Becker’s Blog #2: The Job Defined
I personally don’t mind the whole fly-over label, as Minnesota is full of outstanding schools, arts, successful institutions and architecture. Successful institutions usually mean great architecture, which usually means stonework … and stonework has been a cornerstone for Twin City Tile and Marble since 1910.
Hang in there and keep reading, because I’m laying some background information for our current project: St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Sioux Falls, S.D.
One of the successful institutions in Minnesota that created many architectural gems has been the churches. This is probably true for other metropolitan areas as well. In our community, the churches that stand out from the others are those built between 1900 and 1920, and many of them were the work of Emmanuel Masqueray.
Emmanual Masqueray was a French-born architect who moved to the United States in 1887. In 1904, while in St. Louis overseeing the construction for The St. Louis Exhibition, Masqueray met Archbishop John Ireland from St. Paul. Archbishop Ireland commissioned Masqueray in 1905 to come to St. Paul and build a cathedral of grand scale. While in Minnesota, Masqueray set up a studio and designed dozens of churches.
In 1915 during the dedication of the St. Paul Cathedral, Masqueray met Bishop O’ Gorman from Sioux Falls. Bishop O’ Gorman and Masqueray soon started plans for a cathedral in Sioux Falls. Construction started in 1915 and was progressing when Masqueray passed away in 1917; Edwin Lundie, Masqueray’s chief assistant, oversaw the project until its dedication in 1919.
While all this has nothing to do with our involvement with the cathedral, I think the historical perspective is worth sharing. Any of us who have worked on stonework from old buildings can appreciate the bookmatching or tight joints that make these buildings unmatched by today’s standards. It was a period of time when labor was cheap, institutions had deep pockets, and time was not of the essence.
Project Description
The scope of work involved at the church is a new stone floor, new stone wainscot, and new cubic marble altars, columns, communion rail, font and ambo. (These are the main items).
Stone Floor
Currently, there’s is a 1” thick Mankato limestone floor installed in a 12” x 12” square grid pattern totaling 12,000 ft². The stone was installed with a mud bed of sand and Portland cement. We took off some floor grills and found the stone to be bonded quite well after all these years.
Our work is to demo the existing limestone floor and mud bed, and install the new stone floor at the same floor heights to match all the door thresholds throughout the church. The stone colors will now be a field color of white Carrara, with multiple colors at walkways.
Stone Wainscot
Throughout the church, there’s a four foot tall wainscot of matching Mankato limestone. The stones are installed with #8 copper wire and plaster spots. At the top of the wainscot the stone bevels at 45° to meet the large plaster moldings. Once again, the renovation architect is choosing a colored marble (Fior de Pesco) and going away from the Mankato limestone.
Our work is to demo the existing limestone wainscot and install a new marble wainscot in the exact location, as the plaster will remain in place. In other words we will have to digitally template the wainscot footprint for 4,000 ft² of wainscot.
Cubic Items
The church, as it stands now, contains very few stone cubic items – free-standing work such as stone altar or balusters that’s made from cubic stone and carved or shaped. It’s the desire of the architects and clients to add these cubic items throughout the church. These items can be expensive, especially if ornamental carving is required or a high-end stone is specified. Compared to a floor or wall, which can be sold by the square foot, the cubic items are priced by the item, and can vary in price and quality depending on who is the fabricator of choice in Italy.
Besides our stonework, the entire interior of the church will be painted in full color as it might have been years ago. After completion in 1919 the church was painted and then repainted different times, with a current hue of gray. The stone will be the biggest wow factor (I’m prejudiced about our stone) but the artistic painting will not be far behind.
Next month, I’ll talk about how we got involved and the bidding process that ensued. Thanks for reading,
Joe Becker
Twin City Tile and Marble Company
St. Paul, Minn.
Joe Becker has been in the natural-stone business for 26 years. He started with Cold Spring Granite as a draftsman and spent time in their stone installation and estimating departments. He is currently Vice President of St. Paul, Minn.-based Twin City Tile and Marble Company and oversees their stone operations.
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