Painting Attempt Reveals Moisture and other Structural Problems
Over the years the church building has suffered from benign neglect. Dr. James Garvin, NH State Architectural Historian, David Ruell (whose efforts were responsible for placing the church building on the National Register of Historic Places), and Marc A. Williams, President and CEO of the American Conservation Consortium http://www. conservator.com/ have provided a wealth of information and guidance for preservation of the building. Although it has long been available to the trustees, it has, unfortunately, been disregarded. Dear Barry, I appreciated your notice of an opportunity to observe some new disclosures at Trinity Church. I took a look at the building yesterday. I’m attaching some photographs that show things that we could only have guessed at when we inspected the building some four years ago. First, there has been considerable deterioration of the sill of the main building adjacent to the entrance steps on the western end. This loss can be attributed to splashback of roof water from the granite steps onto the lower walls on the main building, followed by infestations of carpenter ants, powder post beetles, or both. As you will see from the first two attached photographs, at least half of the outer portion of the sill has been lost, leaving some of the wall studs unsupported from below. Second, the lower zones (at least) of clapboards on the south and west ends of the building were underlain with tarred felt. We can’t know how high this felt extends on the walls, but its presence under the newer clapboards in the lower area explains some of the excessively high moisture reading we detected four years ago. Application of clapboards over an impervious membrane like tarred felt is dangerous, especially in cases (as here) where roof water from the eaves will splash back onto the lower walls of the building. The tarred felt prevents the water from dissipating in the normal way, leading to high moisture content and dry rot. A better underlayment for new clapboards is rosin-sized building paper, a traditional wind-stopping membrane for use under clapboards. The presence of this tarred felt has encouraged insect activity, and some decay, in the original sheathing boards (photo). You can see some frass (“sawdust”) from such activity in the fourth attached photograph. Luckily, this has not been catastrophic, and the original sheathing boards have survived rather well even in this lower zone. Third, we can see that the lower sheathing boards near the northeast corner of the building, near the water faucet, have been replaced by new sheathing (photo). Interestingly, there is no sign of tarred felt between this sheathing and the new clapboards, suggesting that the clapboard replacement on the south took place at a different time (and by a different carpenter) than that on the north. Finally, like you, I could see no sign that anyone has tried to lay a vapor barrier under the building. I couldn’t see much with my flashlight on a bright, sunny day, but there may be stone piers or other obstructions that may have discouraged any attempt, together with the very low depth of the crawl space. Replacement of the lower clapboards in damaged areas on the north and south walls will exclude water to a greater degree than has been the case when clapboards in these areas were in failing condition, but the building will continue to suffer from condensation beneath the floor under certain weather conditions. The current work will certainly tighten the lower wall zones of the building for a few years, but other chronic threats will remain. It will be interesting to see what is done about the lost cross-section of sill at the southwest corner, adjacent to the granite steps. Thank you again for giving me the chance to see the building under these circumstances. Jim James L. Garvin State Architectural Historian New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources 19 Pillsbury Street--2nd Floor Concord, NH 03301-3570 Tel.: 603-271-6436 E-mail: james.garvin@dcr.nh.gov
Architectural Integrity of Trinity Roof Letter 1 NH Architectural Historian Letter 2 NH Architectural Historian Letter 3 David Ruell The Trinity Church has, in the past, been nominated as one of the New Hampshire Preservation Alliances "Seven to Save" because of its historical value. http://www.nhpreservation.org/html/home.htm Files are in Adobe Acrobat Format a free Acrobat Reader is available Click Here	Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge

© Barry Borella 2005

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