Exterior Church Painting

Serving NY, PA, VT, MA, CT and RI

Exterior church painting. St Joseph Church. Cumberland, RI

St Joseph Church in Cumberland, RI asked Egan Church restorations to help them identify why the paint on their church steeples continually peeled. We conducted a thorough inspection of the steeples from the exterior using our drone to see corners and hard to reach areas. We then climbed the 40 ft ladder from the inside to study the interior.

Our team identified missing and damaged roof flashing where the tower meets the roof line, alowing water to drip down the interior of the wall. In addition, there was missing protective glass in the upper tower windows which also allowed water penetration. Both of these water leaks saturated the interior wall and all the wall insulation.

The continuous paint peeling issue was identified as the water soaked insulation in the wall. This somewhat, permanent moisture would prevent any paint from proper adhesion to the exterior walls.

To stop the peeling, we had to make several corrections; 1) repair the flashing on the tower/roof line. 2) replace protective glass on upper windows and 3) open up the interior wall and allow the insulation to dry before beginning exterior repainting. After the repairs were made, we waited 2 months to allow the insulation to dry, a far less expensive method than replacing all the insulation, before we began the exterior painting.

Steeple Painting. Dutch Reformed Church. Clavernack, NY

Egan Church Restorations were hired to repair the damaged steeple which in addition to needing basic painting, the flat roof was leaking water down into the tower. Our team first studied the flat roof and found water penetration from rotted facia boards which allowed wind driven rain to get under the wood roof sheeting. This became rotted and then the tar roof failed. We completely removed the old tar roof, replaced all the sheeting and facia boards and then installed a new copper roof which should last 100 years or more.

Church Steeple Repair and Painting.

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Exterior Church Painting and steeple repair.

Exterior church painting involves a far more involved set up and often repair. Steeples and church towers are frequently neglected due to the difficulty of reaching them for ordinary maintenance. They suffer from all types of harsh weather as well as normal aging but the cost of scaffolding or lifts make them difficult to properly maintain. The towers at St John’s Church were in very poor condition as well as the trim boards along the roof line of the church. Egan Church Restorations were hired to re-paint all the wood sections of the steeple and upper wood sections.

Completed work. Our team of church painters deep sanded all wood and metal surfaces on the 2 towers and front side of the church. We then completed painting all the facia boards and wood surfaces on both church towers. In addition, while up on the lift, our team cleaned paint drips from the bricks from a previous painter.

Exterior Church Painting – Holy Name Church. Manhattan, NY Stained Glass Window Frames

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Holy Name Church. Manhattan, NY.

Egan Church Restorations were hired to remove old, incorrectly installed protective glass from the stained glass windows at Holy Name Church in New York City. After removal was complete, our team of painters then fully stripped the old flaking paint from the frames. We then also stripped old caulking from the frame/stone joints and old putty from the exterior of the window. After prep work was completed, we repainted all the 100 year old window frames and installed new protective glass with proper ventilation.

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Exterior Painting -Stained Glass Window Frames.

Sample damage to wood framed windows.

All of the photos above are good examples of damage to stained glass window wood frames. Old age as well as incorrectly installed protective coverings has created wood rot, splits or cracks in the wood and damaged trim pieces. Below are the same windows with closeup views of this damage.

Corrective measures and repair methods.

The first step to correcting the damage and preparing the frame for painting is to remove the old, incorrectly installed protective glass.
Our team then deep sands the wood surfaces to strip old paint and caulking.
The wood is then tested for strength and if acceptable, epoxy consolidation material is applied (see below for more info) which soaks into the wood and firms up any soft spots.
The epoxy when dry is then sanded and prepared for painting.
The stained glass is then re-puttied and the frame is then re-caulked.
We then use Sherwin Williams exterior “Duration” paint which has a lifetime warranty and has proven to be the most durable of all exterior paints.

Epoxy Consolidation-what is it?

Epoxy Consolidation is just what it sounds like. Epoxy (glue) but in a very thin concentration, so once applied to the wood, it soaks into any soft spots. It is applied with a paint brush as per left and middle photos above. Once it soaks into the wood, it dries as hard as the original wood ( above right photo) and has a white finish. This right photo is a good example of “before” and “after” application.

Once dry, our church painters will then sand it to a smooth finish and get it ready to apply a layer of primer paint. The finish coat of Duration exterior paint is applied.