Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
On site at the chapel mock-ups were constructed of the walling to illustrate
the use of stucco, color wash and pencilling and after three years of weathering
and some extreme exposure the materials are performing exceptionally well.
Further testing however is still continuing, primarily in the performance of
natural versus synthetic pigments in color wash, and the heating (or simmer-
ing) to initiate the mordant within the color wash. It is imperative that this
structure is color washed due to the high degree of capillarity and permeability
found in non-hydraulic oyster-shell mortar and this structure's close proximity
to the ocean; the site being exposed to a long season of fluctuating freeze-thaw
cycles. Not only will the color wash offer a stunning finish to the structure,
known to have been used on a large number of historic colonial buildings, but
it will also act as a protective skin to the masonry. The color wash will offer a
traditional and practical solution to this natural problem.
Figure 57
Sample panel of color
wash and pencilled
brickwork in front of
the new building work
of St. Mary's Chapel.
(Courtesy of Price
Masonry)
Other issues that had to be addressed were the layout and direction of con-
struction. It may seem odd, but due to the positioning of the chapel, it was
necessary to build in a clockwise (not counter clockwise) direction. The chapel
is laid out, as all Christian churches, on an east-west axis, which kept the north
wall in constant shade and the south wall in constant exposure. By changing
direction I was able to provide a maximum amount of curing time for these
'cooler' elevations. By living the experience, I feel that a campaign of color
wash at the end of each season would need to occur when work is to be con-
tinued the next year. Reed mats, combined with straw, or tarpaulins would be
needed to cover the wall heads. This would help protect the three foot thick
masonry walls through the freezing winters, in the days before the thermal
rated synthetic materials we enjoy today when the curing mortars would be
most susceptible.
