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Condition Studies
A condition analysis of stained glass windows consists of an on-site investigation that determines the
- Condition of the glass
- Condition of the glass paint
- Condition of the lead came and structural support systems, as much as can be determined from a non-destructive investigation
- Condition of the protective glazing or covering, if present, and
- Effect of other conditions of the building on the stained glass windows, as much as can be determined from a non-destructive investigation
A sample condition analysis of one of the 33 stained glass windows in Trinity Church, Boston, gives a sense of the necessary thoroughness of such a report.
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Condition Report & Restoration Recommendations
Findings of the Condition Investigation are compiled in a written report detailing each window individually, prioritizing them based on their need. Conditions including glass breakage, paint deterioration, came deterioration, soiling, and bowing are described, including conditions pertaining to any existing protective glazing. Recommendations are made to address pertinent issues, including protection, restoration, and maintenance.
Recommendations for restoration are based philosophically on accepted and established preservation theory, where all original materials are maintained, any intervention the minimum necessary to ensure the extended lifetime of the windows, all such interventions accurately recorded, and all restoration procedures proven reversible. Cost estimates for the work are included.
We make every effort to recommend procedures that are designed to give the windows at least another century of life.
A Sample, using the same window from Trinity Church, Boston, of the recommendations for restoration based on its condition analysis.
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Restoration Specifications & Contract Documents
Technical Specifications reflecting the recommendations accepted by Client are compiled in a standard format as accepted by the American Institute of Architects, detailing scope of work, materials, execution, and guarantees, to serve as the technical portion of the Bid and Contract Documents.
We provide Bid Documents, if requested, including a Project Manual, Invitations to Bid and Instructions to Bidders. We also provide a special bid form for the project. We will reproduce and distribute bid packages to contractors who have either been identified during Prequalification, or who are known to the Consultant to be qualified for the work, and/or who are desired by the Client to bid. We will schedule appointments for bidders' Site Inspections and will be on site on the day of inspection to answer bidders' questions. We will schedule a mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting as well, if desired.
Upon receipt of the bids, we review them for their adherence to the contract documents, quality of work, and suitability to the project and the needs of the windows and Client, and make a recommendation to the Client. Recommendations are not necessarily based on price, but on the qualifications of the bidder to perform the work.
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Long-Range Planning
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One of the benefits of the Condition Analysis Investigation is the ability to use it to establish a Prioritization of Need for each window.
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If all of the windows in the building are investigated, they will be prioritized based on their need for restoration to develop a timetable for use in planning. This will indicate the time by which the recommended restoration should take place, and how long the work should require to complete.
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Budgets & Cost Estimates
We will provide cost estimates for the work as part of our report. These estimates will reflect the costs of the highest quality restoration available in the greater Northeastern United States, and will be in effect for six months from the date of the report. An Executive Summary of the findings of the report is included, summarizing the needs of the windows and the estimated costs.
We have no commercial or other affiliation with any stained glass studios, other than our professional relationship as consultant to the studios that are employed by owners to restore their windows.
We work with a wide selection of studios, and are willing to work with any qualified firm to carry out the work we feel is necessary. We feel that this point is of particular importance: consultants who are also stained glass craftspeople, or who have financial interest, such as a joint venture or limited partnership in a stained glass studio have significant drawbacks to owners: they represent the stained glass industry, not the owner; their objectivity may be biased by their desire to obtain work or to get an "inside track" on their competition; and bidders are reluctant to submit the kind of information owners require when they know that the project's consultant is one of their
competitors.
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Historical Research
We have one of the largest private libraries of books on stained glass and related subjects (architecture, art history, art conservation), which is utilized in the research of your windows. This library includes many old and rare volumes not available elsewhere. We are also fully equipped with our own state-of-the-art photographic and computer equipment. We maintain relationships with a
wide variety of architects, engineers, appraisers, historians, and stained glass conservators to bring in additional expertise when required.
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Lectures & Articles
For very nearly two decades, Julie L. Sloan, LLC has passed along the results of her research to both the academic world and members of the general public who share her interest in the history and development of architectural art glass, particularly in the United States. Her Lectures and Articles have focused on the glass of John La Farge and Louis Comfort Tiffany, the very different approaches taken by Frank Lloyd Wright, windows imported to American venues from European artists and designers from William Morris to Mayer of Munich.
She is very interested in continuing the documentation of her research and in sharing it with others, so feel free to contact her for articles or lectures if you feel your community would benefit from them.
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Project Management & Supervision During Restoration
Under separate contract, we maintain a high level of supervision to ensure that specifications are adhered to, that the quality of craftsmanship is of the highest, and that the work is acceptable. Supervision and project management of the restoration includes, but is not limited to, the following tasks, as applicable and as set forth in the Technical Specifications:
- The Consultant represents the Owner in all phases of the project.
- Approve in writing repairs and replacements made in the event of damage by the Contractor.
- Approve in writing blocking system, material, securing, and color (blocking fills the window openings after removal of the stained glass), if different than or not specified.
- Approve in writing all materials, including glass, lead, paint colors, cleansers, and all substitutions, if different than specified.
- Receive, review, approve, distribute, and file all required data on materials, including MSDSs, manufacturers' information, etc.
- Approve in writing documentation materials, including photography, window numbering scheme, rubbings.
- Collect, collate, and distribute documentation materials from Contractor.
- Determine conditions of fragile glass and paint, conservation and cleaning methods to be applied, and where they will be applied and to what extent, where not included in the specifications.
- Determine which previous repairs are to be removed and replaced; approve replacements.
- Determine where plating and repainting will be applied; approve replacements.
- Determine which broken glass is to be replaced; approve replacements.
- Approve releading.
- Approve in writing painter for restoration painting.
- Receive daily or weekly reports by telephone during sitework, as specified.
- Receive weekly reports by telephone and/or in writing during benchwork.
- Act on such reports as needed. Distribute and file reports.
- Produce work schedules.
- Interface between Contractor and Owner.
- Provide restoration direction to Contractor on notification by Contractor of unusual conditions or conditions in excess of the specifications.
- Consult with Owner, Contractor, and all other parties involved in the conservation of the windows to ensure the smooth progress of the work, and to provide high quality restoration.
- Receive, review, and act upon tally of actual conditions in windows, after their removal to the stained glass studio.
- Review and process Contractor's applications for payment.
- Approve ventilation plan for protective glazing, if none was specified.
- Project Management is achieved through the regular interface between the Consultant, Owner, and Contractor. This is accomplished by regular visits of the Consultant to the site and Contractor's studio. Such visits are followed by a submission of minutes by the Consultant to the Owner and Contractor.
- If the Owner wishes, the Conservation Consultant will provide a written monthly progress report.
We have managed projects ranging in overall budget from $25,000 to $3 million. This includes some of the largest and most important stained glass projects undertaken in this country, including Harvard University's Memorial Hall, Judson Memorial Church, New York, and Princeton University Chapel. At the other end of the scale, we have managed projects involving only one window or parts of a single window, with churches and owners of lesser means.
We maintain $1,000,000 professional liability coverage.
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Historic Design
Drawing on our deep art historical training and long experience with stained glass, we have designed new windows in harmony with the existing windows of churches as well as entirely new designs for stained glass domes (the drawing at left is a "Mercator projection," in section, of the dome we designed for Boldt Castle, Thousand Islands, New York (Bernier Carr & Associates, PC) based on our historical research for the building and incorporating the sensibilities of the time and of the building's original owner.
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