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Alexandria Façade
Client: Michael Detomo
Location: Alexandria, VA
Project Manager: Greensaw Collaborative Effort
The job began with us risking our lives. Absent a ladder, we reached over to loosen the brackets and corbels, to use later as templates in the shop. Tellingly, the existing corbels were none too hard to pull off, the nails holding them long since returned to dust.
We decided early on that we would ignore the fact that the cornice would be forty feet above the ground. The home was too old and beautiful, in the center of Alexandria, and deserved after its years of service a cornice that was perfect from any distance. Not to mention we were working for an architect.
After making the all the pieces in the shop, including the dormer window, we packed the truck to the gills and headed south. Fortified with baked Albanian peppers, baclava and leak pastry courtesy of Niko's mother, and armed with Niko's deep-fryer, we set up shop in Alexandria, and began.
Unfortunately, not everyone had been alerted to the work schedule. Removing the existing rotten cornice, a fat squirrel made a run for it. A day later a baby squirrel, presumably left by the mother, fell onto the scaffolding platform, and barely avoided being stepped on. What to do but stop work and Google "What to do with a baby squirrel." Baby formula, gently heated, administered with a dropper.
And so, as we worked through the rain, in a job that involved masonry, electric, plumbing, carpentry, and roofing all in one, we also nursed a baby squirrel back to life. We were one button away from calling animal rescue when all of a sudden the squirrel – named Cornice now – began to eat. And thereafter he got fed three times a day, removed from his bed of fleece pants by the radiator. We all became experts on squirrels, their dietary habits, and development.
Meanwhile – the job. It went great. Michael Detomo is a professional architect with an infallible eye for detail. Not to mention a born climber. He has the remarkable ability to ascend scaffolding like spiderman, nary a spot on his slacks. As well as admiring his litheness, we also appreciated his excitment as the job progressed. As the doors went up with their new glass, as the windows went in and the cornice went from rot to new, and the roof went from leaking to waterproof, he couldn't have been more appreciative or helpful with suggestions.
He also liked Cornice, who currently lives with us and is about the most playful guy you could imagine.
Client Testimonial
"The Greensaw team led by Brendan exceeded my expectations in the renovation of the front façade of my historic row Home. Their precision woodworking and artistic wood sculpting skills led to the successful complete replacement of the decorative wood cornice and mansard roof trim. Both in their shop and on-site, they articulated wood corbels and brackets, made wood stars and lambs-tongue florets, and recreated the circular attic vent window all while matching the building’s original Victorian details. The difference between the before and after pictures are amazing; the home went from a decrepit pale brick box with rotten wood falling from the roof daily to a elegant historic home with clean lines and exact details. Also included in the facelift were new operable basement windows and a pair of salvaged solid wood doors form a New York brownstown. Greensaw fully restored doors and fitted and installed the windows in the building previously boarded-up masonry openings elevating the home to a much more prominent status on the block. The careful carpentry skills of the Greensaw team were also matched by their roofing and roof moisture protection applications as the redirected the previously unusable downspout and water from the puddling/ leaking roof. The finished renovated façade is beyond comparable to the original forsaken state of the Home. I am proud when neighbors ask who did the work to home to tell them Greensaw, and then proceed to tell them about the Greensaw team’s incredible work ethic, skillful, exacting, and expedient craftsmanship, and valiant service. They did an excellent job."
— Michael Detomo |
