Vertical cracks along and above the south wall’s pilasters

VERTICAL CRACKING in the stucco of our pilasters might be merely a rupture in the stucco itself—without having compromised the tar paper (vapor barrier) behind the stucco. On the other hand, as a structural engineer told me today, it could be the opening for a serious structural issue to have developed: dry rot in the post, due to persistent moisture intrusion.   

(As usual, click/tap on an image, to enlarge it.)

It’s like when a car’s owner finds that one of its tires looks almost flat. Can that tire be patched—or does it need to be replaced? Well, it needs further inspection. Similarly in our case, the best way to find out what we are dealing with is: chip open a couple of the cracks, to see how deep they go. 

Below the jump, this post looks more closely at the newly noticed cracks, and our options.…

South wall: Opinion of a stucco repair contractor

TODAY I MET outside the south wall with Brian James, who works for a stucco repair contractor. He has 17 years of experience in dealing with aging and decrepit stucco surfaces in the L.A. area. While awaiting his bid for restoration, I will write up what I learned from our conversation.…

(As usual, click/tap on an image to enlarge it.)

South Wall Discovery Project: Initial Report

ON THREE OCCASIONS during the past two decades, structural engineers have recommended that we do test cuts into the south wall of our sanctuary. The goal: to enable more reliable cost estimates for waterproofing and possible structural repair work, hopefully later this year. Given more than two decades of known water intrusion and termite activity in that area, the engineers were concerned that there might be significant structural damage in the wall. They told us that there was only one way to find out: to look beneath the plaster surface.

Prep work, as viewed from bimah:
Marking the locations, and placing air purifiers to catch plaster dust.
(As usual, click/tap on a photo to enlarge it.)

This past week, we finally undertook that adventure in discovery. Although the board had approved this work in May 2021, it took until now to arrange for the proper alignment of funding and expertise. Careful planning (described HERE) was needed to ensure that we would get useful and reliable answers to our questions, given our limited budget. 

This post reports on what was done, and the initial findings.

South Wall: Incremental Steps toward Test Cuts (rev. 11/13)

MAKING TEST CUTS into the south wall will be an adventure in discovery. (Best case: we find that the wall’s structural integrity is in good shape. Worst case: we find that there’s significant structural damage due to water damage, dry rot, termites; and maybe there’s mold, as well.) The point of this exercise is to be able to develop reliable cost estimates for structural repair and waterproofing later this year. 

There are many issues to consider in advance, in order to ensure that we get useful and reliable answers to our questions. To me, the pending discovery stage feels a bit like sending an unmanned mission to Mars—we’ve got to get it right long before the probe lands on the unexplored surface of interest.

An American probe sent to Mars

Below the jump, this post discusses the various considerations.…

Upper Side Chambers: The Rest of the Story

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.…

Looking eastward toward the viewing port
that Ruben and I had peeked through last week

Adventures in Hunting Foul Odor(s)

JEROME GROOPMAN, MD, author of the bestseller How Doctors Think, points out that even smart minds can easily be led astray by well-known cognitive biases. He teaches that during a diagnosis process, it's important to ask three procedural questions:

• What else could it be?
• Could two things be going on to explain the symptoms?
• Is there any relevant evidence that seems not to fit with the working diagnosis?

This post applies such questions to diagnosing (and treating) a mysterious stench in our school building. 

Upon probing, it seems our building’s denizens have actually been enduring at least 2 odors at the same time.…

The Most Urgent Maintenance and Capital Improvement Expenditures

OUR LIST OF SPECIAL PROJECTS is growing: non-routine maintenance-related or restoration-related expenses that are warranted in the near term. This post is intended to inform the board, the membership, and prospective donors about those needs, so that we can now work together to raise the necessary funds. (These tasks are not among the restoration projects that the board has previously approved, conditional on the availability of funds.)

The Roof Over Our Heads

It’s Time to Replace the Sanctuary Roof

WE CAN’T SEE either of our roofs from our usual vantage point on the ground. Our sanctuary roof is located way up high, behind parapets; and our school/office roof is flat. That makes it so easy to forget how important a roof is. As the saying goes, “out of sight, out of mind.” 😑

Well, I have both good news and bad news. Let me give you the bad news first. (Take a deep breath and keep reading.…)