Restoration of Cupola Structure Solves Leaking Sanctuary Ceiling
at First United Methodist Church in Lancaster, Ohio

Not only was the reproduction successfully fabricated without access to the original plans, but also the unusual dimensions of the original design were duplicated with precision accuracy. The Durable Restoration Company's restoration foreman, Ron Ladina, who both planned and executed the work, improved the way in which the cupola was attached to the roof beyond the scope of the original installation.

The project commenced with the removal of the colonnade and bell-shaped portion of the upper part of the cupola from the main roof in order to reproduce both its framework and new copper cladding. The skylight was tackled last in order to protect the glass. Meanwhile, the glass was removed and plywood inserted temporarily to provide something to stand on and to keep the interior dry during the installation of the upper portion.

The crown roof above the portion of the cupola with the stained-glass windows was installed first. Then the windows themselves were clad in 20-ounce copper. The colonnade section of cupola was fabricated in the shop. The wood base was rebuilt. The bottom apron where the upper structure attaches to the main structure was installed after attaching the cupola base to the main roof.

Ron Ladina

The original frame of the bell roof was retained and reinforced. Next came the copper cladding of the bell structure and the colonnade structure. These two elements were brought up to the roof separately, in order to negotiate the scaffolding, and assembled on the roof. The newly fabricated finial was attached.

At this point the upper scaffolding was removed in order to get to the skylight. Repair and selective glass replacement where needed was the last step to be done.

A few changes in the installation made it better, for instance, the way in which the base was reattached. Previously it had been only toe-nailed to the roof. Without changing the profile or dimensions, the base of the structure was redesigned so that it could be bolted to the roof.

This was done by constructing a collar of 4 X 4 lumber which was lag-bolted with 8-inch lag bolts into the rafters of the main roof. The framework of the column base was built with 2 X 10 lumber to fit over the outside of the collar and then lag-bolted to the collar with 5-inch lag-bolts.

At some point in the past, the skylight leaked for some time because the glazing had failed. At that time, instead of fixing the glazing, someone installed more glass over top of the original glass and used improper materials (plumber's putty between the windows and tar) in the installation. In addition, some of the glass was not cut accurately and voids were merely filled with caulking that was exposed to the weather. This situation was remedied by the restoration.

First of all the extra layer of glass was removed and proper skylight flashings were installed. The glass portions of the skylight were replaced as needed. Previously a drip pan at the lower edge of the skylight, for the purpose of catching condensation, had been covered over by earlier repairs. The original design of the cupola did not include this covering, so this element was eliminated in the restoration.

A flashing was installed over the top of the rails and an apron installed over that, thus protecting the glass glazing to a great extent from the elements.

One of the chief difficulties with this project was the fact that the cupola is 60 feet in the air. Aside from the obvious aerobic workout benefits of climbing a 60-foot vertical scaffolding ladder several times a day, this factor made the simple logistics of bringing tools and materials to the installation site a challenge.

Along with the challenges of working at a precarious height, it must be recognized that all of this work was taking place above a slippery clay tile roof with an 8/12 pitch. Even though the scaffolding provided a place to stand during most of the work, at times it was necessary to stand on the roof itself, whereupon the simple act of standing became a somewhat acrobatic feat.

As is often the situation when dealing with the restoration of historic buildings, replication of the elements to be restored or replaced was complicated. The cupola structure is not an equilateral octagon; four of the sides are longer than the others, giving the octagon an elongated shape. This unusual outline added a dimension of difficulty in fitting the cupola into the existing rafter structure.

In addition, the irregular shape of the octagon meant that none of the angles of the octagon segments measured 22 ½ degrees - some were 24 degrees and some were 21 degrees at the mitered corners. This made the calculations and fabrication more involved than would have been the case with an equilateral polygon.

The effort to retain as much as possible of the original structure added to the difficulties. When fabricating a structure where you're starting from scratch everything can be made square and level. In this case both the foundation of the bell shaped device and the base of the cupola had inherent irregularities in their construction which made working around those irregularities an extra challenge.

There was a factor of tremendous concern which required constant caution throughout the project. There is a century-old antique stained glass window in the ceiling of the main sanctuary which is illuminated by the light which comes in through the skylight in the roof. All the while the deconstruction, fabrication, and installation processes were going on - in other words, throughout the entire project which took over two months to complete - this activity was taking place above this antique window in the ceiling of the sanctuary where services were still taking place. It was necessary to proceed with extreme caution at every step of the way to avoid any possible damage to this irreplaceable work of art.

The roof panels were fabricated on site in order to fit existing conditions. This was necessary due to the irregular shapes and sizes of the panels. The other metal elements were field measured and reproduced in Durable Restoration's fabrication facility.

It is 60 feet to the base of the skylight. The diameter of the skylight is 22 feet. The diameter of the vertical structure is 8 feet. The height from the base of the columns to the top of the finial is 13 feet 6 inches.

The pastor of First United Methodist Church, Larry Brown, said, "We're very pleased with their work. One of the important things for us was to maintain the historical integrity of the building."