160 SOUTH RAFAEL RESTORATION PROJECT

This project was the restoration of a historically significant residence purchased by a prominent Los Angeles couple. The house was designed by Paul Williams and was considered to be a treasure of Pasadena.

Boston Brick & Stone employed “skyscraper” technology to restore this chimney to its original splendor. The photo on the previous page shows the chimney just after we completed the restoration of the chimney but before we disassembled our scaffolding towers.

The chimney was damaged in the Northridge quake of 1994. As this was not a reinforced chimney it did break and separate at the roofline.

The General Contractor for the property owners later confided to us that he tried to get three bids to repair the chimney but all the other contractors referred him to Boston Brick & Stone.

As the portion of the chimney below the roofline was intact we saved it with some state-of-the-art chimney lining technology and thus brought the entire chimney in compliance with all current codes.

Project Rafael

What the chimney looked like just after we completed our scaffolding towers.

Shows what the chimney looked like just after we completed our scaffolding towers but before we commenced any part of the demolition process. There is a steel plate that someone had welded around the structure in an attempt to secure it.

The bond beam ready with three flues to service the three separate fireboxes

Note the copper flashing set into the concrete bond beam...

Note the copper flashing set into the concrete bond beam so that we could later weld new copper flashing directly onto that sheet thereby guaranteeing an integral waterproof barrier.

The 16 gauge steel stud framing required to support the load the full brick veneer will place on the structure.

The 16 gauge steel stud framing required to support the load the full brick veneer will place on the structure. The “X” bracing to add even more strength to the chimney in the event of an earthquake.

Shows the waterproof membrane we used.

Shows the waterproof membrane we used. Instead of a water resistant “black paper” we used a modified bituthene product by Grace. The “all-thread” bolts protruding from the sides are there to hold in the cast concrete skirt.

The cast concrete skirt set in place.

The cast concrete skirt set in place. The original skirt was solid concrete. Some of the bigger sections weighed over 800 pounds.

Shows the anchored brick veneer system

Shows the anchored brick veneer system. This system allowed us to use full sized bricks as opposed to cutting them and “gluing” them in place. It enabled us to match the original chimneys perfectly.

Because of the weight we were required to install braces.

Because of the weight we were required to install braces. These two heavy wall braces were set low enough that they could not be easily seen from the ground. Also note the copper cricket and counter flashing.

The top of the chimney allowed hot air to vent from the hollow chase.

The top of the chimney allowed hot air to vent from the hollow chase. Real clay pots would have been too heavy and impossible to safely attach to the structure.

Had wire mesh spot welded to the metal and applied a scratch, brown and stucco finish making them look like real clay pots.

Boston Brick & Stone designed these pots from metal. Had wire mesh spot welded to the metal and applied a scratch, brown and stucco finish making them look like real clay pots.