Repairs to Façade of Thomas Chapel have Begun
The History Taskforce knew that the roof of Thomas Chapel had been leaking since at least 2004 when the church had applied for a Texas Historical Commission (THC) grant to repair their Landmark building. Although the Texas Historical Commission in 2004 offered a $57,000 matching grant to the project, the elderly members church could not raise the matching money of $28,000 to take advantage of that opportunity. These kind of grants require the organization who asks for it to raise all the money, do the work, and then they will reimburse the organization half of total money spent. Since this congregation could not raise this much money, they could not get the money and the leaks and water damage continued for nearly 20 years. By 2023 The History Taskforce had taken on the project and applied again for a grant to correct the 20-year-old issue in this Landmark building but this request produced no funding from the THC for the roof repairs or to repair damage to the façade of the building.
By November 2023 the Taskforce had raise some funds repaired the roof leaks but felt that the work needed on the façade had become urgent. Due to lack of grant money for this project, the repairs to the façade of the Landmark building were begun with personal funding from members of the History Taskforce and with ongoing continuous fundraising efforts. Action on this issue needed to begin as soon as possible. Rotting boards were falling off the building and keeping water out of the sanctuary had become a real issue.
Because it is a Landmark building, the only one in Montgomery County, any repairs or changes to the exterior of the building must be approved by the THC in Austin. To be approved, you must use exactly the same materials that were used when the building was first built in 1899. The wood siding used back then is no longer made and had to be custom planed. We found that Lucas Cedar in Willis could take the pine boards and put them through their planer to make the siding exactly like those used when the building was constructed. This of course is an expensive operation. On January 29, 2024, we received the siding and began repair of the façade of the historic building. By February 3, we were making good progress in removing the rotten wood and were replacing it with new material.
HOWEVER, whenever you restore a building this old, you never know what other problems you may find when you start removing boards! And we found a pretty big issue we would have to solve before we could continue with the siding.
We will explain the problem and how we are going to fix it in a day or two. It’s complicated, expensive, and required the services of our pro bono engineer Ron Saikowski at Quest Engineering.
The photos show the rotten, water-damaged siding, the removal of the damaged wood, the new siding put on, and the new siding that has been painted.
By November 2023 the Taskforce had raise some funds repaired the roof leaks but felt that the work needed on the façade had become urgent. Due to lack of grant money for this project, the repairs to the façade of the Landmark building were begun with personal funding from members of the History Taskforce and with ongoing continuous fundraising efforts. Action on this issue needed to begin as soon as possible. Rotting boards were falling off the building and keeping water out of the sanctuary had become a real issue.
Because it is a Landmark building, the only one in Montgomery County, any repairs or changes to the exterior of the building must be approved by the THC in Austin. To be approved, you must use exactly the same materials that were used when the building was first built in 1899. The wood siding used back then is no longer made and had to be custom planed. We found that Lucas Cedar in Willis could take the pine boards and put them through their planer to make the siding exactly like those used when the building was constructed. This of course is an expensive operation. On January 29, 2024, we received the siding and began repair of the façade of the historic building. By February 3, we were making good progress in removing the rotten wood and were replacing it with new material.
HOWEVER, whenever you restore a building this old, you never know what other problems you may find when you start removing boards! And we found a pretty big issue we would have to solve before we could continue with the siding.
We will explain the problem and how we are going to fix it in a day or two. It’s complicated, expensive, and required the services of our pro bono engineer Ron Saikowski at Quest Engineering.
The photos show the rotten, water-damaged siding, the removal of the damaged wood, the new siding put on, and the new siding that has been painted.
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