Hanover, Md. – April 22, 2009– Cathedral Stone Products has teamed with a group of construction and restoration experts to help complete extensive exterior renovations on the façade of Atlanta’s historically designated First Presbyterian Church located at the corner of Peachtree and 16th Streets in midtown Atlanta.

Faced with a crumbling exterior that had become hazardous, and wary of making changes that would damage the church’s historic character, the church’s facility managers - Griffin Services - called on Cathedral Stone Products to examine the situation and determine the best long-term repair and renovation strategy for the building’s stone and masonry substrate.

Cathedral Stone’s initial conversations with the church found that 10 years prior an incompatible stone consolidant had been applied to the building that accelerated deterioration of the stone. The consolidant trapped moisture within the stone, which led to damage from the freeze-thaw cycle.

As a result of its findings, Cathedral Stone enacted a plan designed to both overcome prior issues and to restore the church’s façade to stand the test of the time and the elements.

Cathedral Stone teamed with contractors - including Silverman Construction Program Management, Gay Construction, PCI Group, and Western Waterproofing - in working closely with the church’s representatives and the congregation itself.

“Each company and person working on this project was diligent, focused and highly experienced in their fields,” said Craig Anderson, Griffin Services’ facility manager. “It made the project work very smoothly.”

The project included multiple phases, beginning with one of Cathedral Stone’s expert masons sounding each of the 20,476 sandstones. Each stone was documented, labeled and numbered, giving the team a reference point for where worked needed to be completely.

Once the sounding survey was complete, the stones were then cleaned using Cathedral Stone’s masonRE® G to remove the heavy deposit of carbon (black staining). Prep work was then performed, which included the removal of all unsound stones and removal of mortar joints. More than 4,000 stones were patched, and a 31 cubic feet of stone was replaced completely.

Once repair, replacement, and retooling of the stone was completed, the entire building was repointed with Cathedral Stones’ all-natural Jahn Masonry Repair Mortars.

Cathedral Stone Products supervised all masonry work, including training 27 masons. Only masons who took and passed Cathedral Stone’s masonry restoration training program were authorized to patch on the church, and they were identified at all times with special badges.

Cathedral Stone served as the quality control specialist on the project, monitoring the masons and inspecting their work to ensure proper prep work prior to patching, and to visually and mechanically review all work once finished. Any repairs that did not pass inspection were removed, redone, and then re-inspected for approval.

Upon completion of all repairs Western Waterproofing used Cathedral Stone’s VOC-free water repellent, R-97, to protect the church’s newly repointed masonry from water penetration.

According to Anderson, “We’ve received only extremely positive feedback from the congregation about the church’s restored appearance. The congregation is especially excited that the historic nature of the church has stayed in tact - maintaining the historic appearance of the church was of critical importance even before the bidding process began.”

Originally built in 1909, the Church is on the National Register of Historic Places. The project comprised 20,476 total sandstones and 58,000 square feet of brick, and the work took place between May 2008 and January 2009.

Building

First Presbyterian Church
1328 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA

Substrate

Sandstone:
20,476 total stones of which 4,600 were repaired

Brick:
58,000 total square feet; (1,500 square feet of tuck pointing; 58,000 square feet was cleaned and sealed with water repellent)

Products Used:

Jahn Masonry Repair Mortars (all natural)
R-97 Water Repellent (100% VOC-free)

Project Timeframe

May 2008 - January 2009

Project Team

Church representative, Griffin Services; program management, Silverman Construction Program Management; Engineer, PCI Group; General Contractor, Gay Construction; lab testing, quality control, mason training/certification, and product supply, Cathedral Stone Products; masonry contractor, Western Waterproofing.

About Cathedral Stone Products
Cathedral Stone Products is the leading North American manufacturer and distributor of environmentally safe masonry restoration and preservation products. Its materials are proven to stand the tests of time and the elements, while also protecting a structure’s original masonry. Cathedral Stone’s products encompass mortars, grouts, paints, paint strippers, water repellent, biological solution, and cleaners.