STORIES
MASON PARTICIPATES IN WOODEN WINDOW WORKSHOP
MASON’s Principal, Preservation Architect Barbara Shideler, shared historic windows rehabilitation best practices and Senior Architectural Historian Caroline Raftery implemented what she learned.
Historic Hawaii Foundation, in partnership with Alan Shintani, Inc. and the Association of Preservation Technology International, Hawaii Pacific Chapter, organized a 3-day Wooden Window Workshop as an opportunity for carpenters and architectural professionals to gain hands-on conservation experience.
Repaired window sashes waiting to be brought back to site
The workshop was facilitated by professor Oregonian Lucien Swerdloff and local contractor Alan Shintani. The workshop was a well-planned balance of presentations, demonstrations, and on-site teamwork.
Day 1 started at the Building Industry Association of Hawaii construction training center with lectures covering preservation basics, window terminology, and lead safety. Then the group relocated to the historic Ewa Community Church Parish Hall (1937), a one-story wood-framed building with wood double hung windows. The group then divided in teams of 4 people and selected their window to work on for the duration of the workshop and went to work as teams of four people per window. After an assessment discussion about the general condition of the windows teams removed their window sashes and labeled parts. The sashes were then trucked back to the training center.
On Day 2 the teams safely removed paint and putty, replaced broken glass, reglazed, cleaned glass, moistened wood with a mixture of linseed oil and turpentine, and primed the wood for paint. The group also learned about various epoxies and infilled areas of severe weathering throughout the sashes.
The final day was all on site as the teams rehung the windows with new rope and original weights, added epoxy to the casing and sill as necessary and painted the windows with primer. Then the workshop came to an end as the epoxy and primer had to dry. Alan Shintani’s crew would finish painting the windows and install any remaining sashes on another day.
Day 2: Demonstration on how to apply epoxy, in this case Albatron, into a heavily deteriorated sash.
It was a joy for the MASON Team to help this special place continue to be a well taken care of part of the community.
We look forward to visiting again when the windows are finished and continuing to witness the parish hall be a valued part of Ewa Beach!
For more information and photographs refer to the Historic Hawaii Foundation’s Article: Wooden Window Workshop: Post Event Photo Gallery and Impact Statements
