Category: Exterior Restoration

Adrian Masonry was hired to repair, replace, and tuckpoint the entire front facade.

Large Cornice pieces were secured by the end of day 2.  Panels of sheet copper were affixed to the roof (or floor, if you’re standing on it!) of the balcony, and then the joints individually soldered by hand.  Again, 94+ degree temps made the day a long and tiresome one for Grand River’s employees.

Day 1 of Grand River’s installation schedule yielded significant progress on the balcony.  The main piece and frame was affixed to the building and several additional pieces were attached.  They worked in 96+ degree heat throughout the day.

On June 21, 2022 Grand River Builders arrived with all of the custom fabricated copper pieces of the balcony.  Each individual piece was made to fit together perfectly, and every single individual piece of copper was hand-crafted and hand-soldered together.

Kirk @ Sphere Project Management took off the two dry rotted doors on the north stairwell and took them back to his shop to fully restore them.  All of the wood below the glass was fully replaced with reclaimed wood from the 1800s, all the brass hardware was removed, cleaned, polished, and internals cleaned and lubricated.  In addition, a wood panel that was missing was  refabricated from scratch to match the original panels beneath the rest of the storefront windows and installed.

By the end of June 2022, the balcony installation was finished.  Initially, the copper was gleaming and bright.  Throughout the year it slowly darkened.  Eventually it will be painted.

Throughout May and into June, Lenco slowly stripped off the paint.

Throughout May and early June, progress continued as we peeled back 6-8 layers of paint.  Certain areas required 6 applications of stripper.