Holes in the Floor for Support

For seismic integrity we needed to add support columns to keep the main joists from falling in case of an earthquake.  The joists in question are about 16 to 18 inches square and span the width of the chapel.   The pillars also needed to have their own cement footings separate from the old stone foundation.  So in turn holes were cut in to the floor of the chapel to pour the footings.

One interesting thing that was discovered when the holes were cut in the floor was that there are three pine logs that are partially set in the foundation that also span the width of the chapel, as the first layer of support for the floor.  The top and bottom were rough cut to give a flat surface for the floor joists but the bark was left on the other sides.  The logs each had two stone supports to keep them level.

Here you can see the old stone foundation.

The Scaffolding Came Down

The scaffolding finally came down.  The wood trim and key stoning on the corners was all painted.  The building walls looked like new.  Actually the texture of the walls looked almost too good .  It is a lot smoother than they were before.  Except now it makes the other walls, that did not need repairs, look bad.

Stucco Color & Wood Trim

First the workman masked off all the parts of the chapel that would not receive the final layer of color stucco.  They matched the color of the final stucco layer to that of the existing wall color.

They then took a mesh fabric and as it was unrolled over the wall they came over with another layer of stucco.  I had to work an afternoon shift but when I got home that evening they had already the final color coat.

Awhile later wood guys came and put up the rest of the wood fascia and trim. 

New Stucco

After the brick was done the base wood trim was put in place and then they added the stucco layers.  The problem was getting the workers to give the stucco a rough look to like that of the original pioneer texture.