Planning Ahead
East Hall, a historic building on Tufts University’s campus, was in need of repairs. Tufts relied on Structure Tone to renovate the exterior; everything from the brick façade to the doors, windows, roof and fascias were in need of replacement or repair.
Structure Tone worked closely with Tufts during preconstruction to budget, schedule, order material and build mock-ups. To determine specific dimensions for the roof trim and fascia, we constructed mock-ups. Upon acceptance of the mock-ups, the material was fabricated and delivered on time for installation. Our team implemented a logistics plan to divert traffic and student pedestrians around the job site and staged the exterior renovation so work was performed on one side of the building at a time.
Updating a Historic Building
As part of the exterior renovation we removed and installed a new Vermont slate roof. The eaves and roof trusses were reinforced with hangers. In addition, tension rods and metal stud framing was installed to support the slate, trim, fascia and copper gutters. We also installed fire-rated gypsum wallboard ceilings to replace the plaster ceilings.
When restoring a 150-year old façade it’s important to match new with old. When re-pointing the bricks, we cut one inch into the mortar bed and matched the original mortar color. We also repaired the brownstone entrances and over 130 windows were restored with new springs, balancing hardware and insulation. We also removed the wood window sills and installed maintenance-free sills.
