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Progress Report July 2010
You will be pleased to know that the work is now well underway with the repairs to St Joseph's despite what appears to be little sign of any builders on site over the past numbers of weeks.
This is simply due to the nature of the work, its complexity and the sequence in which it has to be carried out. The most urgent items are the cast iron cresting that we knew to be in a very poor state of repair. The finial posts that supported the decorative panels were bursting out of their sockets, that were an integral part of the cast iron ridge tiles.
These cast iron elements are very heavy and were constructed in such a way that they could not be taken down safely without the vast scaffold that has been erected right up to the ridge. When the contractor started to take down the cresting they found that every single socket had failed, not just the 30% that had been identified by the architect and the structural engineer during their inspection. This means that all of the twenty-two ridge pieces will have to be recast and this work is currently under way in the Athy Foundry. Until the ridge cresting is ready for refitting there is not much for the roofing contractor to do on site as the scaffold is currently preventing the stripping and re-roofing of the south aisle,
Much is, however, going on off site. All of the cast iron finial posts and decorative cresting have been grit blasted and the good news is that most are structurally sound and can be reused. The gutters have also been grit blasted and while some are damaged beyond repair, the majority will be reusable once they are painted.
The stained glass windows in the clerestory have also been removed and are currently being repaired off site in Germany by the same firm that carried out the work to the wheel window and the north clerestory. These windows were very badly buckled, because of the south-facing storm glazing, but despite this they are no worse than the condition we found in the equivalent windows on the north clerestory.
The ridge has been repaired and a permanent lead dressing installed, this means that when the new ridge pieces are cast and painted they can go back quickly. While the roof was open the architects and engineer carried out an inspection of the roof space and found that the roof timbers to be in a good state of repair. They also discovered that the ceiling to the nave is a much later intervention as the trusses and rafters were originally exposed when the church was first built.
The final part of the work is the masonry repairs to the turrets where stainless steel reinforcement has now been installed. This is also part of a carefully planned sequence as the structural repairs to the masonry could not be carried out safely without this ring being put in place. The effect of the rusting cramps embedded in the stonework is shocking. In some places the stone has been lifted almost an inch and you can see daylight through the enlarged joint. The rings are now in place and the masons will start their work after the builder's holidays.
We are therefore pleased to report that a lot more progress has been made than it might appear and when the ridges are replaced and the protective glazing fitted, the scaffold will be lowered very soon after. When the job is completed it will mean that all of the inaccessible high level areas, apart from the east window, will have been repaired and should not require any significant attention other than routine maintenance, for some considerable time.
Howley Hayes Architects
July 2010 |
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Welcome to St. Joseph's Glasthule |
Welcome to the website for St. Joseph's Parish, Glasthule, Co. Dublin.
The Parish of Glasthule serves the areas of Glasthule, Sandycove and
parts of Glenageary and Dun Laoghaire. The parish is bounded by
the shore of Dublin Bay to the North, Park Road and Lower Glenageary
Road to the West, Upper Glenageary road to the South and Barnhill Road
and Castle Park road to the east.
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St. Joseph's
Sunday:
Vigil 6.30 pm
10.15 am (Family Mass)
11.30 am (Choir)
12.30 pm (Youth Choir)
Holidays:
Vigil 6.30 pm
10.00 am
11.30 am
Monday-Saturday:
10am
Dun Laoghaire :
Sundays:
Vigil 6pm.
8:30, 10.00, 11:30, 1 and 4pm.
Daily Masses:
8 and 10am. Monday to Friday
Saturdays:
10 and 12 noon (Vigil at 6pm)
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