Masonry Restoration - Child Enterprises

2010 Best of State Award

2010-07-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

Child Enterprises was honored to receive a 2010 "Best of State" award in the Commercial Building Subcontractor Category.

Innovation

There are many mason contractors in the state who do great work, but very few, if any, have the knowledge and diversity of experience that Child Enterprises brings to the industry. What makes Child Enterprise unique is that while most masons are qualified in the installation of brick and block, masons at Child Enterprises are expected to be experts in the installation of all types of masonry from terra cotta, natural and artificial stone, precast, paving, brick and block. Those employees who are very patient and show artistic promise are trained in special patching and sculpting procedures where they are utilized in restoration work.

Child Enterprises has a great reputation in the construction industry among General Contractors, Architects, Engineers, and other Sub-Contractors. That reputation is based on teamwork and the ability to solve problems. Every restoration project presents new and unique challenges and problems to tackle. The goal for Child Enterprises is to restore a building as closely as possible back to its original state. It is a compliment to their ability when someone states that they cannot see what work has been done because that signifies that the repairs match and blend with the original conditions. In order to accomplish this level of restoration it requires going the extra mile to successfully match restoration mortars, patching materials, and in recreating historic textures and finishes.

Quality

One of the most rewarding things about masonry restoration and preservation is to see a historic building that has been damaged with age, neglected, or even abandoned, be reborn and transformed into a treasure for the community in which it resides. In 2009, Child Enterprises was involved with three such projects: The OC Tanner Building (Former Hansen Planetarium), The University of Utah's John Park Building, and The Children's Center (Historic Oquirrh School).

Child Enterprises is located in Springville Utah where the Child family has been laying bricks for over 150 years. Child Enterprises is very interested and involved in their local community and have donated masonry work on many municipal buildings and projects from baseball diamonds, restrooms, and pavilions. More recently, in 2009, Child Enterprises organized the construction and donation of labor to the Stewart Sculpture Garden at the Springville Museum of Art.

Child Enterprises was also asked in 2009 by the AGC (Associatied General Contractors) of Utah to lead in the organization and donation of the masonry construction portion of the new AGC Headquarters Building located in Salt Lake City.

By providing quality workmanship in the preservation of historic buildings and structures, Child Enterprises is helping to provide a better quality of life for all who enjoy the scenic sites and history of the beautiful state of Utah.

Utah Heritage Foundation 2010 Heritage Awards

2010-05-17T08:56:00.000-07:00

The Utah Heritage Foundation held their annual Heritage Awards Program on April 30,2010. Among the nine projects that won awards, Child Enterprises performed masonry restoration on three of them.

The Adaptive Use Award went to the Children's Center for the adaptation of the historic Oquirrh School. Masonry scope included infill repair at interior and exterior locations, new matching brick veneer construction at various locations, stone and brick patching, restoration cleaning, and refurbishing stone entry steps and landings.

The University of Utah's John R. Park Building won under the category of Stabilization, Restoration, or Renovation. Child Enterprises scope of work included a major stone, terra cotta, and brick restoration. The roof parapet was completely removed and then reinstalled using a seismic assembly that incorporated the reuse of restored terra cotta and new terra cotta units. Seismic reinforcement was also added at the entire roof perimeter and at the north and south elevation balconies. The limestone columns were completely sanded and re-profiled and many other stone elements on the building were either repaired or replaced with new matching stone or terra cotta. The Grand Stairs were also removed, restored, and then reinstalled back in their original location.

The O.C. Tanner Building also won under the
category of Stabilization, Restoration, or Renovation for the restoration of the Packard Library / Hansen Planetarium. When OC Tanner decided to save this important historic building, they expressed a desire to those working on the project that this building would need to be of the utmost quality. The result was indeed a gem that is comparable to the precious stones contained within. Child Enterprises was able to contribute to this masterpiece by painstakingly restoring the limestone and terra cotta façade back to its original splendor. Stone and terra cotta elements that had been damaged with time were successfully replaced with new materials or patched and restored in place. A new parking structure was also added in which Child Enterprises installed CMU and stone cladding.

2009 Excellence in Masonry Design Awards

2010-02-04T13:13:00.000-08:00

Child Enterprises was recently awarded the "Honor & Best of Show" Award along with a "Golden Trowel" Award for the Utah State Capitol Building Restoration Project at the Utah Masonry Council's Excellence in Masonry Design Awards.

Project Description:

The Utah State Capitol Building is an icon in the State and a beautiful landmark in Salt Lake City. However, its years of service necessitated a major restoration effort. In addition, to providing greater resistance for the potential of a severe earthquake, a seismic upgrade was also completed. The primary structure of the building is constructed of local quarried granite while the upper dome is constructed of terra cotta. Specialized masonry restoration procedures such as patching, mortar repair, and cleaning were performed from top to bottom while much of the seismic upgrades came in the form of new anchorage systems. The two main focus areas for the stone structures were parapet reinforcement and column stabilization. Many of the historical terra cotta elements were removed, restored piece by piece, then reassembled and reinstalled as a panelized seismic assembly.

In collaboration with Kepco+, Child Enterprises began by painstakingly removing and cataloging historic terra cotta pieces from the upper and lower balustrades, the consoles, the mid-drum entablature, and the column capitals. Each piece was labeled so that it could be reinstalled in its exact historic location. The pieces were then moved to KEPCO+’s off-site facility and evaluated for either replacement or restoration and reinstallation.

In addition to the terra cotta restoration, Child Enterprises was also responsible for restoring the granite on the building. Such a scope comprises thorough cleaning, followed by patching, recoating, pinning, mortar tuck pointing, stone replacement where necessary, stone carving, crack repair, stain treatments, and the removal of damaging materials, such as ferrous anchors. Child Enterprises scope of work also included the reinforcing of the main roof granite parapet and the entry colonnades with new seismic anchorage systems. The parapet balustrade was disassembled, cataloged, repaired off site, and then reinstalled with a new stainless steel channel assembly. Stability was provided to the columns below the East, West, and South pediments by using a joint stabilization process that involved injecting epoxy at the joint locations into inner voids of the column using an involved pressurized injection system.

In addition to the expansive restoration work on the project, Child Enterprises also provided all new CMU work throughout the building and installed salvaged brick at the porte cochere. They installed cast stone elements as part of the site work as well as to replicate the historic stone fireplaces in the House of Representatives and the Senate.