Yes, I'm quite familiar with it. . . And Ken and Lisa are, also.

In my humble opinion, the drainage was built inside the 9-stories of
hollow clay tile walls in the 1910's; it was cut off at the bottom in a
recent remodelling/"restoration" (whether the early 2000's tax credit or
even the 1940's building of additions) and flooded in the recent
N'oreaster that dumped 10" of rain into those interior downspouts. Some
of us in the SHPO office have been working with the Chamberlin's issues;
apparently others are asking for help as well (that's communication for
you!). I've been waiting to see original plans (to compare to later
rehab plans) to see if, in fact, my theory is right. Meanwhile, I've
told them to run hoses into those downspouts and see if they drain. I
suspect they wont ...  And I suspect they don't want to for fear of what
they might find out.

Ken and Lisa have been a lot of help on this as I put out an SOS to them
when it first came up and I didn't have a good understanding of 1910's
hollow clay tile construction and if, in fact, those downspouts were
intended to drain 9 stories through the wall. . . and don't anymore. 

Anyway, we're working with them. Am curious about who's asking for
help...apparently they don't like my assessment!! 


Camille Agricola Bowman
Easement Technical Advisor
Tidewater Region Preservation Office
Department of Historic Resources
14415 Old Courthouse Way
Newport News, Virginia 23608
Tel: 757-503-1549 (NOTE: New Number)
Fax: 757-886-2808

 


-----Original Message-----
From: The listserv where the buildings do the talking
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Rudy R
Christian
Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 11:50 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [BP] Should have built it with wood

At least it might have floated...

This just in on the PTN hot line:

A quick question...I have a tax credit project in Hampton, VA called the
Chamberlin Hotel, which is right on the water and is part of Fort
Monroe.
This impressive property (I think it's in an NHL district), recently
experienced bad flood damage from a freak storm and is hurting big time.
I'm not sure if I'm getting all this right, but I believe part of the
problem is that the interior walls are made of gypsum block, which has
absorbed a lot of moisture and is now structurally compromised. I guess
drying them out isn't enough.   In any case, the state office in is
looking
for any good architects and/or engineers who specialize in flood damage.

Anyone with pins in their head have a clue what this might be about?

Woody

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