Around the State: Sharon

A study of Christ Episcopal Church has revealed information about early masonry techniques and offers suggestions for dealing with deteriorating brickwork.        

            The church, built between 1814 and 1819 and remodeled several times, faces Sharon’s town green. In recent years its brick walls have experienced severe deterioration. With grants from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, the Connecticut Trust and the National Trust, the church commissioned Building Conservation Associates, Inc. (BCA), to determine the cause of the deterioration and recommend treatments.

            BCA found that the building had been constructed of soft brick that from the first was coated with a red lime wash, with the joints picked out in white. Treatments of this sort were not unusual at the time, and traces of similar coatings can be found on other brick buildings in Sharon. Several more layers of wash and paint were added through the 19^th and 20^th centuries. All these coatings were removed in 1929 by a mechanical scraping or grinding that also removed the hard outer fireskin of the brick and left the surface grooved. Remnants of the colored surfaces survived in only a few locations.

            With its porous interior exposed to the weather, the bricks could absorb moisture, which froze and expanded, causing the deterioration. In addition, repairs with hard brick or Portland cement-based mortar caused additional deterioration because those materials had different physical properties.

            BCA outlines three approaches that the church could take:

• Remove incompatible newer bricks and mortar and replace them, along with other deteriorated bricks, with more compatible replacement materials. Continue to monitor the building closely for further deterioration and repair as needed. This minimal approach is based on the basic soundness of the brick, despite its deteriorated surface; however, BCA observes that it is impossible to know if the walls will continue to be stable.
• Completely replace the exterior with custom-made new bricks matching the originals. This would be difficult and expensive, and would change the structure of the church from solid brick walls to a veneer, which would need careful monitoring.
• Return to the original concept of a protective coating. The coating would tend to fail before the bricks themselves, and could be replaced as necessary. This would not, however, correct the gouged surfaces.

With any of these options, BCA also recommends improving drainage to carry water away from the building, and monitoring existing cracks to make sure that they do not grow worse.

A copy of the BCA report is on file at the Trust’s offices and can be viewed there.