St. Peters Church Episcopal Church Brownstone Facade Remediation

Charlotte, NC

Organized in 1834, and recognized as a parish in the Diocese of North Carolina in 1844, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church was the first Episcopal Church in the city of Charlotte. Initial construction of the main church brownstone building was completed in 1895, but multiple additions and renovations have taken place throughout the complex’s lifetime, the most recent a renovation of the nave in 2010. The façade of the church is almost entirely brownstone, with accompanying brick masonry veneers. As this façade nears 150 years old, clear signs of deterioration are apparent throughout the stone features of the building. SKA Consulting Engineers was contracted by the Church board members to investigate the extent of the damages and develop a design to repair them.

To most efficiently and effectively examine the existing conditions of the entire brownstone façade, SKA employed Air Source One, a local drone surveying company, to fly the site and collect aerial footage of the Church’s exterior conditions. Using the videos and photographs collected by Air Source One, SKA developed a matrix classifying each distress case by severity, location, and specific brownstone geometry. To further investigate the brownstone façade conditions of the historical building, core samples were taken from various locations and petrographic examinations were completed. The observations revealed that the spalling and scaling observed during the aerial investigation was mostly surficial, and could be removed using typical impacting techniques. We presented our findings to the Church’s junior warden and bishop, and recommended that all fall hazards, as well as all cases of medium or high severity distress be addressed.

SKA worked with the stone contractor, Stone Restoration of America, and their pre-caster of choice, Lucas concrete, to develop a scope of work to address the issues in the façade. A mock-up Dutchman repair was created to ensure visual satisfaction from the client, and to estimate a total price for the pre-caster. Stone Restoration is currently executing the discussed scope of work.