October 2012 - Trademax Publications

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efurbishment Second chances UNISA Pietermaritzburg - Government House restoration GVK-Siya Zama were appointed to carry out extensive restorations to Government House, a national Monument on UNISA`s Pietermaritzburg campus. Works commenced in November 2010 and are due to be completed by December 2012. Part of GVK-Siya Zama`s restoration brief was to repair damaged floors and the underlying structure. To this end, a comprehensive survey of the building had to be undertaken to determine the extent of the damage caused by general usage, termites, damp and water ingress. A row of floor boards had to be removed from opposite sides of each room to create inspection openings to examine the structure below. This in itself created a challenge in that, in order to release the boards, a saw cut had to be made along the existing tongued or grooved joints. The board size obviously reduced and additional strips of timber had to be added to the boards before they were replaced. 44 OCTOBER 2012 //
efurbishment An unexpected problem which also arose was that with past repairs of a similar nature, the damaged tongues of the boards had been replaced with metal strips. Numerous circular saw blades had to be used in order to cut through metal lathes and special care had to be taken to prevent sparks igniting the accompanying saw dust. Once open, the Structural Engineer meticulously inspected every face of each floor joist by using a mirror and torch held through the formed openings. Instruction was then issued on the repair method to be employed in each individual case. Where necessary, the floor boards were removed, retongued and grooved and set aside for re-use. New noggins were inserted and bolted between joists in the existing structure to improve their structural integrity. Where the original joists had been eaten away, new 76 x 228mm Balau joists were inserted alongside them and bolted in position; a delicate operation, as in many cases the original fragile pressed metal ceilings were still attached below. All old conduit cut-outs were repaired using Balau inserts epoxied in place. Wherever the floors had been opened completely, cleats were installed along the lower portion of the joists and short lengths of recycled ceiling and floor boards were placed above to accommodate a 50mm layer of grit employed as a sound baffle. This system was used originally in the building. Floor boards were replaced, given two coats of sanding sealer and then a liberal coating of wax. In certain instances, where it was important to retain as much of the existing material, damaged sections were cut out and replacement yellow wood sections were finger jointed in position by hand, with the hope that the new timber will discolour and eventually blend into the original structure. To ensure that uncovered building relics such as an underground masonry water storage cistern don’t go unnoticed, trapdoors have been inserted to allow future access to them. In other areas, removable panels of floor were fabricated to allow access to services running under floors. The abovementioned repairs would not be complete without a thorough termite eradication process. A detailed survey of the entire building was carried out by the appointed entomologists. A battle plan was drawn up, which involved finding access ways through the structure in order to spray, inject and soak the entire footprint of the building to prevent further infestation. Treatments will be repeated every five years as a preventative measure. // OCTOBER 2012 45
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October 2012 - Trademax Publications

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