Window restoration brings new light
Crew cuts through 18 layers of paint to repair panes at
108-year-old federal courthouse.
By John Diedrich of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Nov. 6, 2007
Milwaukee County Link:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/29268254.html
Dimitri Gioglis is leading the restoration of about 650 windows on Milwaukee's federal courthouse, 517 E. Wisconsin Ave. The windows have never been restored. "The craftsmanship is awesome," Gioglis says of the old building.
Tony Lillibridge, supervisory property manager with U.S. General Services Administration, and Dimitri Gioglis, president of New Millennium Construction Inc., talk about the project in our slideshow.
Owing to his Greek roots, Dimitri Gioglis knows something about history and is dedicated to saving it.
The 47-year-old and his crew are restoring the roughly 650 windows on one of Milwaukee's signature buildings, the 108-year-old federal courthouse on the eastern edge of downtown.
The windows have needed work for years. Paint is peeling off the windows in big flakes, and the frames are badly cracked. Once-striking wood carvings are obscured.
The windows have never been restored, only painted and repainted - 18 times.
The job should be done at this time next year, at a cost of $4.2 million.
Calling the project a 100-year solution, officials said the price is worth preserving a key part of the building.
"The windows are one of the critical character-defining details of the building," said architect Patrick Roach, who's working with the team. "It's important we retain the same sight lines. If that is lost, it diminishes the historical significance of the building."
Three months ago, Gioglis, of New Millennium Construction, and his handpicked team from across the country began work on the building's east side. They are stripping all the windows down to bare wood, repairing them and adding new wood only if the old can't be saved, in accordance with state rules on historic buildings. They also are replacing inefficient quarter-inch glass with five-eighths of an inch thermal panes.
Gioglis, who is from Florida but does jobs across the country, said he is humbled by the precision and care of the woodwork.
"I get chills all over my body from the pride and the workmanship of those people and what they did a hundred years ago," he said. "The craftsmanship is awesome."
The building was originally known as the U.S. Post Office, Courthouse and Custom House. Construction on it started in 1892 and finished seven years later. Built in the Richardson Romanesque style popular at the time, the building sits on a thick gray-granite base, and a 190-foot tower rises above a steeply gabled roofline lined with gargoyles and castlelike turrets. An addition done in a different style was built to the south in 1929, and those windows are not being restored.
Today, the building, at 517 E. Wisconsin Ave., is home to courts, the U.S. attorney's office and several other federal agencies.
The interior of the five-story courthouse was restored a decade ago for $35 million. Another interior project costing $2.5 million is under way on the seventh floor, where new chambers were recently finished for U.S. Appeals Court Judge Diane Sykes. Administrative offices for the marshals are expected to be done early next year.
The window work is being done with four large lifts, one that reaches 125 feet. Officials didn't want scaffolding because it could obscure surveillance cameras.
Gioglis' workers are from a half-dozen states, and some are from Milwaukee.
The windows are made of old-growth pine with a remarkably tight grain, making them much stronger than pine available today, project managers said.
Over the years, the windows have developed thousands of tiny cracks, which each must be filled with an epoxy to stop deterioration, Gioglis said. If wood pieces must be replaced, the crew uses mahogany. The hardware is also being restored.
So far, the crew hasn't had to rebuild any windows, but they have seen some on the west side that will have to come down. Gioglis said more than 80% of the windows are original, an unusually high number for a building that old.
The project was five years in the planning, and it took a year to select Gioglis, said Tony Lillibridge, supervisory property manager for U.S. General Services Administration.
"These windows are going to slide back and forth, wood on wood, as they did when they were installed," Lillibridge said. "They are taking a wood that is weathered now for 100 years and had all kinds of elements thrown at it, yet they are going to straighten it and refinish it as if it were new. That's where the real specialty and craftsmanship they are bringing to the project helps."
The renovation is projected to save on heating and cooling costs, but the work is about more than that, said Julia Nicolae, the project manager.
"You are looking at efficiencies," she said, "but also the image that the federal government is portraying in the community."
Gina Barton of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
MILWAUKEE FEATURED PROJECT
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Traditional Building
The interior finishes, slate roof, skylight and HVAC system of the Romanesque-style U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building (1899) in Milwaukee, WI, were restored and upgraded between 1983 and 2003. From 2007 to 2008, the buildings deteriorated windows and doors were restored by Crestview, FL-based New Millennium Construction, Inc. Photo: Eric Oxendorf, Architectural Photography.
