Harriet Tubman Zion Church Historical Plaster Repair – Auburn, NY.

National Parks Historic Restoration project: Harriet Tubman Zion Church

 The church was built in 1891 and where Harriet Tubman worshiped. J & A was the chosen contractor to repair and stabilize existing plaster. The plaster we repaired was done using lime based plaster mixed with approved sand (matched as closely to original sand) as it was back when originally constructed.

The lime/sand mix is installed directly over the original wood lath, metal lath where wood lath no longer exists. The stabilization method of plaster is done to save the original existing plaster. Stabilization consists of chemicals mixed together to form both prewet and adhesive solutions; The prewet formula is injected into holes created by a drill bit, then adhesion solution is applied with caulk gun in the same hole. Screws and washers are then applied to hold plaster in place and allow adhesion to dry, screws are removed and area is skimmed over with new lime plaster.

The white “dotted” spots are where the original plaster was stabilized  (holes drilled, cleaning and adhesive fluid injected and then screwed in place until stabilized, screws were removed and patched. The green shaded areas are the original plaster and paint, we’re able to save these areas due to the Stabilizing of the plaster process.

 The large white areas are where the existing plaster was removed,  we applied two coats of lime plaster over the original wood lathe, the first for “leveling”, and the second as a finish coat.