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News and Insights on the Masonry Repair and Maintenance of Institutional, Commercial, and Condominium Buildings in Greater Boston and Eastern Massachusetts
Volume 15 No.1
Spring 2023
Welcome to the primiere issue of Masonry Solutions for 2023. Our theme this year is "Count on Abbot". Whether it's brick and stone restoration, repointing and recauking, concrete repair and protection, or any other masonry project, you can always count on Abbot to get the job done professionally and efficiently.

In this issue, our Case Study article describes a major facade repair and exterior improvement project involving two identical condominium buildings located in Cambridge, MA. Our Masonry 101 article provides definitions of dentils and cornices adorning these buildings.
Sincerely,
Abbot Building Restoration Company, Inc.
Case Study
Abbot in Final Stages of Facade Repair and Exterior Improvement Project on Cambridge Condo Buildings
Abbot is in the final stages of a major façade repair and exterior improvement project involving two identical brick and precast concrete condominium buildings located on either side of Crawford Street off of Broadway Street in Cambridge, MA. Each of the buildings consists of three addresses with multiple units at each address.
 
Abbot was awarded the project following a competitive bidding process among several qualified commercial masonry firms in the local area. 
 
Abbot's Management Role

Under the supervision of the owner’s agent (Brigs, LLC, Boston, MA), and the coordination with an engineering firm (Barnes Consulting Group, LLC, Braintree MA), Abbot is serving as the project’s overall general contractor while also performing all of the masonry and waterproofing work. The multiple subcontractors managed by Abbot include ironworkers, carpenters, roofers, a staging contractor, and a precast stone fabricator.
 
Wide-Ranging Project Scope

The scope of the project is wide-ranging and comprehensive. As the building façades were in significant disrepair, much of the initial work was focused on repairing and restoring the deteriorated concrete and brick. Among the most significant specific tasks, Abbot replaced the majority of the precast concrete, cut and pointed all of the brick and precast masonry, and replaced any damaged and deteriorated brick units.
 
The project scope also called for Abbot to remove and replace the wood window trim with custom extruded PVC to provide an exact match to the original trim, replace the stone cap joints on the top of the roof edges, and demolish and rebuild two masonry chimneys. 
 
Additionally, Abbot was tasked to rebuild several parapets to match the originals, demolish and rebuild the rear stairwell entrances on one building, and rebuild missing or partially missing dentils at each cornice.
 
On Time and On Budget

Abbot has conducted periodic meetings with the engineers, the management company, and the condominium board to review work in progress and to address any necessary modifications.
 
Abbot continues to coordinate its own work as well as the work of all of the subcontractors so that the remainder of the project remains on time and on budget.
Masonry 101
Dentils and Cornices
In our Case Study article, we mention the need to rebuild the missing or partially missing dentils at each cornice on the Crawford Condominium buildings. Dentils and cornices have been used in classical and neoclassical architecture dating back to days of the Greek and Roman empires.


Dentils
 
Dentils are a series of closely spaced, tooth-like, decorative blocks that project below the cornices along the roofline of a building. Dentil molding is primarily ornamental with little or no functional architectural purpose. Its use imparts a sophisticated, upscale appearance to the exterior of a building.
 
Cornices
 
A cornice is a decorative projection fixed at the top of a wall intended to protect the wall face and/or as an ornamental finish to the eaves below the roofline. A projecting cornice has the function of deflecting rainwater away from the building walls.
 
Types of Cornices
 
Box cornices enclose the top of the building with what is essentially a long narrow box. They often have ventilation screens laid over openings cut in the soffits in order to allow air to circulate within the cornice.
 
A close, closed, or snub cornice is one in which there is no projection of the rafters beyond the walls of the building, and therefore no soffit and no fascia. This type of cornice is easy to construct, but provides little aid in dispersing water away from the building and is sometimes considered to lack aesthetic value.
 
In an open cornice, the shape of the cornice is similar to that of a wide box cornice except that both the lookouts and the soffit are absent. It is a lower-cost treatment that requires fewer materials, and may even have no fascia board, but lacks the finished appearance of a box cornice.
28 Allerton Street
Boston, MA 02119-2933
Tel: (617) 445-0274 * Fax: (617) 445-0277
Email: steven@abbotbuilding.com