The First Presbyterian Church is the oldest building in Tallahassee, Florida still being used for its original purpose. It is stucco over brick and was built in 1836. Today it is on the National Register of Historic Places. Because brick manufacturing in the nineteenth century was an inexact science, the bricks came in three flavors: under-fired, over-fired and fired-just-right.
About a hundred and fifty years later, the brick and stucco began to de-laminate and the stucco absorbed a great deal of moisture. The cost to have the church painted every five years became prohibitive. The church committee contacted Jim Roach, a Gainesville, Florida architect whose area of expertise is historical restoration. Roach determined that epoxy resin would solve the de-lamination problem. When a member of the congregation asked how long the epoxy would last, Roach responded that no one has lived that long yet.
Inducon Corp., a Florida contractor, was low bidder on the job and came highly recommended by the architect. De-lamination was occurring where the bricks were over-fired or under-fired. Unfortunately, they were randomly placed. The crew tapped painstakingly along the exterior walls of the church listening for hollow places. They set the injection ports over these hollows. As the work progressed someone observed that it looked as if the church was undergoing acupuncture.
Surface sealing of cracks was kept to a minimum to maintain the original texture and appearance of the exterior of the building. The hollow places were injected with Prime Rez 1200 at very low pressure. This low viscosity injection resin was used to allow maximum penetration. In areas where the cracks were wide, or when Prime Rez 1200 migrated back out of the crack, two products with higher viscosity were used (Prime Rez 1600 and Prime Bond 3100).
Ray Kicklighter, the unofficial church historian, said the congregation watched with great interest as the work progressed. They were pleased with the results and said the Inducon crew couldn't have been more accommodating.
