Why are there cracks in the steeple?

Why are there cracks in the steeple? Steel and plastic.

There are four steel rods placed within the masonry of the tower that would have supported a taller steeple if ever one was added. Those steel rods are very long to support such a structure, and each is set 10” back from the face of the bell tower, the walls of which are 90” thick. The rods would have been made of high-carbon steel available at the time (the sanctuary was completed in 1811), and high-carbon steel is prone to rust and the expansion of that rusting steel caused the cracking in the surface over the years. Thankfully none of the repairs or cracks are structural in nature and the cracks are being cleared of deteriorated material and filled with bricks and mortar that is of similar composition.

The cracking very likely occurred in recent decades after fire damage was repaired in 1960. At that time, the architect suggested elastomeric paint, which was again suggested during repairs after Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Elastomeric paint provides a strong, long-lasting, watertight coating. The benefits of the paint in this application ended up creating a setting well-suited to rust metal. Since masonry absorbs moisture, the bell tower masonry took in moisture over the years and the elastomeric paint, effectively a plastic coating, kept the moisture from being able to evaporate. That held moisture likely exacerbated the rusting of the embedded steel rods in recent decades. The bell tower has begun to look more pink as the crew strips the white elastomeric paint to be replaced with a masonry paint more appropriate for this application.

Patterson explains why there are cracks in the steeple, why the bell tower looks more pink than white at the moment, and the interesting things we've come to learn during the restoration of the steeple.

The Second Presbyterian Church of Charleston's bell tower has been undergoing repairs since January 2020 as part of the vision of the Steeple Fund started in November 2019. A lightning strike caused a fire in the top of the bell tower on April 19, 2020, the full scope of which took many months to assess. Restoration was able to resume in July of 2021.

Click here and sign into Realm and go directly to the Steeple Fund.

Check on the progress of the Bell Tower Project here.

Update on the bell tower

We would like to inform the congregation that the fire damage repairs are on track to begin around the week of July 12th. Both the scaffold company as well as the timber framers will be available at this time. The building permit is in hand and materials with long lead times have been ordered. Budget discussions with the insurer are ongoing and we will be working to meet the project parameters within the provided budget.

Soon after the fire damage repairs begin, we will also restart the steeple crack and coating repairs. These projects will be happening simultaneously. It looks like the insurer is willing to meet most of our requests and we are looking forward to providing the Church with a successful project that we can all be proud of.

The fire sprinkler portion of the project remains under development at this time pending water flow tests, design and acceptance by the fire marshal. In the meantime, the fire sprinkler for the sanctuary is working as designed except for at the very top of the bell tower.

Thanks,
The Bell Tower Committee

The bell tower has been undergoing repairs since January 2020 as part of the vision of the Steeple Fund.

Click here and sign into Realm and go directly to the Steeple Fund.

Check on the progress of the Bell Tower Project here.

Please text the number 81010 with the message '@2pcchurch' to sign up for church text messages so that you are made aware of pertinent announcements and news such as this.

Our Facebook page is updated often! Find us on Facebook as "Second Pres Charleston" and make sure you 'Like' and choose 'See First' under 'Following' to be alerted with church information.

Update on the repairs to the bell tower

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The design/engineering phase of the project has wrapped up. The permitting materials were sent to the City of Charleston on October 2nd and applications for both the BAR approvals and building permits have been submitted. There will be a total of three separate permitted jobs. 

1. Lightning strike/fire damage structural repairs to the bell tower roof. 

2. Visual appearance repairs to the exterior of the bell tower - non-structural. 

3. Additions to the bell tower sprinkler system to allow proper operation. 

Applied Building Sciences was able to use our initial thoughts on the roofing repairs to provide a very detailed set of structural drawings to be used for construction. ABS has also provided a project manual detailing methods and materials for the crack repairs and coating of the bell tower.

Project subcontractors have been notified that we are in the permitting phase and have been updated on any changes to the original approach to construction. We are now looking to start construction in the late fall and wrap by early spring.  

Update from our General Contractor, P. Russell Smith with BuildSmith, LLC.

The bell tower has been undergoing repairs since January 2020 as part of the vision of the Steeple Fund. Progress updates (and lots of photos) can be found here.

Please text the number 81010 with the message '@2pcchurch' to sign up for church text messages so that you are made aware of pertinent announcements and news such as this.

Please text the number 81010 with the message '@2pcchurch' to sign up for church text messages so that you are made aware of pertinent announcements and news such as this.

Our Facebook page is updated often! Find us on Facebook as "Second Pres Charleston" and make sure you 'Like' and choose 'See First' under 'Following' to be alerted with church information.

Our Facebook page is updated often! Find us on Facebook as "Second Pres Charleston" and make sure you 'Like' and choose 'See First' under 'Following' to be alerted with church information.

Update on the progress of the steeple repairs

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A quick update on the progress of the lightning strike and masonry repairs

I'm happy to report much progress has been made on the behind the scenes work required for this project. The Church has hired Applied Building Sciences to complete the design work, structural engineering, and material recommendations for this project. ABS is a very capable company in the field of historic repair work and as such, has a large work load. Second Presbyterian is now on their active project list and early last week I spent several hours with 3 structural engineers from ABS in the very top of the bell tower. This was done to accurately record the damage and existing conditions, information which will be a necessity for obtaining our building permits from the City of Charleston. 
 
All subcontractors for the project have visited the site and provided preliminary bids for their specific areas of expertise. I continuously provide the subcontractors with progress updates and inform them of any findings that ABS uncovers. I'm projecting the design work to be finalized in 2-3 weeks and once completed, submittals can be sent to the permitting office. The city engineer, Dennis Dowd, has become personally involved with this project due to it's historic significance and I hope to be able to continue my rapport with the City of Charleston building officials to obtain a permit in a reasonable amount of time. 
 
One other area of work that is moving forward is the fire protection upgrades. The current fire sprinkler system does not have adequate water pressure to feed the topmost sprinkler heads in the bell tower. This was discovered after a sprinkler head in the area of the fire failed to trigger properly. I have spent a great deal of time with Liberty Fire Protection, Inc. to develop a plan that will provide the needed water pressure at a reasonable cost. A preliminary plan has been submitted to the Fire Marshall Division at the City and is currently under review. If approved, this work will be carried out at the same time as the other repairs.
 
Although the work that is taking place now doesn't always provide the feeling of great progress to the observer on the ground, I can assure you it is of utmost importance to the ultimate success of the projects at hand. I look forward to reporting back when we have a permit in hand and a schedule of work to be completed. 

Thanks,
P. Russell Smith
BuildSmith, LLC
51 John Street
Charleston, SC 29403

The bell tower has been undergoing repairs since January 2020 as part of the vision of the Steeple Fund. Progress updates (and lots of photos) can be found here.

Please text the number 81010 with the message '@2pcchurch' to sign up for church text messages so that you are made aware of pertinent announcements and news such as this.

Please text the number 81010 with the message '@2pcchurch' to sign up for church text messages so that you are made aware of pertinent announcements and news such as this.

Our Facebook page is updated often! Find us on Facebook as "Second Pres Charleston" and make sure you 'Like' and choose 'See First' under 'Following' to be alerted with church information.

Our Facebook page is updated often! Find us on Facebook as "Second Pres Charleston" and make sure you 'Like' and choose 'See First' under 'Following' to be alerted with church information.