Smartsvillehistoricchurch.org

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Smartsvillehistoricchurch.org

Smartsvillehistoricchurch.orgSmartsvillehistoricchurch.orgSmartsvillehistoricchurch.org
  • Home
  • Restoration
  • More Informtion
  • Local History
  • Pioneer Day
  • Vendor App

Restoration Work

Upcoming projects

Upcoming projects

Upcoming projects

  

Currently we have undertaken a survey to catalogue the next steps and order in which they need to be done and estimate costs. They include lighting, windows, drywall, architectural feature restoration insulation HVAC, painting and floors. If you are skilled in any of these aspects please contact us.

Revival

Upcoming projects

Upcoming projects

 When SCRFI was formed in 1998 it was apparent that the Church of the Immaculate Conception must first be rescued before any restoration could begin.   The following paragraphs describe how we have saved this historic building, how we have moved from revival to restoration, and our plans for future restoration.

Restoration

Upcoming projects

Restoration

With the new roof on and the building and the foundation in place the building was stabelized enough to begin restoration of other damaged and neglected parts of the building could begin. 

Foundation Restoration

 Our Foundation is Finally Fixed! Thanks to Montgomery Structural Lifters and owner Rio Morales, we’re now assured that the building’s foundation is sound on all sides. Rio and his amazing crew of four have worked together on enormous projects and specialize in lifting buildings and even hauling them. For them to also have repaired the wood framing and sills and then poured concrete with specially designed anchor bolts was above and beyond what they normally do. We had been challenged to find a 

Apse Restoration Begins

Getting Started

Exhibiting the Technique

Exhibiting the Technique

Onut first needed to remove the damaged plaster and clean the lath.

Exhibiting the Technique

Exhibiting the Technique

Exhibiting the Technique

Removed pieces of original plaster shows the materials and the techniques which were used in the original construction.

Byzantine Painting Studio Finishes!

 Our sanctuary restoration has made the church interior a virtual new icon to share with you. Thanks to Aurel Onut of Byzantine Painting Studio and his sons Andrei and George, we have a magnificent back wall to view upon entering the church. Commonly the first words have been, “Oh, wow!” and “Beautiful!” Aurel was definitely envisioning such a view and truly realized it would inspire further progress for our restoration work. He used authentic old-world Byzant

Artisan Restorer found

 Aurel Onut artisan plaster restorer has taken on the challenge of restoring the Apse. The apse is  the large semicircular recess in the church, with a domed roof,  at the eastern end of the building, containing the altar.  

Restoration of the Bell Tower with Historicorps is done!

Before and After

 Because of the way the bell tower was originally constructed and because portions of it have been open to the weather, there are some areas containing damaged wood that may need to be either repaired or replaced.  These structural repairs must be made before any other part of our new project can be accomplished.   

 The 2018, structural engineering design resulted in construction plans to repair deficiencies in the bell tower.  Because this bell tower project is beyond the scope of what can be accomplished by  our available volunteers, SCRFI has embarked on a fund-raising plan  to raise necessary funds to hire a contractor who is capable to complete the work. 

 SCRFI  enlisted the help of Historicorps, a non profit organization that specializes in restoration of historic structures. 

Learn More

For more information please call Kit Burton at (530) 701-2639 or Kathleen Smith at (916) 838-2757 

Past Restoration Projects

RESCUE

 After the Sacramento Diocese ceased maintenance on the building there were several attempts by local groups to arrest further deterioration.  Some work was done prior to the creation of SCRFI, but the efforts could not be sustained.

To the original SCRFI board, the building showed signs of imminent collapse that would make restoration either impossible or, at the least very difficult.  Our assessment was that water damage from a leaking roof was the principal problem, but simply constructing a new roof on the existing structure was not so simple.  Not only had serious damage occurred to the floor, pews, and interior furnishings, but the east wall of the building had subsided as a result of the water damage to the sill plate and the building was out of plumb.

With the east wall of the church jacked up and the building reasonably level and plumb, bids for a new roof were solicited in 2003.  Only one bid was received.  After a desperate campaign to obtain funding, a new roof was installed later that year.  Then, with the wall still supported by jacks, we started on the foundation.  

 


Past Restoration Continued

Foundation Work

 Prolonged periods of being wet, as a result of a leaking roof, left the timber sill plate and the bottom ends of most of the studs severely rotted along the east wall.  The challenge was to install a new sill plate and repair the studs.  But, as if that was not enough, the 130-year-old foundation was capable of resisting gravity loads but was judged by geotechnical engineers as being incapable of handling lateral loads from high winds or earthquakes.

After a lot of thought we came up with a scheme to utilize the existing rock wall foundation to carry the weight of the building.  A new reinforced concrete beam would replace the rotted sill plate and would transfer lateral loads to the corners of the building.  New timber would be spliced onto the existing studs and securely attached to the top of the new concrete beam.  This solution was not expensive and, best of all, could be accomplished in short (20-foot long) sections.  

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Past Restoration Continued

A New Roof

 By the summer of last 2006 we had installed two 20-foot sections of the concrete beam, with Stewart Smith and Rodney Ivie doing most of the work, but we were unable to continue doing the work ourselves.  And until the foundation was finished, Rice Brothers House Movers would not be able to remove their jacks and cribbing to use on other projects.  Joe Rice, always patient and helpful, suggested we call Ted Holmes, a Yuba City contractor.  

Fortunately Ted was able to find some time between his other jobs to help us finish the foundation on the entire east wall.  With the jacks and cribbing removed the building was once again resting on its foundation.  Rodney Ivie and Steve Winchell finished the stud re-attachments and replaced the east wall siding. 

Past Restoration Continued

Bell Tower Foundation


The next project was the bell tower foundation.  We again had Rice Brothers jack up another wall, this time, the front, or south, wall along with the attached bell tower.   We then poured a new cast-in-place concrete foundation for the bell tower, replacing the original bell tower foundation of rocks.  While the south wall was jacked up we replaced the timber mud sill with a concrete grade beam as we had done on the east wall.  At this point we had finished with the important work on the “rescue” phase and we could start on the “restoration” phase.

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