New Millenium first stripped 18 layers of lead-based paint from the windows. Next, cracks were restored with epoxy, and some damaged parts were replaced with matching pieces. Insulated glass replaced the original ¼-in. glazing, and new weatherstripping was installed. Photo: courtesy of New Millennium Construction, Inc.
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PRODUCT REPORT
Best Practices By Hadiya Strasberg
While window restoration trumps window replacement in historic preservation, it may not be the best option for all projects.
As buildings age and their finishes fade and peel, their stonework becomes discolored, their woodwork deteriorates and pieces go missing, periodic cleaning, repair and upgrading are required to maintain their structural soundness and appearance. There is an argument as to whether restoration or replacement is best for the upkeep of historic buildings. In the case of wood windows, while restoration may be preferable, replacement can also assure quality results.
Three window restoration and replacement firms, New Millennium Construction, Inc., Re-View and Grabill Windows and Doors faced this issue recently when working on historic buildings.
Restored Windows.
At the U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building in Milwaukee, WI, New Millennium Construction, Inc., (NMCC) of Crestview, FL, found the fenestration in various states of deterioration. "A detailed survey of the windows revealed peeling paint, broken glass, cracked and rotten wood and worn weatherstripping," says Dimitri Gioglis, owner of NMCC. The company, which specializes in historic restoration and preservation work, focused on some 650 double-hung and fixed windows, the majority of which (634) were salvageable, and 11 doors.
The windows were first stripped of 18 layers of paint, some of it lead-based. NMCC used Peel Away 1, an environmentally safe product from Dumond Chemicals of New York, NY. "Peel Away 1 allowed us to preserve more of the wood," says Gioglis. "It minimized the need to hand scrape the paint."
After the paint was removed, the wood old-growth pine was allowed to dry. Then repairs were tackled. "A window that is 120 years-old is bound to have cracks and rotten areas," says Gioglis. Where possible, cracks were restored using a wood or liquid epoxy patching compound. The areas were then sanded, primed and painted. NMCC treated partially decayed wood with a non-toxic fungicide and applications of boiled linseed oil for waterproofing. The team replaced rotten pieces with new matching pieces made of mahogany, which, Gioglis says, "is the best wood to withstand exterior conditions."
NMCC was also charged with improving energy efficiency. To this end, the company replaced the ¼-in. glass panes with 5/8-in. insulated glass. "We needed to retrofit the windows so that the thicker glass would fit," says Gioglis, "so we routed out the original sashes and installed the insulated glass."
New Millennium first stripped 18 layers of lead-based paint from the windows. Next, cracks were restored with epoxy and some damaged parts were replaced with matching pieces. Insulated glass replaced the original ¼-in. glazing and new weather stripping was installed. Photo: courtesy of New Millennium Construction, Inc.
Another way to save energy was to install a new weather stripping system. "The old weather stripping was deteriorated and rusted," says Gioglis, "so we installed two new layers. A copper track acted to keep the window in place and as a second barrier of the woven pile weather stripping in the sides of the window. We used copper weather stripping on the sides and new bulb weather stripping on the bottom and in the meeting rails."
NMCC also restored what remained of the original solid-brass hardware. "We stripped and polished it," says Gioglis. "We brought it back to its original splendor."
The gut renovation and restoration of the 1920 Idaho State Capitol is slated for completion in August 2009. North Kansas City, MO-based Re-View manufactured 456 replacement windows for the building. Photo: courtesy of Re-View.
Some of the original windows were missing and others were beyond repair. As a last resort, Gioglis replaced 16 windows. "Replacements are the last option," says Gioglis, whose restoration philosophy is that maintaining the originals is of utmost importance. "We need to keep the history of the building and the craftsmanship and the passion that existed in the creation of these historic treasures. Replacement windows transport us to the present." But Gioglis also understands that some original details are beyond salvaging. "If you cannot save the window," he says, "I understand that you must replace it. My approach is to preserve the old ways, preferring to use the same wood, hardware and construction techniques as the original windows." The missing windows and those too damaged to repair were replaced with new units that match the originals.
In October 2008, at the end of a second season of work, New Millennium completed the window and door restoration at the U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building. After an extensive restoration from 1989 to 1996 and this project with Quinn Evans | Architectsof Ann Arbor, MI, and general contractor, Sorensen Gross Construction Services of Flint, MI the building is finally complete.
