TWO SPECIAL PROJECTS WERE COMPLETED this month on our sanctuary building: the upper side chambers project, and the perimeter walls project. Both involved treating for termites in normally inaccessible locations.
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| Looking eastward in an upper side chamber (click or tap to enlarge) |
WE PLAN TO OPEN UP one of the tie-rod connections, on the outside, at the 2nd column on the north wall, to ensure the sanctuary’s structural integrity. Here is a view from the inside.…
(The function of the tie rods is to hold the walls in a vertical position, while the load of the vaulted roof is, in effect, pushing those walls apart.)
THE PLAN FOR OUR WINDOWS has been evolving in recent months. It is now more modest.…
THE SINGLE BIGGEST CHALLENGE that we face in our facilities restoration effort is the poor and still-uncertain condition of the sanctuary’s long south wall. It is in bad shape. Fully defining the scope of the problem, and then fixing it, is the most urgent project (in terms of thereby avoiding an escalating cost of further delays). And it is the bottleneck on our way to refinishing (repainting) the interior of our sanctuary.
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| View from our neighbor’s parking lot |
This post sums up where we stand, after a recent report from a waterproofing consultant.
WITHIN THE SPACE OF sixteen days, Mishkon has received its annual maintenance both for the roof and for termite infestation. The fact that both of these have now been undertaken 2 years in a row is noteworthy, for it seems to be historic. To my knowledge, it is unprecedented.
| Star = ground-level spot where termites were found and treated this month (click or tap to enlarge diagram) |
In these two key areas of concern, we may be moving from only crisis management to ongoing facilities management. While annual roof and termite maintenance can’t quite yet be considered a “routine” part of what we do at Mishkon, this single repetition feels to me like a big achievement in itself. This post explains why.…
WITHIN THE SPACE OF sixteen days, Mishkon has received its annual maintenance both for the roof and for termite infestation. The fact that both of these have now been undertaken 2 years in a row is noteworthy, for it seems to be historic. To my knowledge, it is unprecedented.
In these two key areas of concern, we may be moving from only crisis management to ongoing facilities management. While annual roof and termite maintenance can’t quite yet be considered a “routine” part of what we do at Mishkon, this single repetition feels to me like a big achievement in itself. This post explains why.…
IT’S NOT EASY to decipher the City’s sign ordinances and how they apply to Mishkon. This post makes an attempt.…
THE WATERPROOFING CONSULTANT’S REPORT tells us what we already knew: the south wall of the sanctuary is in bad shape. Yet now the details of that picture are more clear than they were just a few weeks ago.
The poor and still-uncertain condition of this wall is the single biggest challenge that we face in our facilities restoration effort (just to fully define the scope of the problem, let alone to fix it). It is the most urgent project (in terms of thereby avoiding an escalating cost of further delays). And it is the bottleneck on our way to refinishing (repainting) the interior of our sanctuary.
In this post, I will summarize the report — both its diagnosis, recommended treatment, and prognosis for the health of our wall.
OUR ARK CAN USE some tender loving care. As you presumably know, it is graced on either side by columns. What you may not realize is that those columns are made of sheet metal that is coated with what seems to be lacquer. Unfortunately, that coating, which is painted to look like wood, has chipped off in places.
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| Close-up of chips in the surface of our ark’s columns |
Would you like to be the one to fill in the chips — and thus restore the ark? Do you know someone who would be qualified to do so?
The 2003 Historic Structure Report noted that “the Classical Revival–style ark is … made of galvanized steel.” (That surface is the gray color in the photo.)
A sign visible in a photograph documenting what seems to have been the original dedication in 1948 stated that the “Oron Kaydesh” (אָרוֹן קוֹדשׁ, ark) was donated by Mrs. Ben Levy.
UPDATE, 9/9/22: See the Completion Report HERE.
THERE AREN’T MANY SYNAGOGUES whose sanctuary features metal upholstered folding theater-style seating. Usually the older synagogues have benches or pews — which is what Mishkon had in its previous space. (Guess which type of seating is more comfortable?)
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HOW MANY HOLES does it take to fill the Albert Hall? I honestly don’t know—ask Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band! 😉 But I do know roughly how many holes it takes to perform a perimeter termite treatment on the long walls of our sanctuary hall.
Namely, more than 250! That’s the number of holes that were drilled and filled this week in our sanctuary. And that was for the upper half of those walls only.
Below the jump, this post explains the why, how, and what of the treatment. Of course, with accompanying photos (courtesy of Ruben Carrillo).…
A ROOF IS NOT A STATIC THING that just sits there. Rather, it expands daily under the baking sun — with different sections being exposed at different times of day — and contracts every night, and during cold snaps. It withers under ultraviolet light. And it endures rainstorms and the rush of flowing stormwaters.
So when you think about it, it’s not surprising that a roof can use a little loving care once a year.
Below the jump is a brief description, with photos, of the annual preventive maintenance that was performed this week on our sanctuary roof.…
EARLIER THIS MONTH, I described my plan to open up two normally enclosed chambers at the junction between the sanctuary roof, ceiling, and walls. Well, that plan was enacted yesterday. We learned a few things, and we took some action! This post describes what happened, and the outcome.…
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| Looking eastward toward the viewing port that Ruben and I had peeked through last week |
A FEW WEEKS PRIOR to her recent adventure in parturition, Shiri Sassoon asked me for my suggestions of hands-on projects to engage volunteers at the upcoming Community Building Day.
Here is my wish list, at least in rough form, in order of importance. Now if you tell me which ones that you are interested in pursuing, I will help to refine them.…
OUR SANCTUARY BUILDING includes two long, narrow, enclosed chambers. They run high along the side walls between the ceiling and the roof. About 117’ long, their cross-section is approximately the shape of a triangle whose sides are each about 3’ long.
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| The upper side chambers are underneath the roof troughs that run along the long walls. |
This post (originally published 8/1, now with 5 new photos and more info) lays out our plans for assessing the structural integrity and state of termite activity in these chambers, and for halting any such activity. The work of discovery and treatment is scheduled for August 15.…
