Services & Selected Portfolio
Barn Restoration
Old Somers Farm
Arcadia Restorations were engaged to stabilize and repair major damage and failed members in a 45x100’ dairy barn in Peacham, Vermont. The central portion of the barn was much earlier than the two equally-sized additions later made to each gable end, and in converting the barn to dairy use in the late 19th century, the frame of the earliest part of the barn was substantially weakened, leading to ever-increasing stress and damage. Failed members and insufficient repairs were removed, replaced in kind, and supplemented to stabilize the structure and head off further deterioration
The milking floor of the barn at Old Somers Farm, Peacham, Vermont
The horizontal member supporting the floor joists was of insufficient size, had rolled out of place, and had broken joinery.
The undersized and failed timber was removed, and a replacement fabricated out of a larger dimension piece. Pictured above are the two halves of the replacement prior to installation, showing traditional joinery.
The replacement girt installed, secured with pinned tenons and braces, floor above leveled, and new posts to the floor below.
A typical repair to the barn haymow, with a scarfed end replacing a piece which had broken in its midsection. Purlin post is now adequately supported with an intermediate post, and running the replacement 1’ into the aisle allowed for stronger joinery at the aisle post.
Image showing typical damage and failed repair in a snapped tie-beam.
Repaired bent showing replacement aisle post, purlin post, braces, and a full-length replacement tie-beam. This portion of the bent had been entirely missing prior to repair.
Another bent prior to repair, showing a post with no joinery into the principal rafter, and the wall tied to the post by a shattered remnant of modern dimensional 2x lumber,.
Three repaired bents, with the closest being the missing bent shown above. The next two tie beams had failed, so were repaired in kind.
Timber Frame Restoration
The Old West Church
Adam King participated as lead carpenter for Jan Lewandoski Restoration & Traditional Building’s project to restore the spire of the 1823 Old West Church in Kent’s Corners. The spire was removed, repaired, and placed back on top of the church.
Removal of the church spire.
Repair to post bottom
Reproducing the original 1823 roof from existing remnants.
The spire reinstalled
Timber Framing
Dorset, Vermont
Adam and a team of three frequent collaborators were engaged to execute the replacement of a small two-car garage and attached shed which had been lost to fire. The earlier, relatively modern stick-framed structure was deemed insufficient for the owners' future needs, so they commissioned a utilitarian, traditional New England timber frame, which the team executed in six weeks on the basis of an initial concept furnished by Dorset Design Build. The frame is a highly faithful square-rule creation executed in locally-sourced white pine, fastened with octagonal green Locust wood pins, and assembled using several fine scarf joints and large, wedged dovetail tenons. The frame is 30x34' with a great deal of usable space on the upper story. The barn will also be receiving a timber-framed porch and a matching connector to the main house.
Window Restoration
Chester Academy Building
Arcadia Restorations LLC were selected to execute the restoration of the large double-hung sashes in the Chester Academy Building, now the Chester Historical Society, partially funded by a grant from the Preservation Trust of Vermont. 36 windows were restored and brought back to working condition.
Conditions of the Chester windows prior to restoration.
Restoration in process.
Architectural Woodworking
Tenney Memorial Library. Newbury, Vermont
The Tenney Memorial Library is a lovely interpretation of 19th century Richardsonian Romanesque, scaled down for a beautifully intact library in the core of the beautifully intact town of Newbury. Arcadia Restorations were thrilled to be asked to refinish the main entryway to the library, which was of extremely high quality quartersawn white oak. The original finish had failed due to a lack of maintenance, and weathering over time. The old finishes were delicately removed, the wood lightly planed and sanded to get back to a uniform patina, and then refinished with marine-grade spar varnish.
Alice Ward Memorial Library. Canaan, Vermont
Arcadia Restorations was given the responsibility of restoring a column from the front porch of the c. 1860s town library in Canaan, Vermont. This column had been heavily damaged at its base, and had suffered to a lesser degree at the capital.
The bottom of the column after restoration, prior to being shipped back. The damaged staves were carefully cut away to minimize losses of original material, replaced with new wood of the correct species, and fluted by hand. The replacement base was also recreated out of the correct wood, using the remnants of the original base as a template.
Artworks
François Stahly - Labyrinth
Adam King, principal of Arcadia Restorations, as part of a small team of preservation carpentry colleagues, participated in Porter & Associates' restoration of a large-scale timber sculpture. The original work was commissioned by The State of New York under the aegis of then-governor Nelson Rockefeller, and was installed in a public square in Albany, New York in the mid-1970s. The sculptor, François Stahly, executed the work out of iroko, which is a hardwood native to much of sub-Saharan Africa, but hardly ever used in North America. The sculpture deteriorated considerably over the course of forty years, and the restoration effort included highly precise CNC-milled repairs, documentation of condition and damage, replacement of damaged wood, non-destructive testing of undermined areas, and employment of conservation-grade resins and adhesives throughout. This project represented a singularly rare opportunity to use traditional timber-frame repair skills alongside cutting-edge technology and art-conservation methods to conduct a successful, sympathetic restoration of a massive art object.
Condition Assessments
Arcadia Restorations can be engaged to conduct a site visit to your historic structure, be it barn, church, covered bridge, or anything else you would care to have us take a look at. During the visit, Adam will document the structure, examine it closely, and evaluate its condition. Following the visit he will generate a report which summarizes the findings and provides recommendations as to stabilization, restoration and repair work, which we find is an extremely useful tool for owners who want to know more about their building, get a clearer picture of its condition, and have a road map for ongoing maintenance and repair. We are often asked to generate these reports by the Preservation Trust of Vermont, but are also available to be contacted directly. Our fee for this service is a standard $500, to be credited towards any work performed in future, and the Preservation Trust also offers a limited number of technical assistance grants to help defray the cost of generating the report.
