PROJECT:
North & West Portico Restoration
REPORT NO.
40
Mercer County Courthouse
Mercer,
Pennsylvania
DATE November 16, 1999 TIME 10:00 a.m.
PRESENT AT MEETING Doug Wallace - Wallace
Builders
Lou
DeJulia - Mercer County Maintenance
Bob
Mastriana - 4M Company
NOTES
- Federal Iron developed a new approach to try to tighten the
rotunda railings from the bottom sill plate instead of dismantling the
railings and reinstalling them as previous reported. Youngstown Tile removed
the North railing section of the marble base exposing the bolted
connections. Federal Iron will now try to tighten all the connections,
thereby stiffening the railing. If this is successful, this is a much
simpler and desirable way and not to mention less costly.
- The weather was too cold for the tile to be laid on the
North portico so it was being delayed until Thursday since the temperature
is to be in the mid 50's.
- Discussion regarding proposals from Keystone to correct the
work caused by the material manufacturer's apparently defective products was
held by Bob Mastriana, Lou DeJulia, Doug Wallace, and separately with Rick
Boggs so he can inform the commissioners of the status of the work. Whatever
the final results are, the county will require it to be in writing and
signed by the responsible parties. If none of the contractors appear to be
responsible for this corrective work, (see report #39), then this should not
delay close-out of this project and final payment.
- Bob Mastriana found twelve rubber snakes for the porticos to use as pigeon control devices.
ITEMS TO VERIFY
- The next meeting is Tuesday, November 23, 1999 at 10:00 a.m.
PROJECT: North
& West Portico Restoration
REPORT
NO. 41
Mercer County Courthouse
Mercer, Pennsylvania
DATE November 23, 1999 TIME 10:00 a.m.
PRESENT AT MEETING Rick Boggs - Chief Clerk
Jerry
Johnson - Chairman of Courthouse Restoration Committee
Dean
Alexander - Member of Courthouse Restoration Committee
Lou
DeJulia - Mercer County Maintenance
Bob
Mastriana - 4M Company
NOTES
- A special meeting is to be held next Tuesday, November 30,
1999. at 10:00 a.m. with Brian Shipley, the newly elected Commissioner, on
behalf of the Courthouse Restoration Committee to tour the Courthouse and to
discuss the Courthouse Restoration Project. All the Commissioners were
invited to attend.
- Lou DeJulia will install the snake decoys on the porticos
to use as pigeon control devices next week. He will also try to get the
roofers to fix the scupper leaks on the West portico next week.
- Youngstown Tile & Terrazzo was completing the grout on
the North portico tile and will re-grout the base plates of the railing.
They will also reinstall the marble base on Monday for the rotunda railings.
- Federal Iron is in the process of installing the remaining
decorative bolt caps on the railing base plates. They will complete the work
by Friday. Jimmy Sferra of Federal Iron has Started to work on the interior
rotunda railing repairs and hopefully by Wednesday he will have completed
this work. Twenty-two screws that were never installed when the railing was
mounted in 1910 had to be drilled and tapped to secure the railing to the
base plate in addition to tightening all the remaining bolts.
- Wallace Builders installed the decorative rosettes on the
memorial plaques and re-coated with Miracote the top step of the North
portico. They will install the second coat on Wednesday.
- Except for the corrective work which will be done in the
spring, and at no cost to the county , the substantial completion of the
portico restoration project will be by Friday, November 26, 1999.
- Discussion continued regarding the proposals from Keystone
for the corrective work to be done next spring. To protect the county and
also be fair to the contractors, Dean Alexander suggested holding the money
in escrow with interest paid to the contractor when the work is completed.
- The total costs as itemized on the proposals are as
follows:
Recoat West Columns (Miracote) $ 2,750.00
Reseal Porticos (Diedrich) $ 6,805.00
Reclean - Base Bid (Diedrich) $ 7,009.00
Reclean - Additional North Columns (Diedrich) $ 9.633.00
$26,197.00
Plus Cost of Additional Materials not included in above Proposals:
Miracote Colorbond $ 369.15
Diedrich 303-S10 $ 818.28
$ 1,187.43 $ 1.187.43
*The combined total is $27,384.43
*NOTE: The combined total includes a triple labor application process involving a stripper, a neutralizer and the sealer. If after test samples are done a stripper and/or neutralizer are not necessary, then only the costs of the sealer will be incurred for both labor and material which will be substantially less cost to correct the work.
ITEMS TO VERIFY
- The next meeting is Tuesday, November 30, 1999 at 10:00 a.m.
ARCON Specialties Company
P.O. Box 146
Bethel Park, PA. 15102
Phone & F AX 412-835-1222
A FAX MESSAGE FOR
Mr. Robert Mastriana
DATE: December 28, 1999
FROM: Tom Auel
RE: Mercer County Courthouse Water Repellent
Attached please find a copy of the letter from Diedrich Technologies. Inc regarding the solids content testing.
