Terra Cotta Roof
Rehabilitation at the Capitol Building for State of
New York
Monaco Restorations was
selected by the State of New York to perform the
first phase of historical masonry repairs to the
State Capitol Building. The Capitol building is 102
years old and water infiltration as been a serious
problem since it was completed. The $8 million
dollar project is the beginning of a full-scale
historical restoration of the Capitol Building roof,
skylight, terra cotta and stone. Phase #1 is the
beginning of a 10 year master plan to renovate the
entire exterior structure. “There were 55 gallon
drums scattered around the inside of the building
capturing the water leaking in from the roof. People
had to remember to empty them or they would
overflow”, describes Jim Jamieson, State Architect
for the last four years and a wealth of knowledge on
the history of the structure. “A roof rehabilitation
project may not sound very interesting on the
surface however, the complexity and historical
significance of this effort is very important to the
state and the nation”.
Monaco craftsmen have been involved with several key
steps along the way. Initially they removed and
waterproofed the very intricate granite gutters that
serve as the rain gutter system for the roof. The
granite gutters can weigh thousands of pounds with
complex carvings and designs on them. In addition
the granite gutters needed to be re-attached to the
building with stainless steel rods, something that
was not in place previously. Now they are not just
ornamental but much more effective in the roof
system design. The next step involved Monaco workers
removing and replacing the historic Terra Cotta
fencing, finials and roof hip tiles. There are 274
different styles of terra cotta tiles on the massive
roof structure that add up to thousands of actual
terra cotta pieces. Each tile needs to be replicated
by hand at a plant in Ohio and installed by Monaco
masons without seriously damaging any of them.
Moving thousands of terra cotta tiles from Ohio to
Albany then lifted almost 200 feet to be installed
with a perfect technical precision and historical
skill is quite a daunting task. Monaco craftsmen are
up to task.
“I
have been very satisfied with the quality of the
work and the craftsmanship of the Monaco Team. I am
especially impressed with the attention to detail
and the experience that Monaco Restorations brings
to the project and the team. It is good to see the
strong working relationship between the Architects,
the contractors and the State". |
