about drawings of the additional 5 buildings, their function and were they will be located within the vacinity of the current Blacksmith Shop. And speaking of…what is the fate of the current B.S.? Thanks
L. M. says
Do you have any architectural drawings to show the future placement of all the buildings, big and small, that will eventually fill this site? I’m having trouble imagining how all the buildings will fit into that space. Thank you!
Hi Mike,
Glad you had the opportunity to visit the Armoury kitchen last month! According to Clyde Kestner, Director of Special Projects and project manager for the Armoury Reconstruction,work on the fireplace/chimney will begin once the siding and shingles are in place…sometime in late January or early February. We will use a tent to keep both the mortar…and the masons…from freezing! Because the space between the Armoury building and the kitchen is so tight, chimney construction will be undertaken in two phases. Both phases should be completed in March of 2011.
As for the kitchen entrance, it is centered on the north side of the building…the side facing the Armoury Webcam at the moment. Its placement is based on archaeological evidence for a path connecting the kitchen to the Anderson house. According to Architectural Historian, Willie Graham, there will also be 6 windows in the building: one on the north side, two on the south, a small window in the upper east gable, and two small windows flanking the chimney on the upper west gable.
Mike Lynch says
having visited the site last month, I saw the foundation for a fireplace and I appreciate the rendering in the Blog; but I wonder when the fireplace will be built and where is the entrance?
Jane Tressel says
Thanks for such a well considered and thorough answer!
Jane, you are welcome! Thanks for the excellent question.