MEMO TO LOU
Called Tom Auel at 8:15 a.m. 1/5/00
For
final resolution of this matter he still must preform two tests.
1. Tests for abnormal
absorption rates because of prior sandblasting.
2. Tests for rising damp.
The temperature must be above 40° and weather conditions dry for tests to be performed.
Because of the difficulty of the job, Keystone has already lost money on this job. However, they have assured Tom Auel that they will correct and finish the work no matter whose responsibility it ultimately is.
December 28, 1999
Arcon Specialties
Thomas Auel
P.O. Box 146
Bethel Park. p A 15102
Re: Mercer County Courthouse, Diedrich 3O3S-10 Siloxane
Dear Tom.
The samples of the Diedrich 3O3S-10 from the
Mercer County Courthouse project have been received and tested. The results are
as follows.
Retained samples from the same batch as
shipped for the Mercer Project and the product returned to us from material on
the jobsite were tested for solids content. Additionally a solids content test
was also conducted on a sample from a randomly selected 303S-10 batch retained
sample. The results showed the siloxane solids content of all three samples fell
well within the spec parameters for this product. These tests results indicate
no product defect.
If I can be of further assistance please feel free to contact me.
Cordially yours,
Larry Kotke
Sales Vice President
PROJECT: North
& West Portico Restoration
REPORT NO.
42
Mercer County Courthouse
Mercer, Pennsylvania
DATE March 10, 2000 TIME 10:00 a.m.
PRESENT AT MEETING John Thity
- Keystone Waterproofing
Shawn
Litrun - Keystone Waterproofing
Doug
Wallace - Wallace Builders
Denny
Salmon - Wallace Builders
Lou
DeJulia - Mercer County Maintenance
Bob Mastriana - 4M Company
NOTES
-
In response to a letter dated March 2, 2000 from Lou DeJulia outlining items that need repaired regarding the Portico Restoration Project, a job meeting was called by the 4M Company to discuss these items with the respective contractors.
-
The spalling of the patches of the North Portico steps where the patching material was applied prior to the Miracote coating appears to be due to inadequate drying time between coats. This occurred due to the lateness of the season and the inclement weather temperatures in the evenings. The surface temperature evidently was below 40° at nighttime and the drying time between coats was rushed.
-
Keystone has agreed to correct this work on the North Portico steps as soon as weather permits. They are to grind down these patches, remove all loose material, re-patch and re-coat the patches and then re-coat the entire steps. This will require approximately three days to complete the work due to the drying time between coats. All the other areas of the steps including the West Portico are fine.
-
Wallace Builders is going to have Youngstown Tile remove two small areas of tile near the center columns on the North Portico flooring due to ponding and re-lay them along with additional expansion grouting to eliminate water seeping into the lower level through the joint at the top step.
-
They are also going to have Federal Iron remove and re-powdercoat the bolts on the railings due to rust developing.
-
Roof repairs on the West Portico scupper need done immediately because it is causing damage to the plaster cornice underneath. Lou is contacting roofers to complete this work as soon as weather permits.
-
Tom Auel, our stone specialist, is going to perform rising damp tests on the portico stone work as soon as weather permits because various areas of the stonework continue to bleed iron oxide and are returning back to the original orangeish-beige color the stone was prior to the cleaning and sealing.
-
Also, the Miracote color on the West Portico columns still is quite green and has not lightened as we had hoped for. Therefore, they must be re-coated this spring as we previously reported in the prior minutes.
ITEMS TO VERIFY
-
The next job meeting will occur sometime in April after the results of the rising damp tests are received and analyzed so that repair work can be completed by Memorial Day.
March 2, 2000
Mr. Bob Mastriana
4 M Company
251 Glenwood Ave. #3
Youngstown, OH 44512
Dear Bob:
This
morning I had the occasion to inspect the North Steps of the Court House and was
a little surprised to find that the Miracoat has started to spall. There are
approximately 27 spots where it has lifted ranging from about 1 inch in diameter
on up. Most of the spalling is centered on the areas where the cracks were
filled before the Miracoat application. Others look like bubbles erupted and
then burst. An inspection of the West steps showed everything still intact.
This morning we also experienced water underneath the north porch for the first time. It is coming down the wall alongside one of the columns in the middle of the porch. (If you're standing on the steps it's the column on the left). The tile appears to be lower than the top step in this area and there seems to be ponding at times.
We don't use salt for ice melting. We use potassium chloride, which is even less innocuous than calcium chloride.
Just thought I'd brighten up everyone's day.
Sincerely,
Louis J De Julia
Director
Cc: Wallace Builders
